Eliciting Values for Technology Design with Moral Philosophy
An Empirical Exploration of Effects and Shortcomings
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5416733 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kathrin Bednar (0000-0002-7667-9449, Institute for Information Systems and Society, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria, corresponding author), Sarah Spiekermann (0000-0001-5481-3961, Institute for Information Systems and Society, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 611-645 |
| Publication date | 2024-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Science Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01622439221122595 |
| OpenAlex | W4296260856 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 54 |
Calls for an ethically aligned technology design have led companies to publish lists of value principles that their engineers should adhere to. However, it is questionable whether such lists can grasp a technology's wide-ranging ethical implications. The bottom-up elicitation of values from the specific technology context avoids problems that predefined lists of values have but has been criticized for lacking an ethical foundation. In this empirical study, we explore how three grand ethical theories of Western philosophy-utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and deontology-can support the discovery of values. Based on three technologies, our results show that ethical perspectives can support IT professionals in identifying values that are not only context-specific but also cater to higher ethical principles (i.e., intrinsic values) and a broad spectrum of sustainability goals (e.g., economic, technical, individual). Each theory of ethics served a unique role in the identification of ethical issues and value potentials of a technology. However, results also suggest a focus on mainstream values and individual values while environmental issues were neglected. We conclude that theories of ethics encourage different perspectives on a specific technology and thus argue for a pluralist ethical basis for values in technology design
Consequentialism · Deontological ethics · Empirical research · Engineering ethics · Epistemology · Ethical theories · Ethics of technology · Information ethics · Mainstream · Meta-ethics · Normative ethics · Philosophy of science · Philosophy of technology · Political science · Sociology · Utilitarianism · Virtue · Virtue ethics · Computer Science · Engineering · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Ethics in Business and Education · Law · Philosophy · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
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| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |