Citizen virtues in a technological order

Abstract

Contemporary philosophical discussions about technology mirror a profound distance between technical practice and moral thought. I consider the origins of this gap as reflected in both ancient and modern writings. The philosopher's version of technocracy ‐ rushing forward with the analysis of moral categories in the hope that policy‐makers or the public will find them decisive ‐ does nothing to bridge this gap and is, therefore, a forlorn strategy. The trouble is not that we lack good arguments and theories, but rather that modern politics does not provide appropriate roles and institutions in which the activity of defining the common good in technology policy is a legitimate project. I find glimmerings of an alternative practice in the ‘Scandinavian approach’ to democratic participation in technological design.