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Most discussions about the ethics of researching and using technology tend to focus relatively narrowly on issues of bioethics ? medicine, biological research, and so on. That does not, however, exhaust all of the ethical dilemmas which involve modern technology. There are in fact even more fundamental questions about the nature of technology, our relationship to it, and the role it should play in our society.

Summary

Title: Controlling Technology: Contemporary Issues
Author: edited by Eric Katz, William Thompson & Andrew Light
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1573929832

Pro:
?  Unique anthology of material otherwise difficult to find
?  Great text for students in courses on philosophy and technology

Con:
?  No index
?  No current bibliography

Description:
?  Thirty-four essays on the nature of technology and ethics of its use

 

Book Review

Unfortunately, these aren?t the sorts of questions which most people are familiar with or have ever had the opportunity to explore. This certainly isn?t the sort of issue which gets a lot of press attention ? at most, we might find it discussed in very academic and esoteric sources. Luckily, there is a book available which is helpful to the average lay reader.

Edited by Eric Katz, William Thompson, and Andrew Light, Controlling Technology (now in its second edition) presents readers with a deliberately ambiguous title: does it describe technology as something we can control for our own purposes, or instead as something that has become autonomous and therefore controlling of us?

That is in fact one of the major themes that runs throughout the book?s more than 500 pages and 34 essays: is technology still something under our control or is it a monster that has escaped?

Before we can answer that, there is an even more fundamental issue that needs to be addressed: whether technology is ethically neutral. There is a popular assumption that technology is value-free and that all that matters is how the technology is used. A common expression of this would be ?guns don?t kill people, people kill people.? Editor William Thompson disputes this:

• ?If this view were correct, there would, indeed, be no philosophical or ethical issues about technology per se. However, this commonsense notion will not stand critical analysis. All technologies, from hammers and MX missiles to organizational techniques such as the division of labor, are designed for a purpose. Thus, engineering and management design cannot be divorced from the larger ethical issues confronting our society. While we may argue about how technology ought to be defined, on no account is it to be regarded as neutral.?

If technology is not inherently neutral, then we can evaluate the ethics of a particular technological advance by inquiring what its purpose is. A technology designed to harm people could be judged as unethical while technology designed to help people would receive the opposite evaluation. This is not, however, the end of the story. Technology originally designed for one purpose can readily be turned for different ends ? something commonly referred to as ?function creep.? For example, RFID tags created to track products on store shelves could easily be adjusted to track human beings.

While most of the authors would surely agree with the above, there is little unanimity when it comes to other matters. Specific topics addressed include the environment, virtual reality, technology in recreation, social engineering, and more. All of the selections are important contributions to the general discussion about technology and ethics. Some are more difficult than others, but for the most part the average educated lay reader shouldn?t have a problem getting quite a lot out of this.