Political Philosophy of Engineering and Technology – Workshop organized by Carl Mitcham (Colorado School of Mines)

Abstract:

Why political philosophy of technology? Why aren’t the philosophy and ethics of technology adequate? A classic answer is contained in the concluding chapter of Nicomachean Ethics where Aristotle transitions to the Politics: “Ethical arguments may have the power to encourage and stimulate the high-minded and those of noble character, but they are insufficient to encourage the many to nobility and goodness” (NEX, 9). Only in a world blinded by excessive individualism could ethics alone be thought sufficient to deal with questions of good and evil in an engineered and engineering world. Indeed, as Aristotle also notes at the beginning, it is politics that determines how technics and sciences are to be pursued and practiced in the polis (NE I, 2). It’s not just ethics. As engineered technologies increasingly supervene on and threaten the lifeworld through both success and destruction, only politics, political action, and political philosophy can save us.

Speakers:

Avigail Ferdman (Technion, Israel)
Giovanni Frigo (ITAS Karlsruhe)
Lukas Fuchs (TU Eindhoven)
Viet Anh Nguyen Duc (TU Darmstadt)

Please find the prorgam here.

Here you can see the event announcement.

If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.