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The End of Ethics in a Technological Society |
eBook Available
A critical assessment of the failure of liberal ethics to meet the challenges posed by techno-science.
Lawrence Schmidt and Scott Marratto challenge modern liberal ethics, arguing that there is no consistent ethical framework to deal with the long-range negative consequences of certain technological developments
They examine established ethical approaches to such urgent contemporary concerns as environmental degradation, nuclear energy, high tech militarism, and fetal genetic testing, showing that the prevailing viewpoint valorizes autonomy above all other goods and considers technological advances as mere extensions of the range of human freedoms. Modern ethics thus fails to take into account the moral intuition that some possibilities in the realm of techno science simply ought not to be pursued.
A comprehensive assessment of modern western society's commitment to technological progress, The End of Ethics in a Technological Society presents a convincing argument in favour of a post-liberal approach - one that rejects the ideology of progress, supports caution, and accepts limitation."
They examine established ethical approaches to such urgent contemporary concerns as environmental degradation, nuclear energy, high tech militarism, and fetal genetic testing, showing that the prevailing viewpoint valorizes autonomy above all other goods and considers technological advances as mere extensions of the range of human freedoms. Modern ethics thus fails to take into account the moral intuition that some possibilities in the realm of techno science simply ought not to be pursued.
A comprehensive assessment of modern western society's commitment to technological progress, The End of Ethics in a Technological Society presents a convincing argument in favour of a post-liberal approach - one that rejects the ideology of progress, supports caution, and accepts limitation."
Details
264 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780773533363
February 2008
Formats: Paperback, Cloth, eBook
"The principle thesis, that contemporary moral relativism can lead to moral nihilism, is a very important insight that has been largely overlooked to date, but an idea that needs to be understood and broadly debated in society as a whole." Margaret Somerville, author of The Ethical Imagination: Journeys of the Human Spirit
"The End of Ethics in a Technological Society presents a compelling case for the urgent formulation and implementation of a post-liberal ethical approach that may save the human race from extinction and the planet from becoming an uninhabitable waste land." Rob Harle, metapsychology.mentalhelp.net
"The End of Ethics in a Technological Society presents a compelling case for the urgent formulation and implementation of a post-liberal ethical approach that may save the human race from extinction and the planet from becoming an uninhabitable waste land." Rob Harle, metapsychology.mentalhelp.net
Lawrence E. Schmidt is professor, religious ethics, University of Toronto.
Scott Marratto is a teaching fellow in the Foundation Year Programme, University of King's College, Halifax.
Scott Marratto is a teaching fellow in the Foundation Year Programme, University of King's College, Halifax.
The End of Ethics in a Technological Society
Lawrence E. Schmidt with Scott Marratto
Table of Contents
ix
Preface: Technology and the Problem of Nihilism xi
Introduction: Technology:
A Canadian Preoccupation at the End of Canada 3
1 Technology, Religion, and Progress: The Beginning and the End of Optimism 11
2 Technology, Poverty, and Malnutrition: The End of Distributive Justice 22
3 Sustainable Sufficiency is Not Enough: The End of Environmental Ethics 39
4 Excursus on Nuclear Power: The End of Sustainable Sufficiency 57
5 Modern Weapons: The End of the Just War Theory 79
6 Reproductive Technologies: The End of Sexual Ethics 113
7 Excursus on Genetic Testing, Selective Abortion, and the New Eugenics 138
8 Technology and the End of Politics 149
9 Technology and the End of Ethics 164
Notes 181
Bibliography 219
Index 235
Lawrence E. Schmidt with Scott Marratto
Table of Contents
ix
Preface: Technology and the Problem of Nihilism xi
Introduction: Technology:
A Canadian Preoccupation at the End of Canada 3
1 Technology, Religion, and Progress: The Beginning and the End of Optimism 11
2 Technology, Poverty, and Malnutrition: The End of Distributive Justice 22
3 Sustainable Sufficiency is Not Enough: The End of Environmental Ethics 39
4 Excursus on Nuclear Power: The End of Sustainable Sufficiency 57
5 Modern Weapons: The End of the Just War Theory 79
6 Reproductive Technologies: The End of Sexual Ethics 113
7 Excursus on Genetic Testing, Selective Abortion, and the New Eugenics 138
8 Technology and the End of Politics 149
9 Technology and the End of Ethics 164
Notes 181
Bibliography 219
Index 235
