Dual-use decision making: relational and positional issues.
Debates about dual-use research often turn on the potential for scientific research to be used to benefit or harm humanity. This dual-use potential is conventionally understood as the product of the magnitude of the harms and benefits of dual-use research, multiplied by their likelihood. This account, however, neglects important social aspects of the use of science and technology. In this paper, I supplement existing conceptions of dual-use potential to account for the social context of dual-use research. This account incorporates relational and positional concerns that feature in the success or failure of dual-use. I then defend this account against foreseeable objections.
Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy in the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3401 Market Street, Suite 320, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-3319, USA, evann@mail.med.upenn.edu.
Nicholas G
NG
Evans
D001364:Awareness; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics*; D032984:Ethics, Research; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D058873:Pandemics / Q000517:prevention & control; D058615:Synthetic Biology / Q000941:ethics; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology