For better and worse, the future is often conceived in technological terms. Technology is supposed to meet the challenge of climate change or resource depletion. And when one asks about the world in 20 or 100 years, answers typically revolve around AI, genome editing, or geoengineering. There is great demand to speculate about the future of work, the future of mobility, Industry 4.0, and Humanity 2.0. The humanities and social sciences, science studies, and technology assessment respond to this demand but need to seek out a responsible way of taking the future into account. This collection of papers, interviews, debates grew out of disagreements about technological futures, speculative ethics, plausible scenarios, anticipatory governance, and proactionary and precautionary approaches. It proposes Hermeneutic Technology Assessment as a way of understanding ourselves through our ways of envisioning the future. At the same time, a hermeneutic understanding of technological projects and prototypes allows for normative assessments of their promises. Is the future an object of design? This question can bring together and divide policy makers, STS scholars, social theorists, and philosophers of history, and it will interest also the scientists and engineers who labor under the demand to deliver that future.

The boundaries between inanimate technology and the realm of the living become increasingly blurred. Deeper and deeper technological interventions into living organisms are possible, covering the entire spectrum of life from bacteria to humans. Simultaneously, digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) enable increasingly autonomous technologies. Inanimate technologies such as robots begin to show characteristics of life. Contested issues pop up, such as the dignity of life, the enhancement of animals for human purposes, the creation of designer babies, and the granting of robot rights. The book addresses the understanding of the ongoing dissolution of the life/technology borders, the provision of ethical guidance for navigating research and innovation responsibly, and the philosophical reflection on the meaning of the current shifts. It offers three specific perspectives for understanding the challenges and providing orientation. First, the dissolution of the boundaries between technology and life is analyzed and reflected from both sides. Second, the search for orientation is not restricted to ethics but also involves philosophy of technology and of nature, as well as anthropology. Finally, instead of restricting the analysis to specific areas of life, e.g., bacteria or animals, the book presents a comprehensive look at the entire spectrum of living organisms-bacteria and viruses, plants, animals and humans-and robots as possible early forms of emerging technical life.

Technological advance affects almost all areas of human life. Rapid digitization, increased mobility, new biotechnologies, and nanotechnology deeply influence, amongst others, industrial production, entertainment, work, military affairs, and individual life. Besides overwhelmingly positive effects on wealth, comfort, innovation, and development, this also raises questions of unintended effects, of tensions with democracy, of the role of citizens, and of its sustainability facing environmental issues. Tools and procedures are needed to cope with this challenging situation. Technology assessment (TA) has been developed more than fifty years ago to enable science, the economy, and society to harvest the potential of new technology to the maximum extent possible and to deal responsibly with possible adverse effects. It was developed more than 50 years ago in the U.S. Congress and has diversified considerably in the meantime. Parliamentary TA in many European states and at the international level, participatory TA at the local and regional levels worldwide, and TA as part of engineering processes are the most relevant fields today. Technology assessment is a growing field of interdisciplinary research and scientific policy advice. This volume (a) gives an overview of motivations of TA, its history and its current practices, (b) develops a fresh theoretical perspective on TA rooted in social theory and philosophy, and (c) draws conclusions from the theoretical perspective for the further development of TA's practices. It provides the first comprehensive view on the growing field of TA at the international level.

The exploration of ways to conceptualize the shaping of the present by socio-technical futures is the aim of this volume. Therefore it brings together contributions from Science and Technology Studies and Technology Assessment, which focus all on the question how socio-technical images of the future shape present processes of innovation and transformation starting from empirical case studies and generalizing specific findings or by tackling conceptual questions from the outset. A white paper of 23 authors, which aims to sensitize researchers and practitioners completes the volume.

One way to shape technology and its embedding in society in the 21st century is through the visions that guide their development, especially concerning the long-term societal perspective. A critical discussion and assessment of these visions is a prerequisite for influencing the course of development. Technology assessment, therefore, has to provide a methodological repertoire for assessing and constructing visions, taking into account the requirements for long-term orientation as well as the need for public legitimation. This volume draws upon insights from technology assessment, political sciences, epistemology, sociology and ethics. It is to contribute to the recent literature in on "shaping technology," taking into account the "co-evolution of technology and society." It connects to that technology assessment literature that emphasises TA's pro-active role and its contribution to political judgement.

The study tackles the subject in a new and unique way: Due to the fact that the borders between classical academic disciplines disappear at the nanoscale, a truly interdisciplinary approach is chosen. A functional definition of nanotechnology is developed by the authors as basis for the further sections of the study. The most important results enable recommendations with respect to scientific progress, industrial relevance, economic potential, educational needs, potential adverse health effects and philosophical aspects of nanotechnology. The book addresses the relevant decision levels, media, and academia.

The study tackles the subject in a new and unique way: Due to the fact that the borders between classical academic disciplines disappear at the nanoscale, a truly interdisciplinary approach is chosen. A functional definition of nanotechnology is developed by the authors as basis for the further sections of the study. The most important results enable recommendations with respect to scientific progress, industrial relevance, economic potential, educational needs, potential adverse health effects and philosophical aspects of nanotechnology. The book addresses the relevant decision levels, media, and academia.

Technological advance affects almost all areas of human life. Rapid digitization, increased mobility, new biotechnologies, and nanotechnology deeply influence, amongst others, industrial production, entertainment, work, military affairs, and individual life. Besides overwhelmingly positive effects on wealth, comfort, innovation, and development, this also raises questions of unintended effects, of tensions with democracy, of the role of citizens, and of its sustainability facing environmental issues. Tools and procedures are needed to cope with this challenging situation. Technology assessment (TA) has been developed more than fifty years ago to enable science, the economy, and society to harvest the potential of new technology to the maximum extent possible and to deal responsibly with possible adverse effects. It was developed more than 50 years ago in the U.S. Congress and has diversified considerably in the meantime. Parliamentary TA in many European states and at the international level, participatory TA at the local and regional levels worldwide, and TA as part of engineering processes are the most relevant fields today. Technology assessment is a growing field of interdisciplinary research and scientific policy advice. This volume (a) gives an overview of motivations of TA, its history and its current practices, (b) develops a fresh theoretical perspective on TA rooted in social theory and philosophy, and (c) draws conclusions from the theoretical perspective for the further development of TA's practices. It provides the first comprehensive view on the growing field of TA at the international level.

German-english edition The question of identity has always preoccupied artists. Louisa Clement is no different, her central theme is the human being and the human in the digital. In her art, she starts out from herself, but ventures much further, asking how identity will be shaped in the future and examining forms of transformation. In the series of works Repräsentantinnen (Representatives), she creates AI-equipped, adaptive images of herself, with which visitors can converse. In photographic works, the master pupil of Andreas Gursky continues this examination of the body and its possible optimisations and deals with military legacies under the aspect of transformation. This publication is appearing for an exhibition at the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum - both artists are united in their search for self-expression, as Paula Modersohn-Becker's Self-portrait on 6th wedding anniversary from 1906 demonstrates in a succinct manner. Louisa Clement (born 1987 in Bonn) completed her studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 2015 as a master pupil of Andreas Gursky. She has already exhibited in various institutions and museums, including e.g.: Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden (2022); Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain (2022); Ludwig Forum Aachen (2019); Sprengel Museum Hanover (2019) One of today’s most popular young artists Current social issues such as AI, questions about body and self-image, and possibilities of digital storage Exhibition, 2 September 2023 to 21 January 2024, Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen

Modern molecular technology in the so-called life sciences (biology as weil as medicine) allows today to approach and manipulate living beings in ways and to an extent wh ich not too long aga seemed Utopian. The empirical progress promises further and even more radical developments in the future, and it is at least often claimed that this kind of research will have tremendeous etfects on and for all of humanity, for example in the areas of food production, transplantation medicine (including stem cell research and xenotransplantation), (therapeutic) genetic manipulation and (cell-line) cloning (of cell lines or tissues), and of biodiversity conservation-strategies. At least in Western, industrialized countries the development of modern sciences led to a steady increase of human health, well-being and quality of life. However, with the move to make the human body itself an object of scientific research interests, the respective scientific descriptions resulted in changes in the image that human beings have of themselves. Scientific progress has led to a startling loss of traditional human self-understanding. This development is in contrast to an under standing according to which the question what it means to be "human" is treated in the realm of philosophy. And indeed, a closer look reveals that - without denying the value of scientitic progress - science cannot replace the philosophical approach to anthropological questions."

Es ist eine bekannte Streitfrage, ob wir der Eigendynamik der Technik blind ausgeliefert sind, oder ob wir Technik zielgerichtet und nach gesellschaftlichen Werten aktiv und bewusst gestalten konnen. Im Buch Technikgestaltung zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit wird diese Frage aus den Perspektiven verschiedener wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen behandelt. Das Spektrum aus Philosophie, Sozialwissenschaft, Technikgeschichte und den Ingenieurwissenschaften erlaubt neue Sichtweisen auf die Frage der Gestaltbarkeit von Technik. Ergebnis des Buches ist ein besseres Verstandnis, was Technikgestaltung bedeuten kann, wie dies in der Praxis funktioniert, ob und wie gesellschaftliche Technikgestaltung erfolgen kann und ob, auf welche Weise und unter welchen Bedingungen eine Technikgestaltung fur mehr Nachhaltigkeit moglich ist."

Dieses Buch dokumentiert den Stand der Diskussion um wissenschaftliche Konzepte im Umgang mit Technikfolgen. Der Ansatz einer neuartigen rationalen Technikfolgen-Beurteilung in Abgrenzung zur klassischen Technikfolgen-Abschatzung wird detailliert erlautert und diskutiert. Von mehreren Autoren geschrieben wurde dennoch grosser Wert auf eine einheitliche Darstellungsweise gelegt.

Das Buch spannt den Bogen zwischen der "akademischen" Ethik und den Anwendungsproblemen und -bedingungen in der Technikgestaltung und sollte von daher sowohl fur Theoretiker als auch fur Praktiker von Interesse sein. Adressaten des Buches sind alle, die sich fur die ethischen und gesellschaftlichen Probleme der Technikgestaltung interessieren. In besonderer Weise wendet sich das Buch an die Akteure im Feld selbst: sowohl an die direkten Technikgestalter wie Ingenieure und Wissenschaftler, die indirekten Gestalter wie Manager und Unternehmen, Verbande, aber auch die politische Ebene der staatlichen Technikpolitik in Forschungsforderung und technikrelevanter Regulierung, als auch an diejenigen, die diese Technikgestaltung reflektierend begleiten (sollen):
- beteiligte Teildisziplinen der Ethik,
- die Technikfolgenabschatzung und
- verwandte Bereiche der Technikfolgen- und Geneseforschung"

Es ist eine bekannte Streitfrage, ob wir der Eigendynamik der Technik blind ausgeliefert sind, oder ob wir Technik zielgerichtet und nach gesellschaftlichen Werten aktiv und bewusst gestalten konnen. Im Buch Technikgestaltung zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit wird diese Frage aus den Perspektiven verschiedener wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen behandelt. Das Spektrum aus Philosophie, Sozialwissenschaft, Technikgeschichte und den Ingenieurwissenschaften erlaubt neue Sichtweisen auf die Frage der Gestaltbarkeit von Technik. Ergebnis des Buches ist ein besseres Verstandnis, was Technikgestaltung bedeuten kann, wie dies in der Praxis funktioniert, ob und wie gesellschaftliche Technikgestaltung erfolgen kann und ob, auf welche Weise und unter welchen Bedingungen eine Technikgestaltung fur mehr Nachhaltigkeit moglich ist."

This book comprehensively reviews the considerations of nanotechnology elaborated in philosophy, ethics, and the social sciences and systematizes and develops them further. It focuses on the issues of ethical responsibility regarding chances and risks of nanotechnology and its possible applications in the fields of synthetic nanoparticles, synthetic biology, animal enhancement, and human enhancement. The book has been, thus, put in the context of the keywords "responsible innovation" and "reflective sciences," which have been central concepts in the debates about the relationship between science and society for the last few years.