title: Engineering and the problem of moral overload.
abstract: When thinking about ethics, technology is often only mentioned as the source of our problems, not as a potential solution to our moral dilemmas. When thinking about technology, ethics is often only mentioned as a constraint on developments, not as a source and spring of innovation. In this paper, we argue that ethics can be the source of technological development rather than just a constraint and technological progress can create moral progress rather than just moral problems. We show this by an analysis of how technology can contribute to the solution of so-called moral overload or moral dilemmas. Such dilemmas typically create a moral residue that is the basis of a second-order principle that tells us to reshape the world so that we can meet all our moral obligations. We can do so, among other things, through guided technological innovation.
authors.affiliation: Section of Philosophy, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van den Hoven
authors.forename: Gert-Jan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Lokhorst
authors.forename: Ibo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van de Poel
mesh_terms: D004738:Engineering / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D011340:Problem Solving; D013672:Technology / Q000941:ethics*