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.
