Moral mechanisms

Date
2012
Authors
Davenport, D.
Advisor
Instructor
Source Title
AISB/IACAP World Congress 2012 - The Machine Question: AI, Ethics and Moral Responsibility, Part of Alan Turing Year 2012
Print ISSN
Electronic ISSN
Publisher
Volume
Issue
Pages
83 - 86
Language
English
Type
Conference Paper
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract

Moral philosophies are arguably all anthropocentric and so fundamentally concerned with biological mechanisms. Computationalism, on the other hand, sees biology as just one possible implementation medium. Can non-human, non-biological agents be moral' This paper looks at the nature of morals, at what is necessary for a mechanism to make moral decisions, and at the impact biology might have on the process. It concludes that moral behaviour is concerned solely with social well-being, independent of the nature of the individual agents that comprise the group. While biology certainly affects human moral reasoning, it in no way restricts the development of artificial moral agents. The consequences of sophisticated artifical mechanisms living with natural human ones is also explored. While the prospects for peaceful coexistence are not particularly good, it is the realisation that humans no longer occupy a privileged place in the world, that is likely to be the most disconcerting. Computationalism implies we are mechanisms; probably the most immoral of moral mechanisms.

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Keywords
Biological mechanisms, Computationalism, Individual agent, Moral agents, Moral philosophy, Moral reasoning, Social well-being, Biology, Philosophical aspects
Citation
Published Version (Please cite this version)