•  3
    Luck, Epigenetics and the Worth of Collective Agents
    with Luca Chiapperino
    In Emma Moormann, Anna Smajdor & Daniela Cutas (eds.), Epigenetics and Responsibility: Ethical Perspectives, Bristol University Press. pp. 57-77. 2024.
  • AI in Medical Practice
    with Karin Jongsma
    In Ezio Di Nucci, Ji-Young Lee & Isaac A. Wagner (eds.), The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Bioethics, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2022.
  •  174
    Serendipity Science (edited book)
    with Samantha Copeland and Wendy Ross
    Springer. 2023.
    Serendipity is fundamental to science. This quirky and intriguing phenomenon permeates across scientific disciplines, including the medical sciences, psychological sciences, management and organizational sciences, innovation science, philosophy and library and information sciences. Why is it so ubiquitous? Because of what it facilitates and catalyzes: scientific discoveries from velcro to Viagra, innovation of all forms, unexpected encounters of useful information, novel and important ideas, and…Read more
  •  10
    Serendipity Science: An Emerging Field and its Methods (edited book)
    with Samantha Copeland and Wendy Ross
    Springer Verlag. 2023.
    This volume brings together for the first time the diverse threads within the growing field of serendipity research, to reflect both on the origins of this emerging field within different disciplines as well as its increasing influence as its own field with foundational texts and emerging practices. The phenomenon of serendipity has been described in many ways since Horace Walpole initially coined the term in 1754 to categorize those discoveries that happen by “both accidents and sagacity”. This…Read more
  •  5
    Introduction—A Science of Serendipity?
    with Samantha Copeland and Wendy Ross
    In Samantha Copeland, Wendy Ross & Martin Sand (eds.), Serendipity Science: An Emerging Field and its Methods, Springer Verlag. pp. 2147483647-2147483647. 2023.
    In this volume, we bring together for the first time the diverse threads within the field of serendipity research, to reflect both the origins of this emerging field within different disciplines as well as its growing influence as its own field with foundational texts and emerging practices. Many have been drawn to the mystery of serendipity, the wonder of the ‘aha’ moments humans experience when they encounter it. In the present volume we present, in contrast to the storytelling approach that d…Read more
  • Über Begriff und Wert digitaler Utopien
    In Kevin Liggieri & Marco Tamborini (eds.), Homo technologicus: Menschenbilder in den Technikwissenschaften des 21. Jahrhunderts, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 33-54. 2023.
  •  22
    Moral Luck and Unfair Blame
    Journal of Value Inquiry 57 (4): 701-717. 2023.
  •  4
    Serendipity, Luck and Collective Responsibility in Medical Innovation—The History of Vaccination
    with Luca Chiapperino
    In Samantha Copeland, Wendy Ross & Martin Sand (eds.), Serendipity Science: An Emerging Field and its Methods, Springer Verlag. pp. 2147483647-2147483647. 2023.
    Martin Sand and Luca Chiapperino find in the concept of serendipity a versatile umbrella term to reassess their previous work on moral luckLuck (also, Epistemic Luck, Moral Luck) and collectiveCollectiveresponsibilityResponsibility. Moral luck supposedly occurs when someone receives praise or blame for things beyond control. Given the ubiquity of luckLuck (also, Epistemic Luck, Moral Luck), this seems to be a seriously disquieting aspect of ordinary morality. The rewards and recognition for sere…Read more
  •  20
    Technology Assessment of Socio-Technical Futures—A Discussion Paper
    with Andreas Lösch, Knud Böhle, Christopher Coenen, Paulina Dobroc, Reinhard Heil, Armin Grunwald, Dirk Scheer, Christoph Schneider, Arianna Ferrari, Dirk Hommrich, Stefan C. Aykut, Sascha Dickel, Daniela Fuchs, Karen Kastenhofer, Helge Torgersen, Bruno Gransche, Alexandra Hausstein, Kornelia Konrad, Alfred Nordmann, Petra Schaper-Rinkel, Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer, and Alexander Wentland
    In Andreas Lösch, Armin Grunwald, Martin Meister & Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer (eds.), Socio-Technical Futures Shaping the Present: Empirical Examples and Analytical Challenges, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. pp. 285-308. 2019.
    Problem: Visions of technology, future scenarios, guiding visions represent imaginations of future states of affairs that play a functional role in processes of technological research, development and innovation—e.g. as a means to create attention, communication, coordination, or for the strategic exertion of influence. Since a couple of years there is a growing attention for such imaginations of futures in politics, the economy, research and the civil society. This trend concerns technology ass…Read more
  •  24
    The ethics and epistemology of explanatory AI in medicine and healthcare
    with Karin Jongsma and Juan M. Durán
    Ethics and Information Technology 24 (4): 1-4. 2022.
  •  26
    Agree to disagree: the symmetry of burden of proof in human–AI collaboration
    with Karin Rolanda Jongsma
    Journal of Medical Ethics 48 (4): 230-231. 2022.
    In their paper ‘Responsibility, second opinions and peer-disagreement: ethical and epistemological challenges of using AI in clinical diagnostic contexts’, Kempt and Nagel discuss the use of medical AI systems and the resulting need for second opinions by human physicians, when physicians and AI disagree, which they call the rule of disagreement.1 The authors defend RoD based on three premises: First, they argue that in cases of disagreement in medical practice, there is an increased burden of p…Read more
  •  332
    Moral Luck and Unfair Blame
    Journal of Value Inquiry 1-17. 2021.
    Moral luck occurs when factors beyond an agent’s control affect her blameworthiness. Several scholars deny the existence of moral luck by distinguishing judging blameworthy from blame-related practices. Luck does not affect an agent’s blameworthiness because morality is conceptually fair, but it can affect the appropriate degree of blame for that agent. While separatism resolves the paradox of moral luck, we aim to show it that it needs amendment, because it is unfair to treat two equally blamew…Read more
  •  74
    Responsibility beyond design: Physicians’ requirements for ethical medical AI
    with Juan Manuel Durán and Karin Rolanda Jongsma
    Bioethics 36 (2): 162-169. 2021.
    Bioethics, Volume 36, Issue 2, Page 162-169, February 2022.
  •  25
    Journal of Applied Philosophy, EarlyView.
  •  22
    Virtue Ethics for Responsible Innovation
    Business and Professional Ethics Journal 40 (2): 243-268. 2021.
    Governments and companies are increasingly promoting and organizing Responsible Innovation. It is, however, unclear how the seemingly incompatible demands for responsibility, which is associated with care and caution, can be harmonized with demands for innovation, which is associated with risk-taking and speed. We turn to the tradition of virtue ethics and argue that it can be a strong accomplice to Responsible Innovation by focussing on the agential side of innovation. Virtue ethics offers an a…Read more
  •  13
    Ethics for Responsible Innovation
    Business and Professional Ethics Journal. forthcoming.
  • Scientists’ Views on (Moral) Luck
    with Karin Jongsma
    Journal of Responsible Innovation 1-22. forthcoming.
    Scientific discoveries are often to some degree influenced by luck. Whether luck’s influence is at odds with common-sense intuitions about responsibility, is the central concern of the philosophical debate about moral luck. Do scientists acknowledge that luck plays a role in their work and – if so – do they consider it morally problematic? The present article discusses the results of four focus groups with scientists, who were asked about their views on luck in their fields and its moral implica…Read more
  •  209
    Prometheus' Legacy: Responsibility and Technology
    In Birgit Recki (ed.), Welche Technik?, Text & Dialog. pp. 23-40. 2020.
    A prominent view in contemporary philosophy of technology suggests that more technology implies more possibilities and, therefore, more responsibilities. Consequently, the question ‘What technology?’ is discussed primarily on the backdrop of assessing, assigning, and avoiding technology-borne culpability. The view is reminiscent of the Olympian gods’ vengeful and harsh reaction to Prometheus’ play with fire. However, the Olympian view leaves unexplained how technologies increase possibilities. A…Read more
  •  29
    A Defence of the Control Principle
    Philosophia 49 (2): 765-775. 2020.
    The nexus of the moral luck debate is the control principle, which says that people are responsible only for things within their control. In this paper, I will first argue that the control principle should be restrained to blameworthiness, because responsibility is too wide a concept to square with control. Many deniers of moral luck appeal to the intuitiveness of the control principle. Defenders of moral luck do not share this intuition and demand a stronger defence of the control principle. I …Read more
  •  26
    Sven Nyholm: Humans and Robots: Ethics, Agency, and Anthropomorphism (review)
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 23 (2): 487-489. 2020.
  •  6
    Martin Sand explores the problems of responsibility at the early, visionary stages of technological development. He discusses the increasingly dominant concept of innovation and outlines how narratives about the future are currently used to facilitate technological change, to foster networks, and to raise public awareness for innovations. This set of activities is under increasing scrutiny as a form of “visioneering”. The author discusses intentionality and freedom as important, albeit fuzzy, pr…Read more
  •  3
    Did Alexander Fleming Deserve the Nobel Prize?
    Science and Engineering Ethics 26 (2): 899-919. 2020.
    Penicillin is a serendipitous discovery par excellence. But, what does this say about Alexander Fleming’s praiseworthiness? Clearly, Fleming would not have received the Nobel Prize, had not a mould accidently entered his laboratory. This seems paradoxical, since it was beyond his control. The present article will first discuss Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin as an example of moral luck in science and technology and critically assess some common responses to this problem. Second, the Control Pr…Read more
  •  8
    Did Alexander Fleming Deserve the Nobel Prize?
    Science and Engineering Ethics 26 (2): 899-919. 2020.
    Penicillin is a serendipitous discovery par excellence. But, what does this say about Alexander Fleming’s praiseworthiness? Clearly, Fleming would not have received the Nobel Prize, had not a mould accidently entered his laboratory. This seems paradoxical, since it was beyond his control. The present article will first discuss Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin as an example of moral luck in science and technology and critically assess some common responses to this problem. Second, the Control Pr…Read more
  •  11
    Did Alexander Fleming Deserve the Nobel Prize?
    Science and Engineering Ethics 26 (2): 899-919. 2020.
    Penicillin is a serendipitous discovery par excellence. But, what does this say about Alexander Fleming’s praiseworthiness? Clearly, Fleming would not have received the Nobel Prize, had not a mould accidently entered his laboratory. This seems paradoxical, since it was beyond his control. The present article will first discuss Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin as an example of moral luck in science and technology and critically assess some common responses to this problem. Second, the Control Pr…Read more
  •  59
    The notion of responsible innovation suggests that innovators carry additional responsibilities beyond those commonly suggested. In this paper, we will discuss the meaning of these novel responsibilities focusing on two philosophical problems of attributing such responsibilities to innovators. The first is the allocation of responsibilities to innovators. Innovation is a process that involves a multiplicity of agents and unpredictable, far-reaching causal chains from innovation to social impacts…Read more
  •  16
    How the Future Has a Grip on Us
    Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology. 2018.
    Being faced with bold statements about the technological future, the wickedness of technological systems and our frequent cluelessness when aiming at predicting the course of such systems, scholars from philosophy of technology and Technology Assessment have given up believing that any method can enhance our knowledge about the future. Hence, hermeneutic TA, forensics of wishing and other approaches shift their focus on the present of such futures. While these approaches are meaningful in their …Read more
  •  29
    The Virtues and Vices of Innovators
    Philosophy of Management 17 (1): 79-95. 2018.
    Innovation processes are extremely complex and opaque, which makes it tough or even impossible to govern them. Innovators lack control of large parts of these developments and lack of foreknowledge about the possible consequences of emerging technologies. Because of these features some scholars have argued that innovation processes should be structurally reformed and the agent-centered model of responsibility for innovation should be dismissed altogether. In the present article it will be argued…Read more
  •  16
    Visioneering Socio-Technical Innovations — a Missing Piece of the Puzzle
    with Christoph Schneider
    NanoEthics 11 (1): 19-29. 2017.