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Good will and power
Floridi, who also holds an appointment as an Associate Professor of
Logic and Epistemology at the Dipartimento di Scienze Filosofiche, Università degli Studi di Bari in
Italy, says humanity has an ever-increasing amount of information
available, and most of us have the will to want to do good - but we
don't always have the power to affect change.
Technology and responsibility
This inability to act on our knowledge is the tragedy of modern times,
but one that will change, Floridi predicted. "Humanity is increasingly
responsible for designing and implementing the way the world is," he
said. Biotechnology, feats of engineering, advances in genetics,
nanotechnology and a range of other information-based advances mean
that humanity can play the role of Plato's demiurge, the intelligent
being that brings order and structure to the world.
Augmented ethics
At the same time, the stores of information available to us and its
richness mean that humanity is accountable , morally speaking, for the
way the world is. This increased moral responsibility demands what
Floridi labels "augmented ethics", an ethical approach that requires
humanity to be much more proactive, based on the knowledge and
information we have at hand, and much less respectful of the status quo
in our willingness to change things.
Role of institutions
We will also have to develop ethical approaches to what Floridi calls
"artificial agents", or groups, organizations, institutions, and
governments that are made up of individuals who, on their own, may act
morally and ethically, but when gathered in a group or institution, do
not as a collective have the inherent ability to act morally. This
challenges us to find ways to build or create moral institutions, he
said - to reform the United Nations, for example, to ensure that it
does good.
If moral institutions cannot be created, then we must find a way to educate them so that they can do good, or failing that, humanity must find a way to control these "artificial agents" so they act in humanity's best interests.
Last updated: 03.02.2005
