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ESDiT Research Line

The Future of a Fair & Free Society

We try to map how the changes in social relations, social structures, social institutions, and democratic practices, brought about by SDTs affect the basic concepts of social and political philosophy.

The overall aim of the ESDiT research programme is to develop a comprehensive philosophical understanding of the socially disruptive technologies (SDTs) of the 21st century, and in particular their challenge to the very concepts and values that we normally appeal to in our moral thinking about technologies.

Description of This Research Line

Under the influence of digital technologies, the basic structure of political and social orders is challenged, power relationships are changing, and the envisaged transformation towards sustainable societies calls for unprecedented global regulatory measures. These changes are fundamentally reshaping the social fabric of the world on which our moral principles and political commitments rest and force us to reconsider the content and the scope of basic moral convictions and raise questions of human control over social and political processes.

In this research line The Future of a Fair and Free Society we try to map how the changes in social relations, social structures, social institutions, and democratic practices, brought about by SDTs affect the basic concepts of social and political philosophy. We work on the following clusters of questions:

  • How can we realize basic normative ideas – such as democratic control, social justice, individual rights, and solidarity – under the conditions created by SDTs? How can we optimally use new opportunities offered by SDTs?
  • To what extent are those normative concepts and the normative frameworks used in ethics, social, and political philosophy adequate to analyze the effects of SDTs, including their side effects? And if they are not, how should we adjust them?
  • How can we regulate SDTs and how should we empower our social and political institutions to enable political and societal decision-making that leads to morally justified innovations?

Related Publications

The Ethics of Disruptive Technologies: Towards a General Framework

Hopster, Jeroen

The Ethics of Disruptive Technologies: Towards a General Framework Book Chapter

In: de Paz Santana, Juan Francisco; de la Iglesia, Daniel Hernández (Ed.): New Trends in Disruptive Technologies, Tech Ethics and Artificial Intelligence, vol. 1410, pp. 133-144, Springer Cham, 1, 2021, ISBN: 978-3-030-87686-9.

Links | BibTeX

Dissecting Scientific Explanation in AI (sXAI). A Case for Medicine and Healthcare

Durán, Juan M

Dissecting Scientific Explanation in AI (sXAI). A Case for Medicine and Healthcare Journal Article

In: Artificial Intelligence, vol. 297, no. 103498, 2021.

Links | BibTeX

Wellbeing, place and technology

Robeyns, Ingrid

Wellbeing, place and technology Journal Article

In: Wellbeing, Space and Society, vol. 1, pp. 100013, 2020, ISSN: 2666-5581.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Emotions and Digital Well-Being. The Rationalistic Bias of Social Media Design in Online Deliberations.

Marin, Lavinia; Roeser, Sabine

Emotions and Digital Well-Being. The Rationalistic Bias of Social Media Design in Online Deliberations. Book Chapter

In: In C. Burr, & L. Floridi (Eds.), Ethics of Digital Well-Being (pp. 139-150). Cham: Springer. , 2020.

BibTeX

Related News & Media

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ESDiT Biannual Report 2020-2021

ESDiT Biannual Report 2020-2021

Related Events

Workshop Engaging with empirical studies as a philosopher

May242023
Time: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Location: Social Impact Factory, Vredenburg 40, 3511 BD Utrecht
Academic event | All research lines & tracks | Internal ESDIT event
esdit-logo-cropped

Researchers involved in the ESDIT program are cordially invited to register!

ESDiT2022 International Conference

Oct62022
Oct72022
All-day event
Location: CORPUS Congress Centre, Oegstgeest (near) Leiden – the Netherlands
Academic event | All research lines & tracks | Public ESDIT event
esdit-conference

The objective of the conference is to study and ethically assess the transformative consequences of these emerging technologies, of social institutions, the environment, human relations, personal identities, thought and language. There will be a particular focus on challenges of disruptive technologies to key concepts and values, like “truth”, “agency”, “democracy”, “human nature” and “life”.

People Involved

Research Line Leaders

Prof. dr. Ingrid Robeyns

Prof. dr. Ingrid Robeyns

Professor in Ethics of Institutions
Utrecht University
ESDIT role(s): Management boardResearch fellowResearch line leader
Research line(s): Future of a Free & Fair Society
Prof. dr. Sabine Roeser

Prof. dr. Sabine Roeser

Professor of Ethics
Delft University of Technology
ESDIT role(s): Management boardResearch fellowResearch line leader
Research line(s): Future of a Free & Fair Society

Research Line Coordinator(s)

Dr. Patrik Hummel

Dr. Patrik Hummel

Assistant Professor in Philosophy & Ethics
Eindhoven University of Technology
ESDIT role(s): CoordinatorResearch fellow
Research line(s): Future of a Free & Fair Society
Dr. Emily Sullivan

Dr. Emily Sullivan

Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Eindhoven University of Technology
ESDIT role(s): CoordinatorResearch fellow
Research line(s): Future of a Free & Fair Society

Participants

Prof. dr. Thomas Bäck
Dr. Maren Behrensen
Prof. dr. Neelke Doorn
Dr. Juan M Durán
Dr. Aafke Fraaije
Dr. Dorothea Gädeke
Arthur Gwagwa
Dr. Adam Henschke
Dr. Patrik Hummel
Sammie Jansen
Dr. Dominic Lenzi
Samuela Marchiori
Dr. Lavinia Marin
Dr. Uwe Matzat
Karen Moesker
Elisa Paiusco
Ing. Patricia Reyes Benavides
Prof. dr. Ingrid Robeyns
Prof. dr. Sabine Roeser
Prof. Lambèr Royakkers
Dr. Mirko Tobias Schäfer
Dr. Andreas Spahn
Joseph  Sta. Maria
Dr. Emily Sullivan
Prof. dr. Jeroen van den  Hoven
Roxanne van der Puil
Prof. dr. Marcel Verweij
Dr. Elena Ziliotti

 

 

All ESDiT Research Lines

Nature, Life & Human Intervention

Nature, Life & Human Intervention

We aim to go beyond traditional discussions about the normative status of nature, e.g., whether there is something intrinsically good or desirable in nature and something objectionable in changing nature.
The Human Condition

The Human Condition

We investigate how and to what extent socially disruptive technologies have implications with regard to humans, humanity and the human condition, focusing on new biomedical and digital technologies.
The Future of a Fair & Free Society

The Future of a Fair & Free Society

We try to map how the changes in social relations, social structures, social institutions, and democratic practices, brought about by SDTs affect the basic concepts of social and political philosophy.
Foundations & Synthesis

Foundations & Synthesis

This research line aims to develop more synthesizing perspectives on the entire topic of the research programme. We work on frameworks that are able to provide normative responses to the challenge of SDTs.