Designing in Ethics

This book shows how an emphasis on design can help us usefully apply ethics to a world built on institutions and technology.

Jeroen van den Hoven (Edited by), Seumas Miller (Edited by), Thomas Pogge (Edited by)

9780521135252, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 19 December 2019

241 pages, 4 b/w illus.
23 x 15.3 x 1.2 cm, 0.35 kg

'In sum, Designing in Ethics proves to be a solid primer to the history of, and necessity for, a design approach to applied ethics, one that is accessible to both graduate students and seasoned scholars in the field. The use of case studies by all chapter authors makes the applied ethics case for design in itself. The exponential advance in technology development and its increasing harmonization with human society make this collection particularly timely and its endorsement unproblematic.' Steven Umbrello, Prometheus

Many of our interactions in the twenty-first century - both good and bad - take place by means of institutions, technology, and artefacts. We inhabit a world of implements, instruments, devices, systems, gadgets, and infrastructures. Technology is not only something that we make, but is also something that in many ways makes us. The discipline of ethics must take this constitutive feature of institutions and technology into account; thus, ethics must in turn be embedded in our institutions and technology. The contributors to this book argue that the methodology of 'designing in ethics' - addressing and resolving the issues raised by technology through the use of appropriate technological design - is the way to achieve this integration. They apply their original methodology to a wide range of institutions and technologies, using case studies from the fields of healthcare, media and security. Their volume will be important for philosophical practitioners and theorists alike.

List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
Introduction Jeroen van den Hoven
1. The design turn in applied ethics Jeroen van den Hoven
2. Designing responsibility: the problem of many hands in complex organizations Dennis Thompson
3. Dealing with moral dilemmas through design Ibo van de Poel
4. Designing the morality of things: the ethics of behavior-guiding technology Peter-Paul Verbeek
5. The health impact fund: enhancing justice and efficiency in global health Thomas Pogge
6. Poverty, exclusion and the design of microfinance institutions Tom Sorell
7. Designing-in-ethics: a compulsory retirement savings system Seumas Miller
8. Pacifism: designing a moral defence force Andrew Alexandra
9. An anti-corruption system for police organizations Seumas Miller
10. Good governance for the commons: design for legitimacy Theo Toonen and Neelke Doorn
11. Why architects should design beautiful things Christian Illies and Nick Ray
Index.

Subject Areas: Technology: general issues [TB], Technology, engineering, agriculture [T], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy: aesthetics [HPN], Philosophy [HP]