Digital Technologies and the Future of Work: An Agent-Centred Ethical Perspective Based on Goods, Norms, and Virtues

Abstract

The ethical analysis related to the impact of digital technologies on the future of work needs to be conducted considering the theoretical diversity of ethics. After reviewing prominent existing approaches to ethics (utilitarianism, deontological ethics, virtue ethics), this chapter suggests the need for an agent-centred ethical perspective based on goods, norms, and virtues for the evaluation of ethical issues related to digital technologies and their impact on the future of work. Different examples illustrate the merits of this approach, helping to untangle complex issues concerning the relationship between the nature and scope of digital technologies, regulatory needs within the new social and technological context, and the intentions and attitudes of workers towards their work, their personal flourishing, and their contribution to the good of society.