Living Technology: Philosophy and Ethics at the Crossroads Between Life and Technology

Description

The boundaries between inanimate technology and the realm of the living become increasingly blurred. Deeper and deeper technological interventions into living organisms are possible, covering the entire spectrum of life from bacteria to humans. Simultaneously, digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) enable increasingly autonomous technologies. Inanimate technologies such as robots begin to show characteristics of life. Contested issues pop up, such as the dignity of life, the enhancement of animals for human purposes, the creation of designer babies, and the granting of robot rights. The book addresses the understanding of the ongoing dissolution of the life/technology borders, the provision of ethical guidance for navigating research and innovation responsibly, and the philosophical reflection on the meaning of the current shifts. It offers three specific perspectives for understanding the challenges and providing orientation. First, the dissolution of the boundaries between technology and life is analyzed and reflected from both sides. Second, the search for orientation is not restricted to ethics but also involves philosophy of technology and of nature, as well as anthropology. Finally, instead of restricting the analysis to specific areas of life, e.g., bacteria or animals, the book presents a comprehensive look at the entire spectrum of living organisms—bacteria and viruses, plants, animals and humans—and robots as possible early forms of emerging technical life. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: What You Will Find in This Book? 1.1: The Point of Departure: Observations 1.2: The Mission: Targets and Objectives 1.3: The Way Ahead: Overview of the Chapters 1.4: The Origin: Background Chapter 2: Life and Technology as Conceptual Patterns 2.1: Life 2.2: Technology 2.3: Uncharted Territory: Life and Technology at a Crossroads Chapter 3: Ethics Guiding Our Pathways to the Future 3.1: Problem-Oriented Ethics 3.1.1: Ethics for Analyzing and Resolving Moral Conflicts 3.1.2: Standard Situations in a Moral Respect 3.1.3: Beyond Standard Situations in a Moral Respect 3.2: Ethics for Guiding the Techno-Scientific Advance 3.3: Ethics of Responsibility 3.3.1: The Understanding of Responsibility 3.3.2: Consequentialist Ethics of Technology 3.3.3: Responsibility Beyond Consequentialism Chapter 4: On the Track to Creating Life: Synthetic Biology 4.1: Synthetic Biology 4.2: The Debate on the Opportunities and Risks of Synthetic Biology 4.2.1: Studies on the Opportunities and Risks of Synthetic Biology 4.2.2: Overview of Opportunities 4.2.3: Categorization of Risks 4.3: Ethical Challenges 4.3.1: Risks of Self-Organizing Products of Synthetic Biology 4.3.2: The Moral Status of Created Organisms 4.3.3: Human Hubris by “Playing God”? 4.4: Responsibility Configurations of Synthetic Biology 4.5: Beyond Ethics: Visionary Narratives Around the Notion of “Life” Chapter 5: Animal Enhancement for Human Purposes 5.1: Technologies for Intervening into Animals 5.2: The Semantics of Animal Enhancement 5.3: Normative Frameworks and Ethical Challenges 5.3.1: Between Human Purposes and Animal Welfare 5.3.2: Ethical Spotlights on Animal Enhancement 5.4: Responsibility Considerations 5.5: Beyond Ethics: Changing Human–Animal Relationships Chatper 6: Shaping the Code of Human Life: Genome Editing 6.1: Editing Humans? The Case of the Chinese Twins 6.2: Genome Editing: Turbo Genetic Engineering 6.3: Ethical Issues of Human Genome Editing 6.3.1: The Consequentialist View of Germline Intervention 6.3.2: Deontological Arguments 6.4: Responsibility Challenges of Germline Intervention 6.5: Genome Editing: Editing Humans? Chapter 7: Human Enhancement 7.1: Technologies for Human Enhancement 7.1.1: Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance 7.1.2: Visions of Human Enhancement 7.1.3: Enhancement in Human History 7.2: The Semantics of Human Enhancement 7.2.1: Enhancement versus Healing 7.2.2: The Semantic Field of Healing, Weak and Strong Enhancement 7.2.3: Human Enhancement by Technology 7.3: Ethics of Human Enhancement 7.3.1: Normative Uncertainties and Ethical Questions 7.3.2: Ethical Argumentation Patterns 7.3.3: Balance of the Ethical Debate So Far 7.4: Are We Heading Toward an “Enhancement Society”? 7.5: Responsible Human Enhancement 7.5.1: Responsibility Constellation 7.5.2: The Case of Neuro-Electric Enhancement 7.6: Changing Relations Between Humans and Technology Chapter 8: Robots and Artificial Intelligence: Living Technology? 8.1: Artificial Companions 8.2: Autonomous Technologies 8.2.1: Autonomous Technology in Practice Fields 8.2.2: Autonomous Problem-Solving and Machine Learning 8.3: Ethical Issues 8.3.1: Ethical Dilemma Situations 8.3.2: Adaptation and Control 8.3.3: The Moral Status of Autonomous Technology 8.4: Responsibility Considerations 8.4.1: Responsibility Assignment to Autonomous Technology? 8.4.2: Human Responsibility for Autonomous Technology 8.5: Autonomous Technology: Loss of Human Autonomy? Chapter 9: On the Future of Life 9.1: The Ultimate Triumph of the Baconian Homo Faber? 9.2: The End of Nature (1): Human Impact on the Future of Life 9.3: The End of Nature (2): Dominance of the Techno-Perspective 9.4: Does Autonomous Technology Live? 9.5: Moral Status for Engineered and Created “Life” 9.6: The Ladder of “Life” Bibliography Index