Meta-ethical Debate
Along the way, an important meta-ethical debate has emerged – and frequently arises again among those new to these now long histories. Briefly, will ICE, especially as it becomes globalized, require: (a) largely a continuation of traditional ethics, but now applied to new problems; or (b) a radical transformation of ethical thinking, as constantly evolving ICTs introduce us in turn to radically new ethical difficulties? As is often the case, the eventual responses to such either/or possibilities rather constitute a “both/and”: that is, both (a) and (b) are correct. On the one hand, there may well be specific instances that point toward the need for distinctively new approaches. On the other hand, there are very many examples of how “everything old is new again”. That is, despite often dramatic technological transformations, coupled with our ever-evolving and sometimes striking new practices, the familiar ethical frameworks and approaches continue to work quite well in many instances. For example, deontology and virtue ethics are central ethical pillars in European Union philosophy and policy developing around the emergence of AI and the Internet of Things. Virtue ethics and deontology, along with utilitarianism, are likewise core frameworks in the development of “ethically aligned design” by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the largest professional and standards-setting organization in the world
