Master Thesis Series
3TU.Ethics encourages the publication of the electronic version (in .pdf format) of particularly interesting and innovative Master’s theses in this section of the website. The main requirements you shall meet to see your Master thesis published here is having obtained a very rewarding grade and having developed a topic consistent with our research.
If you want to explore the opportunity of publishing your thesis here, please write our Coordinator Claudia Basta.
- Ton Monasso - In the Picture - Policy considerations for the IT-supported recognition of children with psychosocial problems
Abstract -Which role could an Electronic Child File or a Referral Index play in the succesful development of children? Which information do we need to collect and exchange, and in what form? How does the trade-off between privacy and children’s development look like? Are humans capable of processing information delivered by a computer system? This report explores the policy considerations for the IT-supported recognition of children with psychosocial problems. This has resulted in a typology of systems and a set of policy recommendations, which may be applied to a diverse range of information systems and processes of cooperation between organisations dealing with youth. The report takes no normative position, but challenges the reader and the policy community to carefully think through the ethical, institutional and technological consequences of their choices. - Richard Heersmink - Ghost in the Machine. A philosophical analysis of the relationship between brain-computer interface applications and their users.
Abstract -This Master’s thesis explores the relationship between Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and their human users from a functional, epistemological and phenomenological perspective. A better understanding of this particular human-technology relation is important for at least three reasons. First, it can contribute to a more effective design of BCI systems, which is beneficial for the users and designers of this technology. Second, the outcome of this analysis could be used as a point of departure for a discussion on the moral desirability of BCI systems, for example, in terms of privacy, personal identity or autonomy. And third, a better understanding of human-technology relations in general contributes to a philosophical anthropological notion of what it means to be human, which has intrinsic value.
