Techno-ethics Embedment: A New Trend in Technology Assessment

Abstract

Facing the ethical potentials of technology, there appears a new trend in technology assessment (TA) recently, which is techno-ethics embedment that aims embed ethical perspectives within the process of assessing and developing new technologies. There are two basic dimensions of this trend: the role of ethics and the status of technology. By referring these dimensions, I articulate two different TA modes of the techno-ethics embedment:One is the ethical technology assessment (eTA) that appears as a combination of an ethical judge with the objective technological force, while the other is the combination of an engaged ethical participant with an active technological mediator. Moreover, there is an ideal status of this trend that is an engaged ethical participant with an active technological mediator. As the thought of technology accompaniment shows, both the "agency" of human and technology will be embodied to the most in this ideal status of techno-ethics embedment.