Nanotechnology Challenges : Implications for Philosophy, Ethics and Society.
Title:
Nanotechnology Challenges : Implications for Philosophy, Ethics and Society.
Author:
Schummer, Joachim.
ISBN:
9789812773975
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (476 pages)
Contents:
CONTENTS -- Introduction -- Part 1: Philosophical Issues -- I. The Drexler Challenge -- (1) Two Cultures of Nanotechnology? -- (2) The Drexler-Smalley Debate on Nanotechnology Incommensurability at Work? -- II. The Metaphysics of Nanotechnology -- (3) Noumenal Technology: Reflections on the Incredible Tininess of Nano -- (4) Nanotechnology and Nature: On Two Criteria for Understanding their Relationship -- (5) Small but Determined: Technological Determinism in Nanoscience -- III. The Truth of Nanoscopic Images -- (6) When is an Image Not an Image ? -- (7) Changes in the Design of Scanning Tunneling Microscopic Images from 1980 to 1990 -- IV. Dealing with Complexity -- (8) Analyzing the Complexity of Nanotechnology -- (9) Nanotechnology: Generalizations in an Interdisciplinary Field of Science and Technology -- Part 2: Ethical Issues -- V. Social and Environmental Ethics of Nanotechnology -- (10) What Counts as a 'Social and Ethical Issue' in Nanotechnology? -- (11) The Promise and Threat of Nanotechnology: Can Environmental Ethics Guide Us? -- VI. Managing the Risks of Nanotechnology -- (12) Nanosciences and their Convergence with Other Technologies: New Golden Age or Apocalypse? -- (13) Living with Uncertainty: Toward the Ongoing Normative Assessment of Nanotechnology -- (14) Great Uncertainty about Small Things -- Part 3: Societal Issues -- VII. Public Discourses on the Future -- (15) Bridging the Gaps: Science Fiction in Nanotechnology -- (16) Beyond Truth: Pleasure of Nanofutures -- VIII. Visions and Public Reactions to Nanotechnology -- (17) Narratives for Nanotech: Anticipating Public Reactions to Nanotechnology -- (18) 'Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology ': Meanings Interest Groups and Social Dynamics -- Biographical Notes on the Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Index of Names.
Abstract:
Nanotechnology is an emerging and rapidly growing field whose dynamics and prospects pose many great challenges not only to scientists and engineers but also to society at large. This volume includes the state-of-the-art philosophical, ethical, and sociological reflection on nanotechnology, written by leading scholars from the humanities and social sciences in North America and Europe. It unravels the philosophical underpinnings of nanotechnology, its metaphysical and epistemological foundations, and its conceptual complexity. It explores the ethical issues of nanotechnology, its impact on human, environmental, and social conditions, and the options for reasonable risk management. It examines the public discourse on nanotechnology and its related visions and provides both lessons from the past and outlooks for the future. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Two cultures of Nanotechnology? (1,013 KB). Contents: Philosophical Issues: The Drexler Challenge; The Metaphysics of Nanotechnology; The Truth of Nanoscopic Images; Dealing with Complexity; Ethical Issues: Social and Environmental Ethics of Nanotechnology; Managing the Risks of Nanotechnology; Societal Issues: Public Discourses on the Future; Visions and Public Reactions to Nanotechnology. Readership: Nanoscientists and engineers interested in the societal dimensions of their work; science studies scholars, philosophers, ethicists, sociologists; science policy makers.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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