Technology ethics

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Technology ethics (also: technical ethics or ethics in the art ) is the one hand, a part of the ethics generally and, therefore, as the science of philosophy assigned. But it also has an action-relevant role in the working life of a technician , where it provides criteria for assessing and weighing up the following aspects of technology:

So it puts the actions of technicians and their handling of technology and technical objects / devices before questions of the type: "Is a special technology good ?", "Is it correct what you do with this technology?", "Is the technology safe ? "," Is the technology all the people of the benefit ? "," uses the technique only parts of the people, or only parts of political systems, while others by isolating, or use is only one individual? "

Of particular interest are controversial technical applications such as military technology and so-called dual-use technologies, which on the one hand can have civilian benefits ( medicine , pharmacy ) and on the other hand harbor the danger of dictators and unjust regimes against their own population or the population of To be used against war opponents ( poison gas ).

Areas of application such as nuclear energy or other risk technologies as well as the technical handling of natural resources , e.g. B. Oil , gas , hydropower , wind energy have been the focus of technology-ethical considerations for decades. As a result of the mechanization of reproduction processes and the use of genetic engineering , the demarcation to bioethics is fluid.

Many issues that arise in politics and society affect technology ethics or challenge the ethical use of technology . Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker is assigned the quote: "Technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself."

Examples

for questions about technology ethics:

  • Is the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China a curse or a blessing? ( Power generation , flood hazard - containment positive on the one hand, earthquake risks, natural destruction, forced resettlement for a million people on the negative side)
  • Is it permissible to forego the use of the best available air filter technology in order to increase the throughput of an industrial plant or to reduce investments ?
  • Is it allowed to set up wind turbines in the vicinity of houses ? (ecological, non-consuming energy generation positive on the one hand, on the other hand shadows and noises in the environment, optical landscape change on the minus side)
  • Was it correct that the island of Great Britain was connected to the European railway network with a tunnel under the canal ? (Transport connections, short canal crossing times, speed advantages on the one hand, high costs on the other hand, risk of long-term non-profitability, technical measure as a possible source of infection : infectious animals that could cross the tunnel)
  • Is it allowed to build a 160 m high bridge over the middle Moselle valley ? (Better traffic management, saving truck traffic through small towns as plus points on the one hand, and on the other hand as minus points high construction costs, elimination of vineyards , change in the landscape )
  • Can you manufacture or use cars that consume significantly more fossil fuels than the three-liter car ?
  • Is it correct to individually pack countless products in retail outlets? (Advantage: hygienic packaging of even small portions, practical to take away, disadvantage: enormous expenditure of limited resources such as plastic, aluminum, etc.)
  • Can you use nuclear energy, or is it too harmful for the environment?

See also

literature

Web links