Skip to main content
Fachgebiete
Automobil + Motoren Bauwesen + Immobilien Business IT + Informatik Elektrotechnik + Elektronik Energie + Nachhaltigkeit Finance + Banking Management + Führung Marketing + Vertrieb Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe Versicherung + Risiko
DE
EN
Bücher
Zeitschriften
Themenseiten
Organisationspsychologie Projektmanagement Marketing Smart Manufacturing
Weitere Formate
Podcasts Webinare Technik Webinare Wirtschaft Kongresse Veranstaltungskalender Awards
Jetzt Einzelzugang starten
Zugang für Unternehmen
Referenzkunden
SLX-Digitalkonferenz: Zukunftswerkstatt 2024

Mehr Umsatz mit Top-Kontakten

Am 7. Mai erfahren Sie, wie Vertriebsteams Leadgenerierung, Leadnurturing und Leadstrategien effizient steuern können.
Erweiterte Suche
Anmelden
nach oben
NanoEthics
Erschienen in: NanoEthics 2/2013

01.08.2013 | Original Paper

Is Nanotechnology Giving Rise to New Ethical Problems?

verfasst von: Fabio Bacchini

Erschienen in: NanoEthics | Ausgabe 2/2013

Einloggen

Aktivieren Sie unsere intelligente Suche, um passende Fachinhalte oder Patente zu finden.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

In this paper I focus on the question of whether nanotechnology is giving rise to new ethical problems rather than merely to new instances of old ethical problems. Firstly, I demonstrate how important it is to make a general distinction between new ethical problems and new instances of old problems. Secondly, I propose one possible way of interpreting the distinction and offer a definition of a “new ethical problem”. Thirdly, I examine whether there is good reason to claim that nanotechnology is giving or will give rise to new ethical problems. My conclusion is that there are no new ethical problems in nanotechnology but merely new occurrences of certain well-known types of ethical problems. Fourthly, I consider three arguments by van de Poel (NanoEthics 2:25–28, 2008) which contradict my conclusion. I argue that my negative conclusion is consistent with the claim that certain ethical issues arising in nanotechnology may require new normative standards or new analytical tools. I conclude that it is likely that a number of ethical issues arising in nanotechnology will have a considerable impact on our ethical theories and values – and that ethical reflection on nanotechnology will be one of the mother lodes of future ethical research – in spite of the fact that no ethical problem in nanoethics will actually be “new”.
Vorheriger Artikel Discernment and Denial: Nanotechnology Researchers’ Recognition of Ethical Responsibilities Related to Their Work
Nächster Artikel Patentable Novelty in Nanotechnology Inventions: a Legal Study in Iraq and Malaysia

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren
Fußnoten
1
The same point is made by Tavani [46] with regards to the same debate in computer ethics.
 
2
Lewenstein [28] can be considered to be guided by a parallel need to clarify the underlying meaning of ‘a social and ethical issue’, both in nanotechnology and in any other area of emerging science and technology. See also Braunack-Mayer [7].
 
3
Sandler ([42]: 17) is one of very few researchers who holds not only that nanotechnology does give rise to new ethical problems (‘unfamiliar issues’), but also believes that we should not group them in a new field of inquiry called ‘nanoethics’ (arguing that what the novel ethical issues ‘have in common in virtue of their being ‘nano’ is (if anything at all) insignificant’). White [51] and Johnson [22] also claim that nanomedicine raises ‘unique issues that require ethical scrutiny’, as well as arguing that we do not need any specific ‘subfield or discipline’ called ‘nanoethics’.
 
4
See, for example, Allhoff ([3]: W1) ‘We need to acknowledge the possibility of ethical novelty’.
 
5
See also, for example, McGee [32].
 
6
See also Ferrari [13]. In the context of information and communication technology (ICT), Tavani [46] similarly distinguishes between the claim that new moral issues appeared in ICT and the claim that new moral principles are needed in ICT. He argues that the claims are not mutually implicit.
 
7
On this point, see [17]. They are among the few who ask when it is that an ethical problem is new. In their opinion, ‘the answer depends greatly on the level of abstraction with which one analyses a particular ethical issue’; they thus conclude that ‘to a large extent the question of novelty is a pseudo-problem’ (ivi: 407). Although I agree when they say that we do not need to prove that nanotechnology gives rise to certain new ethical problems in order to confirm that we have compelling reasons to pursue research in nanoethics, I have demonstrated (1) that we cannot do without the distinction between ‘a new ethical problem’ and ‘merely a new occurrence of an old ethical problem’, and (2) that we can draw the distinction independently from the level of abstraction.
 
8
Toth-Fejel ([48]: 12) agrees that ‘nanotechnology rarely raises any substantively new concerns; it only changes the context in which those concerns are realized’; however, he also suggests that nanotechnology may give rise to new ethical problems, his argument being merely that ‘differences in degree may be transferred into differences in kind – with unforeseen ethical implications’. Clearly we would need a non-arbitrary way of determining ‘the tipping point between degree and kind’; unfortunately, Toth-Fejel leaves us in the dark in that respect. For a similar point, see McGee [32]. Hopefully my definition of ‘a new ethical problem’ enables us to distinguish in a non-arbitrary fashion between ‘a new ethical problem’ and ‘a new occurrence of a non-new ethical problem’. For more about the argument that ethical concerns are manifest to drastically different degrees through nanotechnology, see Allhoff [1].
 
9
Indeed, Sandler himself appears uncertain whether to consider them as genuinely new problems. He writes that even if they ‘are in a general sense familiar, they often will be quite novel in the particular’, and that ‘they involve significantly novel instantiations’ ([42]: 16) – we could easily interpret this as maintaining that they are merely new occurrences of old problems. However, he also says that ‘in addition to raising a broad array of familiar issues in novel forms, some nanomedical technologies have the potential to raise unfamiliar (or, at least, less familiar) issues, since they have the potential to challenge the basic evaluative framework for medicine’ (ivi: 17). In my view it is clear from this statement that he feels bound to consider them as new primarily because of his belief that they can significantly reconstitute our general ethical frameworks. Hopefully, I am offering a solution that allows them to be viewed as both challenging and non-new.
 
Literatur
1.
Allhoff F (2007) On the autonomy and justification of nanoethics. NanoEthics 1:185–210CrossRef
2.
Allhoff F (2009) The coming era of nanomedicine. Am J Bioeth 9(10):3–11CrossRef
3.
Allhoff F (2009) Response to open peer commentaries on “the coming era of nanomedicine”. Am J Bioeth 9(10):W1–W2CrossRef
4.
Allhoff F, Lin P (2006) What’s so special about nanotechnology and nanoethics? Int J Appl Philos 20(2):179–190CrossRef
5.
6.
Bensaude-Vincent B (2010) Opening the field of nanoethics: editorial introduction. Hyle 16(1):1–2
7.
Braunack-Mayer AJ (2001) What makes a problem an ethical problem? An empirical perspective on the nature of ethical problems in general practice. J Med Ethics 27:98–103CrossRef
8.
Brownsword R (2008) Rights, regulation, and the technological revolution. Oxford University Press, OxfordCrossRef
9.
Brownsword R (2009) Nanoethics: old wine, new bottles? J Consum Policy 32(4):355–379CrossRef
10.
Dupuy J-P (2007) Some pitfalls in the philosophical foundations of nanoethics. J Med Philos 32:237–261CrossRef
11.
Descartes R (1640) Responsio authoris ad primas objectiones. (In Ch. Adam & P. Tannery (Eds.), (1964–1974) , René Descartes. Oeuvres, 11 vols., Paris: Vrin)
12.
Ebbesen M, Andersen S, Besenbacher F (2006) Ethics in nanotechnology: starting to scratch? Bulletin of Science. Technol Soc 26(6):451–462
13.
Ferrari A (2010) Developments in the debate on nanoethics: traditional approaches and the need for new kinds of analysis. NanoEthics 4:27–52CrossRef
14.
Ferrari A, Nordmann A (2010) Beyond conversation: some lessons for nanoethics. NanoEthics 4:171–181CrossRef
15.
Fischer E (2007) The convergence of nanotechnology, policy, and ethics. Adv Comput 71:273–296CrossRef
16.
Godman M (2008) But is it unique to nanotechnology? Sci Eng Ethics 14:391–403CrossRef
17.
Gordijn B, de Vries R, O’Mathúna D (2011) Ethical issues in nanotechnology. In: Chadwick R, ten Have H, Maslin EM (eds) The Sage handbook of health care ethics. Sage, London, pp 402–412
18.
Grunwald A (2005) Nanotechnology – a new field of ethical inquiry? Sci Eng Ethics 11:187–201CrossRef
19.
Hansson SO (2004) Great uncertainty about small things. Techné Res Philos Technol 8(2):S26–S35
20.
21.
Johnson DG (2007) Ethics and technology ‘in the making’: an essay on the challenge of nanoethics. NanoEthics 1:21–30CrossRef
22.
Johnson S (2009) The era of nanomedicine and nanoethics: has it come, is it still coming, or will it pass us by? Am J Bioeth 9(10):2–3
23.
24.
Kermisch C (2012) Do new ethical issues arise at each stage of nanotechnological development? NanoEthics 6:29–37CrossRef
25.
Khushf G (2004) The ethics of nanotechnology: vision and values for a new generation of science and engineering. (In The National Academy of Engineering (Ed.), Emerging Technologies and Ethical Issues in Engineering (pp. 29–55). Washington: National Academies Press)
26.
Kuiken T (2011) Nanomedicine and ethics: is there anything new or unique? Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology 3(2):111–118CrossRef
27.
Lenk C, Biller-Andorno N (2007) Nanomedicine-emerging or re-emerging ethical issues? A discussion of four ethical themes. Med Health Care Philos 10:173–184CrossRef
28.
Lewenstein BV (2011) What counts as a ‘social and ethical issue’ in nanotechnology? Hyle, 11, 1, 5–18. In: Schummer J, Baird D (eds) Nanotechnology challenges: implications for philosophy, ethics, and society. World Scientific Publishing, Singapore, pp 201–216
29.
Litton P (2007) “Nanoethics”? What’s new? Hast Cent Rep 37(1):22–25CrossRef
30.
MacDonald C (2004) Nanotech is novel; the ethical issues are not. The Scientist 18:3
31.
MacDonald C, Williams-Jones B (2012) Nothing new (ethically) under the sun: policy and clinical implications of nanomedicine. Bioéthique Online, 1. Retrieved April 1, 2013 from bioethiqueonline.ca/publications/articles
32.
McGee EM (2009) Nanomedicine: ethical concerns beyond diagnostics, drugs, and techniques. Am J Bioeth 9(10):14–15CrossRef
33.
McGinn R (2010) What’s different, ethically, about nanotechnology? Foundational questions and answers. NanoEthics 4:115–128CrossRef
34.
Moor JH (2005) Why we need better ethics for emerging technologies. Ethics and Information Technology, 7, 111–119. In: van den Hoven J, Weckert J (eds) Information technology and moral philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 26–39
35.
Nurock V (2008) Avons-nous vraiment besoin de ‘nano-éthique’? In: Bensaude-Vincent B, Larrère R, Nurock V (eds) Bionano-éthique: regards critiques sur les nanotechnologies. Vuibert, Paris, pp 113–127
36.
Nurock V (2010) Nanoethics: ethics for, from, or with nanotechnologies? Hyle 16(1):31–42
37.
Preston CJ (2005) The promise and threat of nanotechnology. Hyle 11:19–44
38.
Queraltó R (2013) Ethics as a beneficial Trojan horse in a technological society. Sci Eng Ethics 19:13–26CrossRef
39.
Rieder TN (2008) Book review of Fritz Allhoff and Patrick Lin (eds): Nanotechnology and society: current and emergent ethical issues. NanoEthics, 2, 329–331
40.
Roco MC (2011) The long view of nanotechnology development: the national nanotechnology initiative at 10 years. J Nanoparticles Res 13:427–445CrossRef
41.
42.
Sandler R (2009) Nanomedicine and nanomedical ethics. Am J Bioeth 9(10):16–17CrossRef
43.
Spagnolo A, Daloiso V (2008) Outlining ethical issues in nanotechnologies. Bioethics 23(7):394–402CrossRef
44.
Sparrow R (2009) The social impacts of nanotechnology: an ethical and political analysis. Bioeth Inq 6:13–23CrossRef
45.
Swierstra S, Rip A (2007) Nano-ethics as NEST-ethics: patterns of moral argumentation about new and emerging science and technology. NanoEthics 1:3–20CrossRef
46.
Tavani HT (2002) The uniqueness debate in computer ethics: what exactly is at issue, and why does it matter? Ethics Inf Technol 4:37–54CrossRef
47.
Tiefenauer LX (2006) Ethics of nanotechnology in medicine. NanoBiotechnology 2:1–3CrossRef
48.
Toth-Fejel T (2009) Nanotechnology will change more than just one thing. Am J Bioeth 9(10):12–13CrossRef
49.
Van de Poel I (2008) How should we do nanoethics? a network approach for discerning ethical issues in nanotechnology. NanoEthics 2:25–38CrossRef
50.
Varzi A (2011) On doing ontology without metaphysics. Philos Perspect 25:407–423CrossRef
51.
White GB (2009) Missing the boat of nanoethics. Am J Bioeth 9(10):18–19CrossRef
Metadaten
Titel
Is Nanotechnology Giving Rise to New Ethical Problems?
verfasst von
Fabio Bacchini
Publikationsdatum
01.08.2013
Verlag
Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in
NanoEthics / Ausgabe 2/2013
Print ISSN: 1871-4757
Elektronische ISSN: 1871-4765
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11569-013-0179-1

Weitere Artikel der Ausgabe 2/2013

NanoEthics 2/2013 Zur Ausgabe

Original Paper

Governing Nanotechnology in a Multi-Stakeholder World

Original Paper

Patentable Novelty in Nanotechnology Inventions: a Legal Study in Iraq and Malaysia

Original Paper

Technology, Methodology and Intervention: Performing Nanoethics in Portugal

Original Paper

Nanotechnology Policies in Latin America: Risksto Health and Environment

Original Paper

Discernment and Denial: Nanotechnology Researchers’ Recognition of Ethical Responsibilities Related to Their Work