The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Ethics (Hardcover)

One of the enduring concerns of moral philosophy is deciding who or what is deserving of ethical consideration. Much recent attention has been devoted to the "animal question"--consideration of the moral status of nonhuman animals. In this book, David Gunkel takes up the "machine question": whether and to what extent intelligent and autonomous machines of our own making can be considered to have legitimate moral responsibilities and any legitimate claim to moral consideration. The machine question poses a fundamental challenge to moral thinking, questioning the traditional philosophical conceptualization of technology as a tool or instrument to be used by human agents. Gunkel begins by addressing the question of machine moral agency: whether a machine might be considered a legitimate moral agent that could be held responsible for decisions and actions. He then approaches the machine question from the other side, considering whether a machine might be a moral patient due legitimate moral consideration. Finally, Gunkel considers some recent innovations in moral philosophy and critical theory that complicate the machine question, deconstructing the binary agent--patient opposition itself. Technological advances may prompt us to wonder if the science fiction of computers and robots whose actions affect their human companions (think of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey) could become science fact. Gunkel's argument promises to influence future considerations of ethics, ourselves, and the other entities who inhabit this world.

道德哲學中一個持久的關注點是決定誰或什麼值得受到道德考慮。最近，人們對「動物問題」——對非人類動物的道德地位的考慮——給予了很多關注。在這本書中，大衛·岡克爾（David Gunkel）探討了「機器問題」：我們自己製造的智能和自主機器是否可以被認為具有合法的道德責任和任何合法的道德考慮。機器問題對道德思考提出了一個基本挑戰，質疑了傳統哲學將技術視為人類工具或儀器的概念化。岡克爾首先討論了機器的道德代理問題：一個機器是否可以被認為是一個合法的道德代理，可以對其決策和行為負責。然後，他從另一個角度探討了機器問題，考慮一個機器是否可以成為一個應受合法道德考慮的道德病人。最後，岡克爾考慮了一些近期道德哲學和批判理論的創新，使機器問題變得複雜，解構了二元的代理者-病人對立本身。技術的進步可能使我們想知道，電腦和機器人的行為如何影響他們的人類伴侶（想想《2001太空漫遊》中的HAL）是否可能成為科學事實。岡克爾的論點有望影響對倫理、我們自己以及在這個世界上居住的其他實體的未來考慮。