Ethics and cybernetics: Levinasian reflections

Is cybernetics good, bad, or indifferent? SherryTurkle enlists deconstructive theory to celebrate thecomputer age as the embodiment of “difference.” Nolonger just a theory, one can now live a “virtual” life. Within a differential but ontologically detachedfield of signifiers, one can construct and reconstructegos and environments from the bottom up andendlessly. Lucas Introna, in contrast, enlists theethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas to condemn thesame computer age for increasing the distance betweenflesh and blood people. Mediating the face-to-facerelation between real people, allowing and encouragingcommunication at a distance, information technologywould alienate individuals from the social immediacyproductive of moral obligations and responsibilities. In this paper I argue against both of thesepositions, and for similar reasons. Turkle'scelebration and Introna's condemnation of informationtechnology both depend, so I will argue, on the samemistaken meta-interpretation of it. Like Introna,however, but to achieve a different end, I will enlistLevinas's ethical philosophy to make this case.     

Ethics and technology design

This article offers a discussion of the connection between technology and values and, specifically, I take a closer look at ethically sound design. In order to bring the discussion into a concrete context, the theory of Value Sensitive Design (VSD) will be the focus point. To illustrate my argument concerning design ethics, the discussion involves a case study of an augmented window, designed by the VSD Research Lab, which has turned out to be a potentially surveillance-enabling technology. I call attention to a “positivist problem” that has to do with the connection between the design context and the use context, which VSD seems to presuppose, and I argue that it is necessary to clearly distinguish between the two, since the designers’ intentions do not always correspond with the users’ practice; in fact, the relation between design and use is very complex and principally unpredictable. Thus, a design theory must accept that foresight is limited to anticipation rather than prediction. To overcome the positivist problem, I suggest a phenomenological approach to technology inspired by Don Ihde’s concept of multistability. This argument, which is general in nature and thus applies to any theory of design ethics, is intended as a constructive criticism, which can hopefully contribute to the further development of design ethics.     

Invoking politics and ethics in the design of information technology: undesigning the design

It is a truism that the design and deployment of information and communication technologies is vital to everyday life, the conduct of work and to social order. But how are individual, organisational and societal choices made? What might it mean to invoke a politics and an ethics of information technology design and use? This editorial paper situates these questions within the trajectory of preoccupations and approaches to the design and deployment of information technology since computerisation began in the 1940s. Focusing upon the dominant concerns over the last three decades, the paper delineates an interest in design and use in relation to socio-technical theories, situated practices and actor-network theory. It is argued that each of these approaches is concerned with a particular form of politics that does not explicitly engage with ethics. In order to introduce ethics into contemporary debates about information technology, and to frame the papers in the special issue, it is argued that Levinas’ ethics is particularly valuable in problematising the relationship between politics and ethics. Levinas provides a critique of modernity’s emphasis on politics and the egocentric self. It is from a Levinasian concern with the Other and the primacy of the ethical that a general rethinking of the relationship between politics, ethics and justice in relation to information and communication technologies can be invoked.     

Ethics and Artificial life: From Modeling to Moral Agents

Artificial Life (ALife) has two goals. One attempts to describe fundamental qualities of living systems through agent based computer models. And the second studies whether or not we can artificially create living things in computational mediums that can be realized either, virtually in software, or through biotechnology. The study of ALife has recently branched into two further subdivisions, one is “dry” ALife, which is the study of living systems “in silico” through the use of computer simulations, and the other is “wet” ALife that uses biological material to realize what has only been simulated on computers, effectively wet ALife uses biological material as a kind of computer. This is challenging to the field of computer ethics as it points towards a future in which computer and bioethics might have shared concerns. The emerging studies into wet ALife are likely to provide strong empirical evidence for ALife’s most challenging hypothesis: that life is a certain set of computable functions that can be duplicated in any medium. I believe this will propel ALife into the midst of the mother of all cultural battles that has been gathering around the emergence of biotechnology. Philosophers need to pay close attention to this debate and can serve a vital role in clarifying and resolving the dispute. But even if ALife is merely a computer modeling technique that sheds light on living systems, it still has a number of significant ethical implications such as its use in the modeling of moral and ethical systems, as well as in the creation of artificial moral agents.     

通用模型的伦理与治理：挑战及对策

通用模型是近年来人工智能发展的重要方向之一。随着模型研发应用的增多，模型的社会和伦理影响受到广泛关注。文章从通用模型的特性出发、分析了模型在算法、数据和算力3个层面潜在的伦理挑战，包括不确定性、真实性、可靠性，偏见、毒性、公平、隐私及环境问题。进一步从技术哲学的视角分析了数据驱动的模型在人与世界关系中的中介性作用及所产生的“镜像”效应问题和透明性问题，提出了人与世界关系的新形态是以模型（数据）为中介的，即“人-模型（数据）-世界”关系。最后，从治理技术和治理机制两方面反思了当前的应对措施及局限性。建议建立开放式、全流程、价值嵌入的伦理规约机制，保障通用模型在合规、合伦理的框架下发展。     

科技成果的配置成本与成果转化率

本文对高校、医院、科研院所、企业、产学研联合体等形成的科技成果转化率差异的内在机理进行了探讨。得出了“随着科技成果产权主体与其他生产要素产权主体的一体化变化,当边际市场交易成本与边际管理协调成本相等时,科技成果转化率最高”的结论。提出了在现阶段,进一步深化科研体制改革、健全技术市场、加强管理创新等对策与建议。     

技术中介理论：一种现象学的技术伦理学思路

技术不仅仅是一种功能性工具,更是调节人与世界之间关系的中介,它在使用过程中影响着用户的知觉和行为,进而影响人们的伦理行为决策。因此,需要对技术中介与伦理行为之间的关系作出把握,通过中介分析和设计,将道德物质化人工物的设计之中,以促进技术社会的民主化进程。源于现象学的技术中介理论引入技术伦理学领域,有助于丰富对技术自身特性的认识,有助于建立适应当代社会发展的＂高技术伦理学＂。     

超越“经验转向”和“伦理转向”：略论特文特的伦理与技术研究

伯雷及维尔贝克对技术哲学的未来发展进行了展望。他们认为当代技术哲学比20世纪初的经典技术哲学有所改进,但是,当代技术哲学的规范性维度处理仍有不足,他们分别对当代技术哲学提出理论性与实践性修正,反映了特文特模式的技术哲学专注在价值化技术的改善层面的研究特色。     

日本的社会技术研究

 本文介绍了日本社会技术的研究体制、研究项目和研究活动，对中日两国的社会技术研究进行了比较，认为开展社会技术研究对建立和谐社会具有重要的现实意义。     

论科学与技术伦理的论域区隔和理论取向问题——兼与李文潮博士商榷

 无论是从历史的还是从现实的角度看,科学和技术都有相互统一的方面,但二者并不是同一的。统一性并不等于同一性或者同质性。科学与技术的关系问题是确定科学伦理的论域和科学伦理学的学科理论取向的根本前提。而领域间的价值追求差异决定了领域间在伦理道德的理性功能定位和理论取向上的不同。在“科学技术”活动之序列各个片断或环节上,伦理道德考量的重点是应当有所区别的。辩证地把握“科学技术”活动普遍性、一般性道德原则和伦理准则,并与特定片断或环节的领域性、具体性道德原则和伦理准则的整合性的综合建构,是一个必须面对的现实选择。     

Information technology, GIS and democraticvalues: Ethical implications for ITprofessionals in public service

Information technologies (IT) play a criticalrole in transforming public administration andredefining the role of bureaucracy in ademocratic society. New applications of ITbring great promises for government, but at thesame time raise concerns about administrativepower and its abuse. Using GeographicInformation Systems (GIS) as the centralexample, this paper provides the philosophicalunderpinnings of the role of technology anddiscusses the importance of an ethicaldiscourse in IT for public serviceprofessionals. Such ethical discourse must bebased on upholding the democratic values andpreserving the institutional integrity of ITprofessionals in public office.     

浅谈研究生管理者、导师和研究生三者在恪守学术道德中的作用探讨

近来我国研究生学术道德现状不容乐观,引起多方关注和探讨;研究生管理者是研究生导师和研究生沟通的桥梁和纽带,建立学术道德规范制度,重视宣传教育与监督执行;研究生导师应做出模范榜样的作用,注重言传身教与督导;研究生自身更应提高道德修养和自律性。三者共同努力创造良好的学术氛围。     

Go Away: Participant Objections to Being Studied and the Ethics of Chatroom Research

In this article we present an empirical study aimed at better understanding the potential for harm when conducting research in chatrooms. For this study, we entered IRC chatrooms on the ICQ network and posted one of three messages to tell participants that we were recording them: a recording message, an opt-in message, or an opt-out message. In the fourth condition, we entered the chatroom but did not post a message. We recorded and analyzed how subjects responded to being studied. Results of a regression analysis indicate significantly more hostility in the three conditions where we said something than in the control condition. We were kicked out of 63.3% of the chatrooms we entered in the three message conditions compared with 29% of the chatrooms in the control condition. There were no significant differences between any of these three conditions. Notably, when given a chance to opt in, only 4 of 766 potential subjects chose to do so. Results also indicate significant effects for both size and the number of moderators. For every 13 additional people in a chatroom, the likelihood getting kicked out was cut in half. While legal and ethical concerns are distinct, we conclude by arguing that studying chatrooms constitutes human subjects research under U.S. law, but that a waiver of consent is appropriate in most cases as obtaining consent is impracticable.     

论走向科学技术学

从多角度考察了走向科学技术学的趋势 ,讨论了科学技术学以科技哲学、科技史、科技社会学、科技政策和管理为基础学科构架的问题 ,以及需要中国自然辩证法界、科学技术史界和科学学界的协调努力。     

宋代科学技术史的计量研究——兼论中国古代四大学科

《宋史》中包含着丰富的科学技术知识,是研究宋代科学技术史重要的原始资料。本文通过阅读《宋史》全文,寻找和选取含有科学技术内容的句子,按照“中国图书馆分类法”,将其归入不同的学科门类,得出各个学科的数据。句频分析结果表明,天文学、数学、水利工程、农业科学、轻工业及手工业、大气科学、生物科学、医药是宋代当时最受关注的八大学科。通过学科关注度和《艺文志》中科学技术书目计量的比较研究,对中国古代四大学科的提法进行了讨论。此外,还简略讨论了这些计量结果的社会原因。     

科学的向度:力量、知识抑或智慧

 在人类求知的长河中,从无知到知之,知之积累为知识,知识转化为力量,进而拥有智慧的辩证过程中,科学既是智慧的基础,又构成了通往智慧的环节.科学最有价值的意义就在于获得智慧,这种智慧不仅是人们安身立命之根本,更是人种永存的重要机制.最原初的"爱智慧"构成科学理想中最深奥、最灿烂的伟大哲思.科学的三向度:力量、知识和智慧事实上是三位一体的关系.科学的理想是力量、知识和智慧的完满结合.     

三类科学技术“集成”:一种全新的科技观

本文对胡锦涛同志关于三类科学技术“协调和集成”思想进行了探讨:论述了三类科技“集成”思想的客观依据、理论渊源和现实基础;揭示现代科学技术体系“一主两翼”的结构及其形成机制和“落实科学发展观”与三类科技“集成”间的非线性关系;阐述三类科技“协调和集成”思想的理论价值和现实意义。     

信息技术哲学认识论研究:现状与评析

信息技术哲学认识论研究对于"技术哲学"与"哲学认识论"均具有较为重要的学术意义,对现代信息技术朝着一种"合目的性"与"合规律性"统一的方向发展提供了一定的智力支撑。国内外学者基于信息技术哲学来探讨当代认识论的研究路向大致有三种:一是从信息技术哲学出发引申或拓展到对当代认识论问题进行探讨;二是从作为哲学元理论的认识论出发拓展到信息技术哲学的研究;三是将认识论哲学与信息技术哲学作为并列重要的理论基架"直接"研究信息技术的认识论问题。未来的研究,可进一步系统探讨中国与西方的信息技术发展史,强化信息技术哲学认识论的历史维度;进一步打开"技术黑箱",基于技术哲学的"经验转向"纲领,全面探讨现代信息技术各子领域诸多更"具体"的认识论问题,丰富信息技术哲学认识论的现实维度。     

技术链、产业链和技术创新链:理论分析与政策含义

本文从资源配置的视角 ,分析了科技成果产业化中的综合资源供给—需求关系 ,指出技术链、产业链和技术创新链三者之间存在的结构性失衡是导致科技成果转化不畅的根本原因 ,由此构造了三类提高科技成果转化率的基本模式与途径 ,并着重阐述了其中的战略技术联盟模式