From Nanoethics to the Normativity of Technological Visions

Abstract

Although the variety of different ethical concerns regarding nanotechnologies has been recognized, there is a diffused dissatisfaction in the debate. Nanoethics has been often reduced to a mere check list of concerns or to a sophisticated form of risk and benefit analysis. The debate is not innovative anymore and suffers from repetition. Although the traditional tools of bioethical analysis can be useful for dealing with nanotechnological applications which are already existent or in the pipeline, for a deep engagement with future possible applications the ethical analysis should go beyond the idea of applying abstract ethical principles. Aims of this paper is to propose an alternative way for the normative reflection on those (nano)technological applications which are still at the level of visions. It will be argued that a reflection of the challenges of the future for the current (present) discourse on technological developments is a new and promising field of reflection. Longer detached from an engagement solely with the consequences of technological development, the new analysis will be more comprehensive and lie at the interface between epistemology, ethics and politics.