I define ethics generally as the moral principles that govern a person or groups behavior in a given context. While its true that what we see as moral exists within a given culture or time, does that baseline shift because of technology? Did societal progress with respect to the abolition of slavery, suffrage, or civil rights in the US occur because of technology, or in the context of it? techrepublic/article/disruptive-technologies-pose-difficult-ethical-questions-for-society/ Each generation born into the 20th century has had new technologies and tools to learn to use ethically, from telephones to smartphones to drones and genetic tests. With each new technology, society has had to grapple with unethical uses and find new norms. Each ethical decision is made in context of the society it is made within, with a given technology acting as a tool or enabler of an action. No easy answers here. Comments welcome.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 21:45:12 +0000
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