Obstetric Ultrasound and the Technological Mediation of Morality: A Postphenomenological Analysis

Abstract

This article analyzes the moral relevance of technological artifacts and its possible role in ethical theory, by taking the postphenomenological approach that has developed around the work of Don Ihde into the domain of ethics. By elaborating a postphenomenological analysis of the mediating role of ultrasound in moral decisions about abortion, the article argues that technologies embody morality and help to constitute moral subjectivity. This technological mediation of the moral subject is subsequently addressed in terms of Michel Foucault's ethical position, in which ethics is about actively co-shaping one's moral subjectivity. Integrating Foucauldian ethics and postphenomenology, the article argues that the technological mediation of moral subjectivity should be at the heart of an ethical approach that takes the moral dimensions of technology seriously.

Sublime frequencies: The construction of sublime listening experiences in the sonification of scientific data

“…For instance, the research of Tom Rice (2008) on stethoscopic listening shows that hearing can generate objectification, distance and disengagement, and the research of Kelly Joyce (2005) on magnetic resonance imaging shows that medical imaging technologies not only offer distancing views, but can also 'evoke a sense of wonder and excitement' about revealing the inner body of the patient (p. 437). Similarly, visual depictions of the foetus influence how parents emotionally experience pregnancy and perceive the unborn child (Rapp, 1997;Verbeek, 2008). It is therefore too facile to assume that sound will always be immersive and emotional, or that vision will always be rational and objective.…”

Resistance Is Futile

“…Let me illustrate this with another example of government regulation of technology-an example that I have discussed in earlier publications from an ethical perspective and that I would like to give a political elaboration here: the use of obstetric ultrasound in antenatal diagnostics (Verbeek 2008a(Verbeek , 2008b. Over the past decade, it has become very normal-also in the Foucauldian sense of the word-to have several sonograms made during pregnancy.…”

“…And that is exactly what the theory of technical mediation, as developed in the context of 'postphenomenological' studies of human-technology relations (cf. Ihde 1990;Verbeek 2005), is concerned with. From the perspective of this postphenomenological theory, the impact of computer-mediated communication should not be reduced to the ideology from which it comes, but should be studied in terms of the material mediation of people's experiences and practices.…”

The Emperor’s New Augmented Clothes. Digital Objects as Part of the Every Day

“…Digital technologies allow users to extend their visual capabilities by turning some part of the invisible spectrum of light into visible such as the infra-red or ultraviolet radiations. Moreover, they generate new objects in our world by making visible something which was hidden and unreachable like in the case of the brain activities with fMRI [18,19], unborn children with Ultrasound technologies [20], and distant galaxies with radiotelescopes [21,22]. These entities are the production of the use of certain kind of digital technologies which produce visual images of objects which were invisible to the naked eye.…”