Rawls's Wide Reflective Equilibrium as a Method for Engaged Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Potentials and...

Area of Science:

• Ethics of Technology
• Social Sciences
• Science and Engineering Studies

Background:

• Societal resistance to new technologies necessitates integrating public concerns into innovation.
• Calls for "upstream engagement" and "responsible innovation" promote early stakeholder involvement.
• Existing normative models for technology assessment are limited, despite interdisciplinary efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the practical application of Rawls's wide reflective equilibrium (WRE) in technology development.
• To identify and discuss neglected issues in the applied ethics literature concerning WRE.
• To assess the feasibility of WRE for normative analysis in concrete technological cases.

Main Methods:

• Case studies in engineering and technology development.
• In-depth discussion of WRE's operationalization, inclusiveness, and equilibrium criteria.
• Analysis of interdisciplinary collaboration dynamics in technology ethics.

Main Results:

• Identified three key neglected issues in applying WRE: operationalizing theories, ensuring inclusiveness and openness, and establishing equilibrium.
• Highlighted the need for sensitivity to power and representativeness in interdisciplinary collaborations.
• Demonstrated practical challenges in using WRE for technology assessment.

Conclusions:

• WRE offers a promising framework for integrating social sciences into technology ethics.
• Successful application of WRE requires addressing practical operationalization and inclusivity challenges.
• Effective use of WRE in technology development necessitates careful management of interdisciplinary dynamics and societal engagement.