PL401 Week 5 Discussion

Techno-Pessimism vs Techno-Optimism and Enhancement

Choose and respond to one of the following questions:

Question A

Contrast Joy and Kurzweil’s techno-pessimism and techno-optimism. How would Kurzweil respond to the Kaczynski dilemma (this will require you to articulate and evaluate the dilemma)?

Question B

Concerning enhancement, is there a value to “natural human engagement” with the world? Why or why not? If you answer in the affirmative, is that position compatible with the views of the society and technology articulated in earlier readings? If you answer in the negative, how would articulate the problem with things like steroid use, which are widely regarded as wrong?

Use at least two of this week’s readings as resources in your initial post.

I don’t have the reading material for this one, but I do have the book title. The pages are 249-310

Winston, M. E., & Edelbach, R. D. (2012). Society, ethics, and technology (4th ed. ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.