C. Mitcham – Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics (4 Volumes, 2005)

Автор: C. Mitcham
Название книги: Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics (4 Volumes)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Философия
Страницы: 572+649+563+707
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics has
had multiple origins. It was when contributing an article
on the philosophy of technology to the pioneering first
edition of the Encyclopedia of Bioethics (1978), that I
began to dream of a more general encyclopedic introduction
to issues of technology and ethics. Inspired by
the perspective of scholars as diverse as Jacques Ellul
and Hans Jonas, bioethics appeared only part of a comprehensive
need to grapple intellectually with the
increasingly technological world in which we live. This
idea was pursued in a state-of-the-field chapter on ‘‘Philosophy
of Technology’’ in A Guide to the Culture of Science,
Technology, and Medicine (1980) edited by one of
my mentors, Paul T. Durbin. Thus when Stephen G.
Post, the editor of the third edition of the Encyclopedia
of Bioethics (2004), suggested to Macmillan the idea of a
more general ‘‘Encyclopedia of Technoethics,’’ with me
as potential editor, I was primed to be enthusiastic—
although I also argued that the field should now be
expanded to include ethics in relation to both science
and technology.
A high-school attraction to philosophy as critical
reflection on how best to live had early morphed into
the critical assessment of scientific technology. In contemporary
historical circumstances, what has a more
pervasive influence on the way we live than modern
technology? My initial scholarly publications thus
sought to make philosophy and technology studies a
respected dimension of the academic world. Over the
course of my curriculum vitae this concern further
broadened to include science, technology, and society
(STS) studies. Given the narrow specializations of professional
philosophy, STS seemed better able to function
as a home base for philosophy of technology. In
fact, in the mid-1980s, George Bugliarello, George
Schillinger, and I (all colleagues at Brooklyn Polytechnic
University) made a proposal to Macmillan Reference
for an Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and
Society.’’ That proposal was declined, but a version
eventually found truncated expression in The Reader’s
Adviser, 14th edition, vol. 5, The Best in Science, Technology,
and Medicine (1994), co-edited with William F.
Williams, a colleague at Pennsylvania State University,
where I served for a period during the 1990s as director
of the Science, Technology, and Society Program. Thus
when the opportunity arose to edit an encyclopedia on
science, technology, and ethics, I also wanted not to
limit such a reference work to ethics in any narrow
sense.
Other associations that broadened my perceptions
in both philosophy and STS in ways that have found
modest reflections here should also be mentioned. One
was the collegiality of two professional associations, the
Society for the Philosophy of Technology (founded
1980) and the Association for Practical and Professional
Ethics (founded 1991), with members from both becoming
contributors. Service as a member of the Committee
on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science,
1994–2000, was one of the most professionally rewarding
experiences of my career, and contributed its own
perspective. Finally, the critical fellowship of Ivan Illich
introduced me to friends and ideas with whom I might
not always agree though they seldom failed to inspire.
Developmental Process
When the possibility for the present encyclopedia
finally emerged in the Fall of 2002, my initial desire was
not only to work with previous colleagues but to seek
the collaboration of others who had become leaders in
institutionalizing discussions of science, technology, and
ethics. Obvious candidates for associate editors were
philosopher Deborah Johnson, whose work on computer
and engineering ethics during the 1980s and 1990s had
helped define both fields, and Stephanie Bird and Raymond
Spier, the editors of Science and Engineering Ethics
(founded 1995), the leading journal in this area of interdisciplinary
discourse. It was also desirable to make sure
that the project had representation not just from the scientific
and technical community (which neuroscientist
Bird and biochemical engineer Spier clearly brought to
the team) but also from different points on the ethical
and political spectrum. Fortunately, political scientist
Larry Arnhart, with whom I had recently become
acquainted, was willing to bring to the table a conservative
philosophical perspective that might otherwise
have been inadequately represented, and to go beyond
the call of editorial duty in many respects.
The first editorial meeting place in New York City
in January 2003, hosted by He´le`ne Potter of Macmillan
Reference USA. This two-day workshop established
the general framework for the Encyclopedia of Science,
Technology, and Ethics and became the basis for collegial
productivity over the next two years. During the
Spring and Summer 2003 we set up an Editorial Advisory
Board which included Durbin, Bugliarello, and
Schillinger as well as more than twenty other representatives
of important disciplinary and regional perspectives.
Commissioned articles began to be submitted in
August 2003 and continued over the next eighteen
plus months.
For the first year—during a portion of which I
served as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of the
Basque Country in Spain (where Nicanor Ursua was a
supportive host)—the editors worked with authors to
refine article definitions, learn from their contributions
about new topics that needed to be covered, and
thereby deepened and broadened the content of the
encyclopedia. Four scholars who played especially
important roles in these regards were Robert Frodeman,
Valerie Mike´, Roger Pielke Jr., and Daniel
Sarewitz.
Self Assessment
As the first edition of a reference work, some important
topics remain missing from ESTE, because of
problems with schedule, author availability, or simple
oversight. Indeed, because the themes of science,
technology, and ethics are so broad, the Encyclopedia
of Science, Technology, and Ethics, despite its four-volume
length, is necessarily selective. Yet in an effort to
not let perfection become the enemy of the good, the
project has been pursued in a belief that it might
advance in its own modest way a contemporary social
process in the ethical assessment of science and
technology.
This encyclopedia is thus a work in progress. It
aims to synthesize, but does not claim to be final or
complete. Indeed, all reference works today have to
contend with a knowledge production industry that
makes it difficult to secure any stable orientation.
Despite its efforts, the project cannot hope to please all
scientists, engineers, and ethicists—or other scholars
and general readers. But the hope is to have pleased
sufficient numbers that those who see opportunities for
improvement will consider offering to make a second
edition better. Critical comments and recommendations
are welcome.
Acknowledgments
Beyond those already mentioned, all Associate Editors
and members of the Editorial Advisory Board deserve
special thanks for their contributions. I should nevertheless
single out Stephen H. Cutcliffe, Paul T. Durbin,
Helen Nissenbaum, and Nancy Tuana for extra work in
identifying authors and reviewing articles. Adam Briggle,
as the most qualified and hard-working research
assistant I could imagine, functioned during many
months of the second year as an editorial assistant. A
graduate seminar in STS at the Center for Science and
Technology Policy Research during Fall 2004 contributed
critical perspectives that measurably improved the
project. But primary credit must go to the editors and
contributors, many of whom worked well beyond what
would have been appropriate for their modest
honoraria.
Finally, in the background, my spouse, Marylee,
and family cheered on the project whenever they found
me available—and when they found me absent, simply
suffered a work schedule that for more than two years
seldom let me come up for air. Colleagues in the Division
of Liberal Arts and International Studies at the
Colorado School of Mines similarly tolerated with good
nature a tendency to commandeer more work space
than was rightly mine; and the Division Director, Laura
J. Pang, was generous in directing toward the project
modest but not insignificant resources from very limited
funds. In the foreground, the daily work of managing
the encyclopedia preparation process depended on a
production team at Macmillan to efficiently commission
articles, maintain contact with authors, coordinate
reviews, copyedit manuscripts, secure illustrations, check revisions and bibliographies, and prepare all
materials for publication. In particular, I am fortunate to
have had Monica Hubbard, Senior Editor with Macmillan
Reference USA, as a guide through the process. This
project would not have come to fruition without her
good work, good humor, and persistence over the previous
two years.
CARL MITCHAM
MAY 2 0 0 5