Key concepts in our research
3TU.Ethics aims not only at doing excellent philosophical and ethical research, but also has a keen eye for social relevance and impact of her research projects. Social valorization is an important issue for us. The following - interrelated - concepts therefore form a connecting thread throughout our research program and activities:
Responsible innovation
More and more companies are expected by customers, stock holders, the government, investors and non-governmental organizations to show corporate social responsibility. Demand from society will probably go much further than personal integrity in the years to come. From high tech companies it is not only expected that they do business in a socially responsible way, but also that they innovate in a socially responsible way. It does not only concern sustainability, safety and health, but also values such as accountability, transparency, privacy and more general ethical and social concerns about intervening in –human- nature.
Ethical parallel research
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research’s (NWO/STW) model of ethical parallel research in which ethical investigations are closely connected to programs of technological development is a source of inspiration for 3TU.Ethics. A main aim of the ethical parallel research is to uncover the ethical issues potentially raised by new technological developments. Such results will also be fed back to the technological researchers involved, for example by workshops and seminars.
Value sensitive design
An important notion in the 3TU.Ethics research program is that of value-sensitive design. This is an approach to the study of ethics and technology that assumes that the outcome of design processes is not neutral, but ethically laden, and that morally relevant considerations inform the shaping of the world of artifacts. A value-sensitive design approach situates moral questions early on in the process of design, development of technologies, systems and research. It proposes rational procedures for designing artifacts under the guidance of moral values.
