Abstract
The ethical approach to science and technology is based on their use and application in extremely diverse fields. Less prominence has been given to the theme of the profound changes in our conception of human nature produced by the most recent developments in artificial intelligence and robotics due to their capacity to simulate an increasing number of human activities traditionally attributed to man as manifestations of the higher spiritual dimension inherent in his nature. Hence, a kind of contrast between nature and artificiality has ensued in which conformity with nature is presented as a criterion of morality and the artificial is legitimized only as an aid to nature. On the contrary, this essay maintains that artificiality is precisely the specific expression of human nature which has, in fact, made a powerful contribution to the progress of man. However, science and technology do not offer criteria to guide the practical and conceptual use of their own contents simply because they do not contain the conceptual space for the ought-to-be. Therefore, this paper offers a critical analysis of the conceptual models and the most typical products of technoscience as well as a discerning evaluation of the contemporary cultural trend of transhumanism. The position defended here consists of full appreciation of technoscience integrated into a broader framework of specifically human values.
Highlights
We will deal with this issue by considering the production of significant machines from our point of view, i.e., those that in a broad sense fall within the field of artificial intelligence and robotics, as specific effects of technoscience, and we will reflect on the impact they have on the world of man
Erefore, we will devote some attention to this debate, which has produced the formation of two opposite fronts: scientism and antiscience. e position that we maintain is an intermediate path between these extremes and entails an analysis of the Journal of Healthcare Engineering artificial as a domain, not opposite to the natural, but as an expression of the specific nature of man
According to the new perspective, man continues to occupy an intermediate level but the highest one is made up of machines. erefore, the enhancement of man and his world is placed in the growing measure in which he incorporates machines into the world which he lives in and even within himself. ese are the theses which, to a more or less conscious extent, are characteristic of those contemporary cultural movements which are known by the names of posthumanism and transhumanism. e final part of this work will be dedicated to the discussion of these positions
Summary
A widespread tenet is that science must be value-free. is claim, eloquently expressed by Max Weber in the context of the social sciences, was intended to protect the objectivity of these sciences from the risk of becoming contaminated by the intrusion of the personal moral and social or political values of the investigator [2]. ese values were believed to be strictly subjective and correspond to personal options of the scientist who, for this reason, had to abstain from expressing value judgments in the course of his scientific investigation and from taking advantage of the results of the investigation in order to support his value options. is does not mean that science does not respect any values but that the values science is entitled (and obliged) to respect are only cognitive values, entailed by its being a search for truth by means of methodological criteria that can be summarized in the requirement of objectivity. E importance of this “external” dimension of science was made evident by several negative consequences of the development of technology and applied science that have shown that the consequences of technoscientific progress are by no means only beneficial to mankind but can entail disasters and serious risks for the survival of the present and future generations. En again, precisely, these specific aspects are of great relevance for any human activity, so that humans are always confronted with the dilemma of whether what can be done ought to be done or not. In this sense, ethics is inextricably included in the web of science and technology. Is does not imply that we must stop scientific and technological progress but that it must be attuned to satisfy a wide spectrum of human values which can be attained if we adopt a system-theoretic approach where the technoscientific subsystem interacts with other social subsystems, each of which are defined by the pursuit of a legitimate goal. e mutual interdependence of these systems imposes responsibility on all social agents, including the scientific community, but at the same time, science is required to preserve its autonomy and be respected in its freedom of research since it pursues a genuine value that is essential for the general progress and flourishing of mankind. ese precisions are useful in order to envisage a correct appreciation of the nature of the scope of the artificial
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