Nordmann, Alfred --- "Philosophy of Technoscience in the Regime of Vigilance" [2010] ELECD 710; in Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew (eds), "International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies

Editor(s): Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446731

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Philosophy of Technoscience in the Regime of Vigilance

Author(s): Nordmann, Alfred

Number of pages: 21

Extract:

2 Philosophy of technoscience in the regime
of vigilance
Alfred Nordmann1


A prominent, perhaps defining feature of `nanotechnology' is its interest
from the very beginning to evaluate its own promise and peril.2 As Arie Rip
has pointed out, this has produced a kind of `division of moral labor' which
is perhaps not unlike the division of labor between physicists who develop
analytic tools and chemists who investigate properties of matter (Rip and
Shelley-Egan, 2009). As in all divisions of labor, one often does not and
perhaps need not know very much about the problems and methods that
guide the work on the other side of the divide. On the side of scientists and
policy makers there appears to be a tacit agreement that philosophy can be
equated with ethics, that philosophers articulate widely shared concerns,
and that lists of issues regarding the safety and social implications of
nanotechnology create a kind of interface with larger publics. Indeed, the
participation of a philosopher in a nanotechnology conference sometimes
serves as a stand-in for the inclusion of society at large.
There is much to be said about this caricature of what philosophers
can and cannot contribute by way of reflection on emerging technologies.
Here, a strong case is made for the role of the philosophy of science or,
more precisely, the philosophy of technoscience. Rather than leap ahead
to ethical issues, the philosophy of technoscience reflects what `nano-
technology' is. This understanding is a precondition for the identification
and ...