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Mediation and the Morality of Sex Selection - Contributions of a Mediation Approach to the Assessment of Sex-Selection Technologies

Haan, J.B.A. de (2017) Mediation and the Morality of Sex Selection - Contributions of a Mediation Approach to the Assessment of Sex-Selection Technologies.

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Abstract:Contemporary methods of technology assessment often focus solely on the consequences of technological availability, and specifically on the ‘hard impacts’ of technology on society. From the Postphenomenological perspective however, technology and society are mutually constitutive. This also means that the (ethical) criteria used to assess technology are subject themselves to the impact of the technology in question. As claimed, this mediating role of technology on society hence should be part of the ethical technology assessment, as technology (due to its mediatory character) actively influences the way we look at things and actively influences our decisions on 'what to do'. This thesis considers whether mediation analysis results in additional material for the assessment of technology, by taking a specific technology and put to the test. Empirical information was gained from 'practical experts': people who currently are considering using sex selection, and discuss moral issues that arise in their deliberations. These public discussions were analyzed to identify how sex-selection technology mediates in this process. As this analysis resulted in valuable additional material for the assessment of sex-selection technologies, this thesis makes an argument to include a mediation analysis of technology in future technology assessment procedures.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:08 philosophy, 44 medicine, 50 technical science in general
Programme:Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society MSc (60024)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/73052
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