[Wittrs] Re: Robots and Ethical Choices
- From: "SWM" <SWMirsky@xxxxxxx>
- To: wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:05:16 -0000
" there isn't one damn philosophical problem. Not one at all. All there is, is
the confusion people have when throwing around the term 'robot' and 'ethics'."
The philosophical problem is what we mean by "ethics" and related terms, i.e.,
whether the terms in question have an application vis a vis robots. Thus the
problem lies in the way we speak rather than at some metaphysical-theoretical
level.
Why is this not merely 'not a linguistic problem' though and so qualifies as
fodder for the philosopher? Because this isn't about how people in any
particular language-using group currently apply these terms (determined either
by checking all available dictionaries or by taking a survey of actual language
users) but about whether the current applications of these terms imply or allow
for certain new (not previously considered) applications, to robots and similar
type machines, say, under certain conditions.
Doing philosophy by approaching conceptual questions through linguistic
analysis is not the same as studying particular languages or languages in
general, though there will be points of contact, I expect.
SWM
--- In Wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, whoooo26505@... wrote:
>
> Just thought I'd throw some cat nip in here.
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/canrobotsmakeethicaldecisions
>
> I wonder whether anyone ever stopped to consider the question of whether
> "robots making ethical choices" isn't really saying:
>
> (a) Robots can do something ethics-like
>
> (b) something robot-like can do something ethics-like
>
> (c) humans can make robots immitate behaviors frequently called "ethics"
>
> (d) ethics is as ethics does
>
> (e) people cannot deploy ethics as a rule like many uses of the word
> "bachelor." Hence, one is forbidden to assert "only humans can do ethics."
> (cf: marriage is between ....)
>
> (f) ethics is a calculus of some sort like gravity. (Cf: Newton discovered
> gravity. No, he discovered its formula)
>
> (e) technology is cool
>
> If a dog does ethics, is it dog-ethics or just ethics? If it is dog-ethics,
> why does it seem wrong to say that a robot does robot-ethics? Is it because
> the robot is not functioning as a genre here? But why? Probably because it is
> functioning as an immitation. And if one could obtain a perfect immitation,
> one would want to say in language "it is doing ethics." (Of course, you could
> program it to do dog-ethics as well).
>
> If I said to you that a robot could do things not reserved for the grammar of
> "robot," what will i have done to all of my other expressions? Would I then
> say of an ordinary robot, "you're not a 'robot' at all' -- sort of in the
> way one says to a whimpy person, "you aren't a man at all."
>
> What is interesting in all of this is the nonsense of it all. The only true
> headline is this: "technological capacity getting really cool." But the fools
> won't see this. They'll get caught in the language game. They'll think
> philosophic issues exist. Or that they have been impacted. They'll think
> either ethics or humanity or equality or dogs are at stake. There isn't a
> thing here to discuss other than to register the state of advancement of
> "robotics" and to think about the implications of new toys. Or how it will
> affect politics and society.
>
> But there isn't one damn philosophical problem. Not one at all. All there is,
> is the confusion people have when throwing around the term "robot" and
> "ethics."
>
> (Yours sent from opensubscriber to see if it works)
>
> --
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