"From the Ethics of Technology towards an Ethics of Knowledge Policy & Knowledge Assessment"

Science and technology require an ethical framework that addresses both the unintentional side consequences (rather than intentional actions) and the nature of collective decisions (rather than individual decisions) with regard to complex societal systems, such as the operation of our economy. "We do not have such a theory at our disposal. More disturbing than the principle shortcomings of ethical theory, constitute the shortcomings of conventional ethical practice vis a vis technological developments." The author mentions how four developments can illustrate these shortcomings, which center around the fact that individuals in our society can simply not be held fully accountable for their individual role within the context of scientific technological developments. He then argues why we have to shift our attention to an ethics of knowledge assessment in the framework of deliberative procedures instead. René von Schomberg, A working document from the European Commission Services, January 2007. (PDF, 30 pages.)