http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/news/ en C.Basta@tudelft.nl Copyright 2010 2010-03-15T16:51:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/professor_thomas_pogge_on_global_justice_may_18_the_hague/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/professor_thomas_pogge_on_global_justice_may_18_the_hague/#When:10:29:00Z The 3TU.Ethics Management Team and the whole 3TU.Ethics staff are pleased to announce the lecture of professor Thomas Pogge which will take place on May 18, 2010, at the Peace Palace of The Hague. Professor Pogge will provide an insight of and will involve the audience in a discussion on Global Poverty: What is (To Be) Done? Professor Pogge is Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University and Research Director at the Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature, University of Oslo. His work on Global Justice doesn’t need any introduction, but to remind his most known contributions to the contemporary philosophical debate we could mention his work on Rawls theory of justice, cosmopolitanism and, more recently, extreme poverty. His book World Poverty and Human Rights is widely regarded as one of the most important works on global justice. It is on this latter topic, and on global poverty in particular, that Professor Pogge will give his lecture at Peace Palace in front of a heterogeneous audience of scholars, students and government representatives. The lecture will start at 3 pm at the wonderful venue of the congress centre of Peace Palace, in The Hague. Sits available are 150 circa. The programme of the event is downloadable here. As we expect an enthusiastic participation, please write to to register to the event as soon as possible.  News 2010-02-01T10:29:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/the_3tucentre_welcomes_applications_for_the_forthcoming_phd_programme/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/the_3tucentre_welcomes_applications_for_the_forthcoming_phd_programme/#When:09:58:01Z The 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology, in cooperation with the Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society (PSTS) Master Programme of the University of Twente, welcomes applications for the PhD Programme in Ethics of Technology. Application deadline for both EU and non-EU candidates is April 30, 2010. Programme description The program of the 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology is designed to meet the increasing need for responsible innovation in society and a growing demand for graduates in ethics of technology. The aim of the programme is to investigate the ethical issues emerging during the development, use and regulation of technology. Relevant research areas include: - ethics and politics of emerging technologies, - philosophy of risk, - ethics and engineering design, - environmental ethics, - technology and the good life, - technology and responsibility and - human enhancement. The PhD programme consists of a first year of education, in coordination with the PSTS Master programme of Twente University, during which selected students will attend classes taught by internationally leading scholars in philosophy and ethics of technology from the 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology. The 1st year of programme consists of course work but is also designed to support students in writing a research proposal in a chosen area of investigation, which will be further developed in the following years up to the completion of a PhD dissertation. After the 1st year of education PhD students are also expected to spend three to six months at one of our partner Universities, among which the Uehiro Centre at Oxford University, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics of ANU in Melbourne and Canberra. Selection Procedure Candidates shall submit a writing sample (like their Bachelor or Master theses, or an essay or paper which they consider representative of their own work). A Curriculum Vitae, a letter of motivation and at least 2 academic reference letters shall be also provided. The selection committee may require to candidates to provide evidence of their English language skills through the TOEFL certificate or other recognized English language certifications. A first short-list of candidates will be made in early May 2010 and interviews will be hold within the end of the same month. All applicants will be notified the outcomes of the selection process in June 2010. Funding The 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology will fund up to 4 PhD positions for the programme starting in September 2010. Graduates will receive a salary of 2042 Euro gross per month circa (excluding holiday allowance and 13th month) in the first year, which will increase up to 2612 Euro gross circa in the 4th year. The Centre welcomes also applications from international students in possession of their own grants or scholarships. How to Apply To apply, please visit this page and fill-in the required information. Once you’ve done so you may send your application material specifying “Application PhD Programme 2010” in the subject. For further clarifications on the 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology, the PhD programme and how to apply please contact the . You may also download the full text of the vacancy here. News, Vacancy 2009-12-01T09:58:01+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/colloquium_technology_assesment/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/colloquium_technology_assesment/#When:16:51:00Z Roger Brownsword, School of Law, King’s College London, UK, Wednesday, March 15th 2010, room a3.100 It is generally agreed that it is important to create the right kind of regulatory environment for emerging technologies. However, what does this mean? What is it that makes a regulatory nvironment “right”? Is it a question of quantity, that we need more, or perhaps less, regulation? Or, is it a question of quality and direction? Or, is it perhaps unhelpful to put the question in these terms? In this paper, I will suggest that the adequacy of the regulatory environment should be assessed relative to five criteria, each of which can be expressed as a particular kind of regulatory challenge. First, there is the prudential challenge: where emerging technologies might present risks, regulators need to take steps to ensure and manage those risks; risks should be acceptable. Secondly, there is the challenge of legitimacy; regulatory positions and regulatory strategies need to be compatible with governing values¾regulators should be trying to do the right thing and setting about doing it in the right kind of way. Thirdly, regulatory interventions should be fit for purpose; they should work; they should be effective. Fourthly, regulation needs to engage appropriately with emerging technologies and to stay connected; the regulatory environment needs to be sustainable. Finally, cosmopolitans will demand that regulators should respect fundamental values as well as tolerate legitimate local difference. Is there a thread that runs through this? Possibly it is that regulators have to find ways of handling various kinds of pluralism (prudential and moral) in a context of uncertainty, rapid change, and significant inter-connectedness. Events, Archive 2010-03-15T16:51:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/roeser_s_2010/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/roeser_s_2010/#When:14:46:00Z Emotions and Risky Technologies Edited by: Sabine Roeser Publisher: Springer Description By offering an innovative and challenging approach to the topic of risk and emotion, this book covers completely new territory. It focuses on risk and emotion from the perspective of moral philosophy and emphasizes that emotions are an important source of moral knowledge. The book connects to important debates about risk and emotion in empirical decision theory. However, whereas in these debates, emotions are mainly seen as a threat for rational decision making, this book investigates the novel idea that emotions might be a normative guide in making judgments about morally acceptable risks. Technological risks such as cloning, GM-foods, and nuclear energy spark heated and emotional debates. Many people are afraid of the possible unwanted consequences of such technologies. This gives rise to the following normative question: do we need emotions in order to be able to judge whether a technology and its concomitant risks are morally acceptable? This question has direct practical implications: should engineers, scientists and policy makers involved in developing risk regulation take emotions (of the public, but also their own) seriously or not? This book sets the stage for research into moral emotions and risky technologies. It brings together leading scholars who work in the areas of risk perception, moral emotions, and ethics of risk, and lets them reflect on this exciting and important new topic. The book should be of interest for everybody involved with risk regulation, both at an academic and a practical level. Contents Acknowledgements; Robert C. Solomon-Foreword; List of Contributors; Sabine Roeser-Introduction; Part I: Emotions as Distortions about Risk; 1. Cass Sunstein-Moral Heuristics and Risk; 2. Ronald de Sousa-Here’s how I Feel: Don’t Trust Feelings! 3. Paul Slovic-"If I look at the Mass I Will Never Act”: Psychic Numbing and Genocide;4. Ross Buck and Whitney A. Davis-Marketing Risk: Emotional Appeals Can Promote the Mindless Acceptance of Risk; 5. Dylan Evans-Emotions as Aids and Obstacles in Thinking about Risky Technologies; Part II: Emotions and Virtues in Risk Assessment; 6. Sabine Döring and Fritz Feger-Risk Assessment as Virtue; 7. Robert C. Roberts-Emotions and Judgments about Risk; 8. Peter Goldie-The Moral Risks of Risky Technologies; 9. Simone van der Burg-Ethical imagination: Broadening Laboratory Deliberations; Part III: Emotions as a Guide to Acceptable Risk; 10. Dan Kahan-Emotion in Risk Regulation: Competing Theories; 11. Dieter Birnbacher-Emotions within the Bounds of Pure Reason: Emotionality and Rationality in the Acceptance of Technological Risks; 12. Felicitas Kraemer-Emotions Involved in Risk Perception;13. Mark Coeckelbergh-Risk Emotions and Risk Judgments: Passive Bodily Experience and Active Moral Reasoning in Judgmental Constellations; 14. Sabine Roeser-Emotional Reflection about Risks; Name and Subject Index. News & Events, Publication 2010-03-12T14:46:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/colloquium_technical_knowledge_as_a_guide_to_technical_action_a_paradigm_fo/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/colloquium_technical_knowledge_as_a_guide_to_technical_action_a_paradigm_fo/#When:16:16:00Z Sandro Gaycken, Institut für Philosophie, Universität Stuttgart, Germany, Monday 8th March 2010, room a3.100. Technical Knowledge as a Guide to Technical Action – A Paradigm for the Epistemology of Technology? Abstract: Epistemologists and philosophers of science seem somewhat divided whether technological knowledge provides a genuine case to be investigated and just what the questions might be. Most existing investigations have not produced any results. My talk wants to propose a different outset from which to investigate. If the task of a philosophy of science is reconsidered as having to explain how a particular type of knowledge achieves the aim it has been designed for, technological knowledge can be investigated in its particular role of enabling and guiding technological action. Once this stance is adopted, a range of philosophically interesting and genuine problems emerge for the investigation of technological knowledge. Events, Archive 2010-03-08T16:16:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/kivi_niria_lectures_series_no1_johnny_soraker_on_virtual_worlds_and_persona/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/kivi_niria_lectures_series_no1_johnny_soraker_on_virtual_worlds_and_persona/#When:11:26:00Z As already announced on this website, starting from March 3 the KIVI-NIRIA / 3TU.Ethics lectures series will start with a lecture of Johnny Soraker titled Virtual Worlds and personal well-being – Is Virtually Good not Actually Good?. As abstract of the lecture is available below. The venue of this first appointment is Vergadercentrum Vredenburg 19 in Utrecht; the lecture will start at 7pm. In the attached invitation you’ll find the additional information you’d need in case you decide to attend. Abstract - Whether my life fares well or not seems inextricably related to whether the states of affairs that contribute to my well-being are real or not. We are constantly exposed to and troubled by claims of unreality: Is this real love? Get a real life! What is my real identity? Is she a real friend? Am I escaping my real obligations? Is there really a God? We are either relieved or disappointed when a particularly lifelike dream turned out not to be real, or by realizing that a particular state of affairs turned out not to be true after all. When so much of our lives and well-being is tied up with concerns and claims about reality, it should come as no surprise that the impact of virtual worlds on our lives is a controversial topic. Indeed, philosophers, policy makers, researchers and journalists often make claims to the effect that wasting one’s life on virtual surrogates for the real thing amounts to being bereaved of what real life has to offer; that virtual worlds, entities and experiences might give immediate gratification, but not deliver the kind of authentic happiness that a life engaged with reality can offer. These questions raise strong intuitions in most people, ranging from immediate dismissal to utopian visions of lives freed from the shackles and contingencies of our physical existence. In this presentation, I will first disclose and discuss some of the assumptions that lie behind our intuitions, and subsequently highlight a number of ways in which virtual worlds may be conducive or detrimental to well-being. In doing so, I will draw heavily on empirical research on subjective well-being and discuss the applicability of these findings to virtual worlds. Events 2010-03-03T11:26:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/the_2nd_international_symposium_on_symbiotic_safe_and_secure_systesm_design/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/the_2nd_international_symposium_on_symbiotic_safe_and_secure_systesm_design/#When:14:58:00Z The 2nd International Symposium on Symbolic, Safe and Secure System Design Advances in System Design Research Feburary 26th, 2010 The 2nd International Symposium on Symbolic, Safe and Secure System Design was held on February 26th, 2010 at Multimedia Room, 14th building, Yagami Campus, Keio University.  News, Archive 2010-02-26T14:58:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/namur_award_to_jeroen_van_hoven/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/namur_award_to_jeroen_van_hoven/#When:10:06:00Z As announced earlier on this website, Jeroen van den Hoven is the winner of the 2009 edition of the NAMUR Award, which he received during a ceremony hold in January 2010 at Namur, in Belgium. IFIP-WG9.2 The International Federation for Information Processing, usually known as IFIP, is an umbrella organization for national societies working in the field of information technology. It is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. Its members include over 48 national societies and academies of science. WG9.2 is one of the IFIP working groups, which deals with ‘Computers and Social Accountability’. This working group is part of an IFIP technical committee on the ‘Relationship between Technology and Society’. The Namur Award The Namur Award is made for “an outstanding contribution to the awareness of social implications of information and communication technology”. It was created to draw attention to the need for an holistic approach in the use of information technology in which the social implications have been taken into account. The Namur Award is a biennial award to be accorded for an outstanding contribution with international impact to the awareness of social implications of information technology. The purpose is to draw attention to the need for an holistic approach in the use of information technology in which the social implications have been taken into account. The general criterion is that of an outstanding contribution with international impact in the field of social implications of information technology. The contribution can be in the form of a publication, design, lecture, or any other project. The may also be granted for a special action, accomplishment or achievement of any other kind within the scope of the Namur Award. The Namur Award consists of a commemorative plate and a certificate. News 2010-02-18T10:06:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/conference_energy_and_the_future_extended_deadline_for_abstracts_submission/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/conference_energy_and_the_future_extended_deadline_for_abstracts_submission/#When:12:44:00Z The deadline for submiting your abstract to the international conference ”Ethics, Energy & the Future: Technology for a Sustainable Society”, which will be held in Delft from June 24th to June 26th, is extended until March 15th. Please refer to the website of the conference for more information on how to submit your paper. News 2010-02-16T12:44:00+01:00 http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/colloquium_tba1/ http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/3tu_news/comments/colloquium_tba1/#When:16:06:00Z Malte Engel, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Germany, Monday February 15th 2010, room a3.100. Beyond Free Will and Determinism How can neuroscience become relevant to moral responsibility? ABSTRACT: The rapid advance of neuroscience has generated an increasing interest in the question of how neuroscientific findings may become relevant to issues related to moral responsibility. Discussions of this question very often rely on two assumptions: first, the assumption that neuroscientific research goes along with a deterministic view of human behavior, and second, the idea that neuroscientific findings are relevant insofar as they shed light on questions of free will. I shall argue that both of these assumptions are misleading. The most elaborated philosophical accounts of moral responsibility emphasize that moral responsibility is a matter of possessing certain cognitive capacities rather than a matter of free will. According to these accounts, to be a morally responsible agent means to be someone who is able to grasp moral reasons and to act by the light of those reasons. This suggests that neuroscientific research can become relevant to issues of moral responsibility insofar as it can add to our understanding of these capacities. Taking this idea as a starting-point, I shall sketch a number of ways in which neuroscientific research can contribute to our understanding of the conditions of moral responsibility.  Events, Archive 2010-02-15T16:06:00+01:00