ENGR 482 Final Exam Questions and Answers

ENGR 482 Final Exam Questions and Answers What is an "artifact"? - Ans:-any object intentionally created by humans What is the Common Sense View? - Ans:-man-made objects are mere tools used by humans so artifacts have no moral properties you cannot blame a bomb...the type of entities that are right/wrong are actions performed by human beings What is the Strong View? - Ans:-believes that artifacts do have moral properties What are the subsets of the Strong View? - Ans:-Bruno Latour- "morality is inside the things"... Actor/Network Theory attributes moral relevance to artifacts whose existence perpetuates moral values, so some combinations of objects and subjects should be thought of as the same entity ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 2/52 Langdon Winner-claims that low overpasses etc. "embody a systematic social inequality" that becomes "part of the landscape"...social inequality is a moral value, so if this is part of the landscape then technological artifacts embody morality Peter-Paul Verbeek-"moral agency is distributed over both humans and technological artifacts"... no boundary between humans and technology (like Latour)...but many technological artifacts blur the distinction between subject and object so should ascribe moral agency to hybrid entities consisting of both subjects and objects According to the "Common Sense View," technological artifacts take on moral properties when used for good or evil by human beings T/F - Ans:-F this view holds that artifacts have no moral properties in themselves The difference between 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 ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 3/52 T/F - Ans:-F not a matter of degree, rather fundamental difference between views regarding whether artifacts can be held morally responsible for certain actions 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. T/F - Ans:-T Latour calls artifacts "actants" in an "Actor Network," the constituents of which form one and the same entity that is responsible for certain actions Which of the following statements best represents the "Strong View" toward the morality of technological artifacts? a. A war ship is culpable for immoral acts insofar as it was designed for violent purposes b. Humans and technological artifacts form an inseparable unit that is itself morally responsible in action ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 4/52 c. Technological artifacts should be held to a separate moral standard that is nonetheless analogous to human responsibility d. One should question the morality of certain artifacts if they were designed by immoral persons - Ans:-b It is to this unit that we should attribute moral responsibility, rather than distinguishing between the human agent and the artifact Why are Robert Moses' architectural designs indicative of Langdon Winner's view of the moral properties of artifacts (ie the "Strong View")? a. his designs were enacted by a government that did not protect civil rights of all citizens b. moral values are built into his designs, which come to embody these values c. his designs were build with racist intention d. exploited labor was used in the construction of his designs - Ans:-b ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 5/52 The fact that Moses' designs embody moral values eliminates the distinction the Common Sense View draws between human agents and artifacts What is the Moderate View? - Ans:-Christian Illies, Anthonie Meijers "attributes moral relevance to artifacts without making them morally responsible/accountable for their effects" should not believe that technological artifacts are/can be a part of a moral agent (so not part of a subject or morally responsible)...but do have moral relevance (beyond affecting outcomes) technological artifacts create new available actions...by introducing new actions people get new reasons for action Which of the following is true according to the "Moderate View" toward technological artifacts? a. this view attributes limited accountability to artifacts b. none of these are true ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 6/52 c. artifacts affect what choice of actions are available to us d. artifacts can give us reasons to do things we couldn't do before e. artifacts are not morally relevant beyond their causal role in actions - Ans:-c, d Common Sense, Strong, or Moderate? Guns don't kill people, people kill people - Ans:-common sense Common Sense, Strong, or Moderate? Guns are just as responsible as the people who use them to commit immoral acts - Ans:-strong Common Sense, Strong, or Moderate? Guns should not be manufactured because they give people the ability to commit immoral acts - Ans:-moderate Common Sense, Strong, or Moderate? ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 7/52 Building more greenhouse gas-emitting power plants is immoral because it will enable us to contribute even more to global warming - Ans:-moderate Common Sense, Strong, or Moderate? The only thing to blame for global warming are the people who have allowed it to happen - Ans:- common sense Common Sense, Strong, or Moderate? Dismantling a factory run on exploited labor is equally as obligatory as arresting the people in charge of it - Ans:-strong Which moral principle does Whelchel identify as a value of technology? - Ans:-utilitarianism According to Whelchel, it is more substantive to ask whether technology is value-free than to ask whether technology is morally neutral T/F - Ans:-T The 'value' of utilitarianism is dangerous because it is so ill-suited to the technological worldview. ©GRACEAMELIA 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST PUBLISH OCTOBER 2024 Page 8/52 T/F - Ans:-F According to Whelchel, the human worldview must be larger that what is determined by technology, in order for the latter to have room to grow. T/F - Ans:-T How does Whelchel characterize the relationship between technology and society? - Ans:-society and technology are bilateral, with each influencing the other Whelchel's argument that broadening our frame would enhance the pra