A Andreas Spahn

And Lead Us (Not) into Persuasion…? Persuasive Technology and the Ethics of Communication

The paper develops ethical guidelines for the development and usage of persuasive technologies (PT) that can be derived from applying discourse ethics to this type of technologies. The application of discourse ethics is of particular interest for PT, since ‘persuasion’ refers to an act of communication that might be interpreted as holding the middle between ‘manipulation’ and ‘convincing’. One can distinguish two elements of discourse ethics that prove fruitful when applied to PT: the analysis of the inherent normativity of acts of communication (‘speech acts’) and the Habermasian distinction between ‘communicative’ and ‘strategic rationality’ and their broader societal interpretation. This essay investigates what consequences can be drawn if one applies these two elements of discourse ethics to PT.

Can Technological Artefacts Be Moral Agents

In this paper we discuss the hypothesis that, ‘moral agency is distributed over both humans and technological artefacts’, recently proposed by Peter-Paul Verbeek. We present some arguments for thinking that Verbeek is mistaken. We argue that artefacts such as bridges, word processors, or bombs can never be (part of) moral agents. After having discussed some possible responses, as well as a moderate view proposed by Illies and Meijers, we conclude that technological artefacts are neutral tools that are at most bearers of instrumental value.

Why and how should we represent future generations in policymaking

This paper analyses the main challenges (particularly those deriving from the non-identity problem and epistemic uncertainty concerning the preferences of future persons) to the idea that we should and can represent future generations in our present policymaking. It argues that these challenges can and should be approached from the perspective of human rights. To this end it introduces and sketches the main features of a human rights framework derived from the moral theory of Alan Gewirth. It indicates how this framework can be grounded philosophically, sketches the main features and open questions of the framework and its grounding, and shows how it can be used to deal with the challenges to the idea that future generations have rights that can be represented in our policymaking.

Shall I Show You Some Other Shirts Too? The Psychology and Ethics of Persuasive Robots

Social robots may provide a solution to various societal challenges (e.g. the aging society, unhealthy lifestyles, sustainability). In the current contribution, we argue that crucial in the interactions of social robots with humans is that social robots are always created to some extent to influence the human: Persuasive robots might (very powerfully) persuade human agents to behave in specific ways, by giving information, providing feedback and taking over actions, serving social values (e.g. sustainability) or goals of the user (e.g. therapy adherence), but they might also serve goals of their owners (e.g. selling products). The success of persuasive robots depends on the integration of sound technology, effective persuasive principles and careful attention to ethical considerations. The current chapter brings together psychological and ethical expertise to investigate how persuasive robots can influence human behaviour and thinking in a way that is (1) morally acceptable (focusing on user autonomy, using deontological theories as a starting point for ethical evaluation) and (2) psychologically effective (focusing on effectiveness of persuasive strategies). These insights will be combined in a case study analysing the moral acceptability of persuasive strategies that a persuasive robot might employ while serving as a clothing store clerk.

Can Technology Make Us Happy

The chapter introduces a distinction between a person-related and a circumstance directed type of happiness in order to investigate in which way modern technology can contribute to human happiness. This distinction is elaborated as the difference between ‘achiever’s happiness’ and ‘spectator’s happiness’. Looking at the ethical tradition, it is argued that moral philosophers have certain expectations about what should count as true happiness for human beings, who can act in accordance with moral values. The essay presents three arguments for the superiority of achiever’s happiness from a moral point of view. Looking at modern technology it is argued that we find both in an optimistic and a pessimistic evaluation of modern technology valuable insights into the role that technology can (and can not) play for the human striving for happiness. Finally persuasive technologies are presented as one type of recent technologies that promises to contribute to achiever’s happiness if developed while taking ethical requirements into account.