ENGR 482 Exam 3 Question and Answers

ENGR 482 Exam 3 Question and Answers T/F: According to the "Common Sense View," technological artifacts take on moral properties when used for good or evil by humans. - Ans:-False- this view is that artifacts have no moral properties in themselves. T/F: The difference b/w the "Common Sense" and "Strong" views toward the morality of technological artifacts is a matter of the degree to which people blame artifacts for immoral actions. - Ans:-False- there is a fundamental difference b/w the views regarding whether artifacts can be held morally responsible for certain actions. Why are Robert Moses' architectural designs indicative of Langdon Winner's view of the moral properties of artifacts (the "Strong View")? - Ans:-Moral values are built into his designs, which come to embody these values. T/F: Bruno Latour, reflecting the "Strong View" toward technological artifacts, believed artifacts are morally considerable because they work as actants alongside human beings in a responsible network. - Ans:-True What does Martin Heidegger say often happens w/ tools as they are used? - Ans:--They become invisible b/c the user's focus is on the task at hand ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 2/20 -They are noticed when they don't function as designed What is meant by Don Ihde's term "multi-usability"? - Ans:-An artifact can be used in different ways based on each user's intentions. Bruno Latour's "script" of a thing - Ans:-The behaviors that the artifact invites or inhibits its user to perform Don Ihde's "technological intentionality" - Ans:-Technology "shades" how we see the world, emphasizing some things at the expense of others. Technological Optimist - Ans:-"on the whole, technology is for the better" Technological Pessimist - Ans:-"on the whole, technology is for the worst" Technological Determinism - Ans:-Technology precedes its own logic; we can't do anything to stop its progress Critical Approach to Technology - Ans:-A check on the Enlightenment spirit; analogous to the food critic Artifact - Ans:-Any object intentionally created by humans Common Sense View - Ans:--Can't blame the artifact for a wrongdoing -Humans made objects as mere tools/neutral means to an end ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 3/20 -Objects have no moral properties -We ascribe right or wrong (good or bad) to humans and their actions Strong View (Latour) - Ans:--"morality is inside the things"; artifacts DO have moral properties -Actor-Network Theory (ANT) -Attributes moral relevance to artifacts whose existence perpetuates moral values -Believe some combo of subject and object should be though of as one and the same entity Actor-Network Theory (ANT) - Ans:--Objects serve as "actors" or "actants" -Not possible to uphold the boundary b/w humans and artifacts Strong View (Winner) - Ans:--Objects "embody a systematic social inequality" that becomes "part of the social landscape" -Example of Robert Moses' designs -Therefore, artifacts embody morality Strong View (Verbeek) - Ans:--"Moral agency is distributed over both humans and technological artifacts" -Humans and artifacts don't have separate existence anymore ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 4/20 -Many artifacts blur this distinction from subject -Moral agencies should be ascribed to hybrid entities of both subjects and objects Moderate View - Ans:--Technological artifacts can't be part of a moral agent/subject and can't be responsible -However, artifacts have high moral relevance in ethics b/c they create new options for action -Artifacts have moral relevance, but aren't morally responsible or accountable for their effects Mediating Technology - Ans:-Mediate experiences b/w object and subject Ex.) The use of an x-ray machine to view a broken bone Embodiment Relationship - Ans:-Objects serve as extension of the body of the user Ex.) Use of a cane by a blind person What Enlightenment principles are critics such as Ellul calling into question? - Ans:--That the proper application of reason and science will necessarily bring humans closer to utopia. -Preceding steps are often not defined or questioned -Ellul believed in questioning progress which considered the transformation of human existence rather than the effects of specific technologies ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 5/20 T/F: According to Ellul, there are no indisputable values in the technological society. - Ans:-False- efficiency is considered the indisputable value of the technological society. T/F: Along with the other renowned contemporaries, Jacques Ellul believed that the danger of technology lies in to what purposes it is used. - Ans:-False- Ellul does not consider technology to be value-neutral According to Ellul, what is the ultimate value for 'technique'? - Ans:-Efficien