Ethical Parallel Research: A Network Approach for Moral Evaluation (NAME)

Abstract

Research and Development (R&D) of new technologies increasingly takes place in networks of different organizations and actors. In this contribution, we present an approach that was developed at Delft University of Technology for addressing ethical issues in R&D. The approach takes the engineers and scientists involved in R&D as entry point for discerning and discussing ethical issues and is to be carried out parallel to the R&D trajectory. On the basis of two cases studies, the network approach is described in detail including its strengths and weaknesses. Two procedural norms for assessing an R&D network are discussed, viz. inclusiveness and second-order learning. Some of the main advantages of the approach are that it offers the possibility to identify moral issues in situations of uncertainty and indeterminacy about the final consequences of technological innovations, while being applied already at the early stages of technological development. Because the moral issues are identified in their real-world context, the approach can generate insights that immediately influence R&D and design decisions. As such, the approach may help focusing the technical work in a way that moral issues are better addressed.