Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2017, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (3): 221-226.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2017.03.001

• Scientific and Technological Philosophy •     Next Articles

Can Technical Artifacts Be Moral Agents?——Verbeek's Theory of Technological Moralization and Its Internal Predicament

LIU Zheng   

  1. (Department of Philosophy, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)
  • Received:2016-07-15 Revised:2016-07-15 Online:2017-05-25 Published:2017-05-19
  • Contact: -
  • About author:-
  • Supported by:

    -

Abstract:

Verbeek's theory of technological moralization claims that technical artifacts can mediate human's moral behaviors and moral decisions, i.e., technical artifacts not only have intentionality, but also can serve as moral agents. Verbeek's critics think that Verbeek justified his arguments by concept redefinition and misuse; as a result, Verbeek fell into the internal predicament. On one hand, the controversy between Verbeek and his critics is more like a terminological dispute about whether or not the moral roles of technical artifacts can be described as moral agents. On the other hand, Verbeek dramatically inherited the conceptual framework of humanistic ethics which he criticized, and his theory of technological moralization is still the duplication of modernistic dualism.

Key words: Peter-Paul Verbeek, technical artifact, moral agent, technological moralization, technological intentionality

CLC Number: