Several members of ValueChange team, together with a colleague from TU/e Eindhoven organized a Value Change panel at the International Philosophy of Human-Technology Relations Conference at University of Twente, the Netherlands, November 5, 2020. 

Panel Description

This panel aims to explore the relation between values and technologies from different theoretical viewpoints. A specific instance of this relation is technologically induced value change, whereby values are not only providing guidance to actions but also change in response to technologies. The authors in the panel elucidate value change from several positions. Philip Nickel, Olya Kudina and Ibo van de Poel focus on uncovering the dimension of moral uncertainty that underlies value change, drawing on several case studies. Anna Melnyk draws on the scholarship of Isaiah Berlin and Ronald Dworkin to highlight the moral epistemology of value change, while referring to the cases of renewable energy technologies. Michael Klenk discusses the possibility of change in objective values by inviting us to consider what actually makes something valuable. Finally, Steffen Steinert explores the role of social structures in relation to values and technologies, drawing on the recent accounts of social ontology. The panel will be of interest to anyone curious in untangling value change in relation to technologies and beyond.

About the Conference

The Philosophy of Human-Technology Relations Conference is a four-day digital event to explore the relations between humans and technologies at the intersection of philosophy, design, ethics, art, and engineering. It is organized by a multidisciplinary group of scholars, chaired by prof. Peter-Paul Verbeek, and digitally hosted by the DesignLab of the University of Twente. The conference intends to bring together scholars in philosophy of technology with the broader field of research in human-technology interaction.