Ethics and Second-Order Cybernetics

Abstract

Ladies and Gentlemen! I am touched by the generosity of the organizers of this conference who not only invited me to come to your glorious city of Paris, but also gave me the honor of opening the Plenary sessions with my presentation. And I am impressed by the ingenuity of our organizers, who suggested to me the title of my presentation. They wanted me to address myself to "Ethics and Second-Order Cybernetics". To be honest, I would never have dared to propose such an outrageous title, but I must say that I am delighted that this title was chosen for me. Before I left California for Paris others asked me, full of envy, "What am I going to do in Paris? What will I talk about?" When I answered "I shall talk about Ethics and Second-order cybernetics" almost all of them looked at me in bewilderment and asked "What is second-order cybernetics?" as if there were no questions about ethics.