Imaginative Value Sensitive Design: Using Moral Imagination Theory to Inform Responsible Technology Design

Area of Science:

• Technology Ethics
• Emerging Technologies
• Societal Impact of Technology

Background:

• Safe-by-design (SBD) frameworks aim to integrate human values into emerging technologies.
• Value Sensitive Design (VSD) is a prominent SBD methodology focusing on stakeholder values.
• VSD relies on philosophical and ethical literature to navigate moral trade-offs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the grounding of moral values within the VSD methodology.
• To analyze the strengths and weaknesses of VSD's value-investigation processes.
• To propose enhancements for VSD, particularly for nano-bio-info-cogno technologies.

Main Methods:

• Deconstruction of VSD's value-investigation approaches.
• Ethical analysis of VSD's application to emerging technologies.
• Exploration of moral imagination as a complementary framework.

Main Results:

• The VSD methodology exhibits limitations in determining moral values for complex emerging technologies.
• VSD's reliance on universal moral values may be insufficient for nuanced ethical considerations.
• Moral imagination offers a potential pathway to strengthen VSD's capacity for value integration.

Conclusions:

• The VSD framework requires strengthening to adequately address the ethical complexities of nano-bio-info-cogno technologies.
• Moral imagination provides a valuable tool to extend beyond moral intuitions in technology design.
• Integrating moral imagination can lead to more robust and ethically sound SBD frameworks.