Ethics in Progress, 2019, Volume 10, Issue 2

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    The Sequence of Loyalty and Filial Piety and Its Ideological Origins in the Traditional Ethical Culture of China and Japan
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Yang, Weiyu
    The traditional ethical culture of Japan is under the influence of Chinese Confucian culture. However, due to differences in historical tradition and social structure, in traditional Japanese culture, “loyalty”, as the highest value, is in preference to “filial piety” and it lays a foundation for universal moral principles of the society; while in the Chinese Confucian culture, “filial piety” is regarded as the first and “loyalty” is the natural expansion of “filial piety”. The main reason is the influence of the indigenous Shinto in traditional Japanese culture. After the internalization of the indigenous Shinto and the Tennoism as well as the indoctrination of over 600-year ruling of the samurai regime, “loyalty”, as the national cultural and psychological heritage, has the religious and irrational mysterious color, which is different from the secularization and the practical rationality of the pre-Qin Confucian ethics of China. Loyalty to the emperor and devotion to public interests advocated by Bushido is an important characteristic of traditional Japanese ethical culture, and the religious and absolute understanding of “loyalty” is hidden with the risk of nationalism and irrationality.
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    Botanical Microphotography in the Perspective of Philosophy of Culture
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Bogaczyk-Vormayr, Małgorzata
    The aim of this article is to briefly outline my own cognitive experience, characterized by knowledge transfer and aesthetic experience, which arises from making BioArt. Specifically, I do nature photography, using the micro-photography technique. In this article, I distinguish – in terms of methodology and value — between interdisciplinary research in the social sciences and the postulate of transdisciplinary research, which leads me to reject the so-called plantality model — a linguistic concept employed by G. Deleuze and F. Guattari (Rhizome). I argue for a critical approach to this line of post-humanist reflection on non-human life that is not characterized by knowledge transfer. The article includes a report on the course of my research (parts 2 and 3), and a reflection of its relevance to the philosophy of art and philosophy of culture (parts 1, 3, 3.1, 4). The report from my own research and artistic activity includes a description of the transformation of my working space, the process of acquiring new disciplinary tools and skills — an experience that I call a change of attitude — and a presentation of nature microphotography (mainly plant photography). I provide a technical commentary on the presented photographs with regard to the process of their creation (e.g. botanical and optical information related to the microscopic slides and equipment), as well as philosophical comments. The philosophical reflection includes the postulate of alterity, which, in my view, is endemic to post-humanist thought, as well as a postulate called the primacy of abstraction, which reflects the non-naturalistic, anti-illustrative, and interpretative character of artistic microphotography (in contrast to the illustrative nature of “the plantality discourse of philosophy”).
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    E-Access to the City? Mapping Applications for People with Disabilities
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Pankau, Joanna
    The article focuses on the socio-spatial accessibility of the city, taking into account the phenomenon of a digitally expanding urban environment: new-media mobility conditions, intermedia dataflow, hybrid space. Therefore, turning to the problem of access and to urban mobile applications complements the problem of access to the city itself. Particular attention is focused on mapping applications, considering mapping as an expression of active city exploration “from the inside” and the process of cooperative spatial knowledge production, characterized by a critical approach. Urban mapping applications dedicated to people with disabilities can be not only a form of support when they move around the city, but also a kind of tool for co-shaping urban space – exposing inequalities and seeking ways to deconstruct socio-spatial “normalization”. In this perspective, people with disabilities, taking advantage of the new spaces of mobile accessibility, place themselves in the role of political subjects, co-creators of space, “mapping citizens” fighting for their rights as urban citizens.
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    Rethinking Digital Games in a Critical and Participatory Perspectives. A Brief Reflection
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) da Silva Leite, Patrícia; Andrade Torquato Schimidt, Deborah
    Digital games are social objects created based on our culture and society and at the same time they contribute to shaping our world. Through a critical perspective of digital games and technology, it is possible to discuss the unfolding of these artefacts in our society and also understand their relevance beyond an instrumental view. In this paper, we present a brief reflection based on two researches developed by the authors: the first, regarding the link between digital games and people with disabilities; and the second, about contributions of digital games to a critical education. Our goal with this work is to highlight the emancipatory and participatory.
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    Moral Competence and Moral Orientation in Robots
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Schmiljun, Andrè
    Two major strategies (the top-down and bottom-up strategies) are currently discussed in robot ethics for moral integration. I will argue that both strategies are not sufficient. Instead, I agree with Bertram F. Malle and Matthias Scheutz that robots need to be equipped with moral competence if we don’t want them to be a potential risk in society, causing harm, social problems or conflicts. However, I claim that we should not define moral competence merely as a result of different “elements” or “components” we can randomly change. My suggestion is to follow Georg Lind’s dual aspect dual layer theory of moral self that provides a broader perspective and another vocabulary for the discussion in robot ethics. According to Lind, moral competence is only one aspect of moral behavior that we cannot separate from its second aspect: moral orientation. As a result, the thesis of this paper is that integrating morality into robots has to include moral orientation and moral competence.
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    The Cooperative Board Game THREE. A Test Field for Experimenting with Moral Dilemmas of Human-Robot Interaction
    (2019) Łupkowski, Paweł
    The paper describes the cooperative board game entitled THREE. The game is inspired by the Three Laws of Robotics. We show how this game may be used as an environment for exploring the ethical problems arising from human-robot interaction. We present the idea behind the game, discuss its cooperativeness and analyze the dilemmas encountered by players during the gameplay. We also present and discuss the results of the game evaluation.
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    A Softwaremodule for an Ethical Elder Care Robot. Design and Implementation
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Misselhorn, Catrin
    The development of increasingly intelligent and autonomous technologies will eventually lead to these systems having to face morally problematic situations. This is particularly true of artificial systems that are used in geriatric care environments. The goal of this article is to describe how one can approach the design of an elder care robot which is capable of moral decision-making and moral learning. A conceptual design for the development of such a system is provided and the steps that are necessary to implement it are described.
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    The Ethical Significance of Human Likeness in Robotics and AI
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Remmers, Peter
    A defining goal of research in AI and robotics is to build technical artefacts as substitutes, assistants or enhancements of human action and decision-making. But both in reflection on these technologies and in interaction with the respective technical artefacts, we sometimes encounter certain kinds of human likenesses. To clarify their significance, three aspects are highlighted. First, I will broadly investigate some relations between humans and artificial agents by recalling certain points from the debates on Strong AI, on Turing’s Test, on the concept of autonomy and on anthropomorphism in human-machine interaction. Second, I will argue for the claim that there are no serious ethical issues involved in the theoretical aspects of technological human likeness. Third, I will suggest that although human likeness may not be ethically significant on the philosophical and conceptual levels, strategies to use anthropomorphism in the technological design of human-machine collaborations are ethically significant, because artificial agents are specifically designed to be treated in ways we usually treat humans.
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    If Machines Want To Dream... Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg on the Ethical Consequences of There Being No Substantial Distinction Between Humans and Robots
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Jocz, Artur
    Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg (1937-1995) was a Polish science fiction writer. In his novel Robot (1973), he made an attempt at a literary visualization of a machine acquiring human identity. In this article I would like to follow the ethical consequences of such situations in created literary worlds. It is worth remembering, however, that these artistic worlds often serve to test non-literary reality. In his novel, Wiśniewski-Snerg also dealt with the problem of human feelings (e.g. moral dilemmas) in a thinking machine, which is formed in the image and likeness of a human being. Such literary reflection is valuable, partly because it enters into an interesting dialogue with the work of Bruno Schulz (18921942), one of the most important Polish writers of the 20th century. It is also one of the first attempts in Polish literature to address the issue of sentient machines, and is a kind of preview of contemporary dilemmas connected with the work on the creation of artificial intelligence. An example of such a dilemma is the issue of the sentient machine’s perception of the tasks imposed on it by the human-constructor. Perhaps it will start to experience them as a kind of unethical oppression. In Wiśniewski-Snerg’s writing this problem of is, of course, expressed in a metaphorical way.
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    Sisyphus Cannot Rest. Ethical Challenges of Artificial Intelligence
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Thiel, Volker
    The use of machines with artificial intelligence in different areas of life and the trend to develop a „homunculus“ makes ethical rating necessary. Starting with early rules of behavior and moral norms, traditions in the occidental ethic history will be presented and faced with the question, whether they can be of any help to understand artificial intelligence, and which conclusions should be considered while developing and using machines with (strong) artifical intelligence by individuals, states, and finally, the whole world.
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    The Status of Robots in Moral and Legal Systems Review of David J. Gunkel (2018). Robot Rights. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Ginszt, Katarzyna
    David J. Gunkel in his latest book Robot Rights presents the opportunities and challenges of integrating robots into moral and legal systems. The research question asked by the author is “Can and should robots have rights”? Following the Humean distinction between “is” and “ought”, Gunkel creates four statements that either opt for or against incorporating robots into legal discourse. The four modalities group contrasting opinions developed by different scholars on the subject of the eponymous robot rights. The author provides readers with yet another alternative approach to the question of legal recognition of robots which is based on Levinasian philosophy.
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    Company from the Uncanny Valley: A Psychological Perspective on Social Robots, Anthropomorphism and the Introduction of Robots to Society
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Samuel, Janina Luise
    There are many issues surrounding the introduction of social robots into society, including concerns about how they may be used to replace true social interaction in personal life, dehumanise formerly social occupations such as elderly care, and be perceived as more human than they actually are. This paper shall present a psychological perspective on the human reception of social robots and apply the gathered information to address these concerns.
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    Mind and Machine. The New Spaces of Robots and Digitization
    (Wydział Filozoficzny UAM, 2019) Janz, Bruce B.; Schmiljun, André
    Machines have always been a tool or technical instrument for human beings to facilitate and to accelerate processes through mechanical power. The same applies to robots nowadays – the next step in the evolution of machines. Over the course of the last few years, robot usage in society has expanded enormously, and they now carry out a remarkable number of tasks for us. It seems we are on the eve of a historic revolution that will change everything we know right now. But not only robots have an impact on our life. It is digitization in its entirety, including smart applications and games, that confronts us with new spaces. This special volume of Ethics in Progress tries to broaden our understanding of a philosophical field – robots and digitization – that is still in its infancy in terms of it research and literature.