Dao, Harmony and Personhood: Towards a Confucian Ethics of Technology

Wong, Pak‐Hang

doi:10.1007/s13347-011-0021-z

Cited by 49 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Some recent examples of Confucian environmental ethics include Tao (), Fan (), Hourdequin and Wong (), Wee (), Kuo (), Nuyen (), and Kassiola (, ). For recent examples of Confucian ethics of technology, see Wong (), Wang and Zhu ().…”

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Confucian Environmental Ethics, Climate Engineering, and the “Playing God” Argument

Wong¹

2015

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The burgeoning literature on the ethical issues raised by climate engineering has explored various normative questions associated with the research and deployment of climate engineering, and has examined a number of responses to them. While researchers have noted the ethical issues from climate engineering are global in nature, much of the discussion proceeds predominately with ethical framework in the Anglo-American and European traditions, which presume particular normative standpoints and understandings of human-nature relationship. The current discussion on the ethical issues, therefore, is far from being a genuine global dialogue. The aim of this article is to address the lack of intercultural exchange by exploring the ethics of climate engineering from a perspective of Confucian environmental ethics. Drawing from the existing discussion on Confucian environmental ethics and Confucian ethics of technology, I discuss what Confucian ethics can contribute to the ethical debate on climate engineering.

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Confucian Environmental Ethics, Climate Engineering, and the “Playing God” Argument

Wong¹

2015

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“…In its high and encompassing stature, tian represents the ultimate moral authority that imparts to all moral judgments their normativity. The dao of tian , the law of heaven, is the highest moral principle that functions as a normative source on the basis of which human conduct can be justified (Wong ). Tian dao is seen as possessing two generic features: first, as the ultimate natural law, it is stable and unchangeable.…”

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Designing Confucian Conscience Into Social Networks

Wang¹

2016

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Several scholars have argued that Internet use might be fundamentally incompatible with Confucian ethics, because the values that are embedded in the Internet might be in conflict with Confucian values. In addition, the design of various social network services (SNS) considers very little of non-Western values in its engineering. Against this background, this article explores the philosophical question of whether Internet use, particularly social network services, is compatible with the fundamental values and norms of Confucian ethics. In addition, the article discusses the Confucian notion of tian xia (under heaven), and argues that tian xia, as a basic structuring principle of Confucian philosophy, helps to innovate a different social media.

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“…8. This section is drawn from my discussion of the Confucian ethics of technology, see Wong (2012). 9.…”

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The Public and Geoengineering Decision-Making

Wong

2013

Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology

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In response to the Royal Society report’s claim that “the acceptability of geoengineering will be determined as much by social, legal, and political issues as by scientific and technical factors” (Geoengineering the Climate: Science, Governance and Uncertainty [London: Royal Society, 2009], ix), a number of authors have suggested the key to this challenge is to engage the public in geoengineering decision-making. In effect, some have argued that inclusion of the public in geoengineering decision-making is necessary for any geoengineering project to be morally permissible. Yet, while public engagement on geoengineering comes in various forms, the discussion in geoengineering governance and the ethics of geoengineering have too often conceptualized it exclusively in terms of public participation in decision-making, and supported it by various liberal democratic values. However, if the predominant understanding of public engagement on—or, the role of the public in—geoengineering decision-making is indeed only grounded on liberal democratic values, then its normative relevance could be challenged by and in other ethical-political traditions that do not share those values. In this paper, I shall explore these questions from a Confucian perspective. I argue that the liberal democratic values invoked in support of the normative importance of public participation are, at least, foreign to Confucian political philosophy. This presents a prima facie challenge to view public participation in geoengineering decision-making as a universal moral requirement, and invites us to reconsider the normative significance of this form of public engagement in Confucian societies. Yet, I contend that the role of the public remains normatively significant in geoengineering governance and the ethics of geoengineering from a Confucian perspective. Drawing from recent work on Confucian political philosophy, I illustrate the potential normative foundation for public engagement on geoengineering decision-making.

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Dao, Harmony and Personhood: Towards a Confucian Ethics of Technology

Cited by 49 publications

References 37 publications

Confucian Environmental Ethics, Climate Engineering, and the “Playing God” Argument

Confucian Environmental Ethics, Climate Engineering, and the “Playing God” Argument

Designing Confucian Conscience Into Social Networks

The Public and Geoengineering Decision-Making

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