Modeling Ethics: Reflections At The Intersection Of Ethics And Simulation

摘要

The rise of computer simulation provokes a diverse range of ethical questions, which computational modelers are striving to navigate. Computer simulation can also be turned to the analysis of ethical themes such as the origins and spread of social norms and the processes of scientific research and technological development; these lines of inquiry have the potential to change the way the philosophical field of ethics conceives itself. In this two-way traffic between simulation and ethics, two imperatives arise: the ethical obligation to apply computer simulations to urgent social problems and the obligation for philosophers to be prepared to offer ethical analyses of every new application of computer simulation to human affairs. This paper discusses these four lines of interaction, argues that close connections between simulation and ethics will only become more important in the future as the power and influence of computational simulation increases, and advances several practical suggestions.