The Ethics of Invention: Technology and the Human Future

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Technology, Social Aspects, Engineering, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book The Ethics of Invention: Technology and the Human Future by Sheila Jasanoff, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sheila Jasanoff ISBN: 9780393253856
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: August 30, 2016
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Sheila Jasanoff
ISBN: 9780393253856
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: August 30, 2016
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

We live in a world increasingly governed by technology—but to what end?

Technology rules us as much as laws do. It shapes the legal, social, and ethical environments in which we act. Every time we cross a street, drive a car, or go to the doctor, we submit to the silent power of technology. Yet, much of the time, the influence of technology on our lives goes unchallenged by citizens and our elected representatives. In The Ethics of Invention, renowned scholar Sheila Jasanoff dissects the ways in which we delegate power to technological systems and asks how we might regain control.

Our embrace of novel technological pathways, Jasanoff shows, leads to a complex interplay among technology, ethics, and human rights. Inventions like pesticides or GMOs can reduce hunger but can also cause unexpected harm to people and the environment. Often, as in the case of CFCs creating a hole in the ozone layer, it takes decades before we even realize that any damage has been done. Advances in biotechnology, from GMOs to gene editing, have given us tools to tinker with life itself, leading some to worry that human dignity and even human nature are under threat. But despite many reasons for caution, we continue to march heedlessly into ethically troubled waters.

As Jasanoff ranges across these and other themes, she challenges the common assumption that technology is an apolitical and amoral force. Technology, she masterfully demonstrates, can warp the meaning of democracy and citizenship unless we carefully consider how to direct its power rather than let ourselves be shaped by it. The Ethics of Invention makes a bold argument for a future in which societies work together—in open, democratic dialogue—to debate not only the perils but even more the promises of technology.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

We live in a world increasingly governed by technology—but to what end?

Technology rules us as much as laws do. It shapes the legal, social, and ethical environments in which we act. Every time we cross a street, drive a car, or go to the doctor, we submit to the silent power of technology. Yet, much of the time, the influence of technology on our lives goes unchallenged by citizens and our elected representatives. In The Ethics of Invention, renowned scholar Sheila Jasanoff dissects the ways in which we delegate power to technological systems and asks how we might regain control.

Our embrace of novel technological pathways, Jasanoff shows, leads to a complex interplay among technology, ethics, and human rights. Inventions like pesticides or GMOs can reduce hunger but can also cause unexpected harm to people and the environment. Often, as in the case of CFCs creating a hole in the ozone layer, it takes decades before we even realize that any damage has been done. Advances in biotechnology, from GMOs to gene editing, have given us tools to tinker with life itself, leading some to worry that human dignity and even human nature are under threat. But despite many reasons for caution, we continue to march heedlessly into ethically troubled waters.

As Jasanoff ranges across these and other themes, she challenges the common assumption that technology is an apolitical and amoral force. Technology, she masterfully demonstrates, can warp the meaning of democracy and citizenship unless we carefully consider how to direct its power rather than let ourselves be shaped by it. The Ethics of Invention makes a bold argument for a future in which societies work together—in open, democratic dialogue—to debate not only the perils but even more the promises of technology.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book The City of Devi: A Novel by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book The Wave-Maker: Poems by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book The Little Book of Neuroscience Haiku by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book Food City: Four Centuries of Food-Making in New York by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book A Dissociation Model of Borderline Personality Disorder (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book Would You Eat Your Cat?: Key Ethical Conundrums and What They Tell You About Yourself by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book A Labyrinth of Kingdoms: 10,000 Miles through Islamic Africa by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book Plenty of Time When We Get Home: Love and Recovery in the Aftermath of War by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book Now All Roads Lead to France: A Life of Edward Thomas by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book The Trial of Adolf Hitler: The Beer Hall Putsch and the Rise of Nazi Germany by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book A Ghost in the Music by Sheila Jasanoff
Cover of the book The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century by Sheila Jasanoff
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy