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  • © 2013

Norms in Technology

  • The first book to survey normativity in technological knowledge and innovation
  • Provides analysis of emerging topics in scientific ethics and epistemology
  • Includes analysis of norms relating to technological risks ?

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology (POET, volume 9)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. Introduction

    • Sven Ove Hansson, Anthonie W. M. Meijers, Marc J. de Vries
    Pages 1-11
  3. Normativity in Technological Knowledge and Action

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
    2. Extending the Scope of the Theory of Knowledge

      • Anthonie W. M. Meijers, Peter A. Kroes
      Pages 15-34
    3. Beliefs, Acceptances and Technological Knowledge

      • Marc J. de Vries, Anthonie W. M. Meijers
      Pages 55-65
    4. Rational Goals in Engineering Design: The Venice Dams

      • Karin Edvardsson Björnberg
      Pages 83-99
  4. Normativity and Artefact Norms

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101
    2. Artefactual Norms

      • Krist Vaesen
      Pages 119-136
    3. The Goodness and Kindhood of Artefacts

      • Maarten Franssen
      Pages 155-169
  5. Normativity and Technological Risks

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171
    2. The Non-reductivity of Normativity in Risks

      • Niklas Möller
      Pages 173-191
    3. Risk and Degrees of Rightness

      • Martin Peterson, Nicolas Espinoza
      Pages 193-206
    4. Naturalness, Artefacts, and Value

      • Per Sandin
      Pages 207-221
    5. Trust in Technological Systems

      • Philip J. Nickel
      Pages 223-237
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 239-241

About this book

This book is a distinctive fusion of philosophy and technology, delineating the normative landscape that informs today’s technologies and tomorrow’s inventions. The authors examine what we deem to be the internal norms that govern our ever-expanding technical universe. Recognizing that developments in technology and engineering literally create our human future, transforming existing knowledge into tomorrow’s tools and infrastructure, they chart the normative criteria we use to evaluate novel technological artifacts: how, for example, do we judge a ‘good’ from a ‘bad’ expert system or nuclear power plant? As well as these ‘functional’ norms, and the norms that guide technological knowledge and reasoning, the book examines commonly agreed benchmarks in safety and risk reduction, which play a pivotal role in engineering practice.

Informed by the core insight that, in technology and engineering, factual knowledge relating, for example, to the properties of materials or the load-bearing characteristics of differing construction designs is not enough, this analysis follows the often unseen foundations upon which technologies rest—the norms that guide the creative forces shaping the technical landscape to come. The book, a comprehensive survey of these emerging topics in the philosophy of technology, clarifies the role these norms (epistemological, functional, and risk-assessing) play in technological innovation, and the consequences they have for our understanding of technological knowledge.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Industrial engineering & Innovation sc., Philosophy & Ethics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands

    Marc J. Vries

  • Div. Philosophy, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden

    Sven Ove Hansson

  • , Philosophy, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands

    Anthonie W.M. Meijers

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Norms in Technology

  • Editors: Marc J. Vries, Sven Ove Hansson, Anthonie W.M. Meijers

  • Series Title: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5243-6

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature B.V. 2013

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-007-5242-9Published: 29 November 2012

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-007-9816-8Published: 14 December 2014

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-5243-6Published: 30 November 2012

  • Series ISSN: 1879-7202

  • Series E-ISSN: 1879-7210

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VIII, 244

  • Topics: Philosophy of Technology, Epistemology, Ethics

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access