Values and Technology

In 1749 Jean-Jacques Rousseaurs"s Discourse on the Arts and Sciences , surprised leading Enlightenment thinkers who had enthusiastically upheld the positive benefits of humanityrs"s technological advance. Voltaire, who celebrated the ends of civilization, mocked Rousseaurs"s praise for an original creative state of nature in which man enjoyed an optimum level of freedom. Given the unprecedented intrusion of technology into our lives, the question raised by Rousseaurs"s critique may be even more pertinent. In this volume of Religion and Public Life contributors address some of the challenges to conventional morality brought on by the technological augmentation of the social structure. John Barkerrs"s essay explores how Luciano Floridirs"s philosophy of technology has complicated the conventional way of determining what ought to receive moral consideration. Fani Zlatarova provides a practical guide for incorporating ethical components into teaching computer technology. Grant Havers explores the controversies surrounding the biogenetic explosion through an examination of the competing philosophical perspectives and Christopher Vassilopolos examines the science-based justification for taking life. Gabriel R. Ricci looks at recent political history in the United States in order to highlight the sometimes uneasy relationship between science and social policy. Volume 37 is a welcome addition to the acclaimed Religion and Public Life series.Gabriel R. Ricci is professor of humanities and the chair of the Department of History at Elizabethtown College. He is the author of Time Consciousness: The Philosophical Uses of History and the editor of Transactionrs"s much-admired Religion and Public Life series.