Technomoral Wisdom for an Uncertain Future

Abstract

Abstract This chapter integrates the lessons of Part III regarding moral practice, and takes up the challenge of adapting the practice to contemporary technosocial needs—specifically, the need for the global cultivation of technomoral virtues. The bulk of this chapter is a taxonomy of twelve such virtues: technomoral honesty, self-control, humility, justice, courage, empathy, care, civility, flexibility, perspective, magnanimity, and their integration in the comprehensive virtue of technomoral wisdom. While each virtue is examined against the background of prior moral philosophies and traditional cultures, the emphasis in chapter 6 is on adapting and redefining each of these virtues as called for by the acute technomoral needs of the global human family in the present. Various examples illustrate their relevance to concrete ethical challenges presented by today’s emerging technologies, from new social media and ‘Big Data’ to robotics and digital surveillance.