Introduction

Ibo van de Poel*, Jeroen Hopster, Guido Löhr, Elena Ziliotti, Stefan Buijsman, Philip Brey

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeForeword/postscriptScientific

1 Citation (Scopus)
15 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Technologies have all kinds of impacts on the environment, on human behavior, on our society and on what we believe and value. But some technologies are not just impactful, they are also socially disruptive: they challenge existing institutions, social practices, beliefs and conceptual categories. Here we are particularly interested in technologies that disrupt existing concepts, for example because they lead to profound uncertainty about how to classify matters. Is a humanoid robot - which looks and even acts like a human - to be classified as a person or is it just an inert machine? Conceptual disruption occurs when the meaning of concepts is challenged, and such challenges may potentially lead to a revision of concepts. We illustrate how technologies can be conceptually disruptive through a range of examples, and we argue for an intercultural outlook in studying these socially disruptive technologies and conceptual disruption. Such an outlook is needed to avoid a Western bias in labeling technologies socially or conceptually disruptive, as this outlook takes inspiration from a broad range of philosophical traditions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEthics of Socially Disruptive Technologies
Subtitle of host publicationAn Introduction
PublisherOpen Book Publishers
Pages11-52
Number of pages42
ISBN (Electronic)9781805110576
ISBN (Print)9781805110170
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

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