IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 87

accountability or responsibility at
all. If everyone and everything is
responsible, nothing is.
This is clearly a problem, but it is
clearly a problem that can and has
been overcome in many jurisdictions
by many inquiries, inquests, and tri-
bunals that have been charged with
the task of distributing responsibili-
ty for events in circumstances where
many elements participated in the
causal web that culminated in some
accident or disaster. Accountability,
in instrumental terms and in legal
terms if not in moral terms, can and
has been distributed through exten-
sive and complex systems of rami-
fied interaction. The question here is
whether any inquiry or investigation
of moral culpability, or any assess-
ment couched in moral or ethical
terms, should regard the actions of
technologies as relevant, and whe-
ther the distribution of normative
moral accountability should include
those technologies.
It seems to us that the pragmatic
problems raised by the fifth objec-
tion are real, but are not sufficient
to exclude non humans, given that
there is good reason in principle to
include them. If the axe or the Doc-
tor's computer system has acted

march 2017

in a way that is implicated in a bad
outcome; if the outcome might have
been other than bad were not for
the actions of the axe or the com-
puter system; if the axe or computer
system materialized an "in order
to" that is manifest in that bad out-
come; if the relationship between
the "in order to" and the bad out-
come is foreseeable; if the "in order
to" might have been different, given
a different will, and given a differ-
ent course in negotiations, then the
non-human axe or computer system
bears some responsibility for the
badness of that outcome. Whether
others are also responsible (say, the
maker of the axe, the programmer
of the computer, the educator of
the programmer...), is a matter for
determination. To decline to attri-
bute a responsibility that in principle
might be attributed, simply because
responsibility is distributed rather
than concentrated, may be a prag-
matic response, but is not justified
in principle, and the fifth objection
may therefore be dismissed.
We are now nearing the end of an
argument that has suggested that
moral accountability is not in princi-
ple restricted to humans (Part Two),
that non-humans do act in the world

∕

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

(Part Three), that technologies are
not just tools or "dumb instruments
(Part Four), that they materialize will
and forethought of consequences
(Part Five), and that the "dilution of
responsibility" poses no barrier to
moral accountability. In the next and
last episode we conclude by consid-
ering whether this argument is just
an abstract mind game, or whether
it has a real-world application.

Author Information
Michael Arnold is with the School of
Historical and Philosophical Studies,
University of Melbourne, Australia.
Christopher Pearce is with the
School of Medicine, Dentistry and
Health Sciences, the University of
Melbourne, Australia.

Acknowledgment
This series of short papers is a heav-
ily revised version of an earlier pub-
lication [1].

Reference

[1] M. Arnold and C. Pearce, "Is technology
innocent? Holding technologies to moral
account," IEEE Technology and Society
Mag., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 44-50, 2008.

87



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - Cover1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - Cover2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 4
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 5
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 6
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 7
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 8
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 9
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 10
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 11
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 12
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 13
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 14
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 15
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 16
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 17
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 18
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 19
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 20
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 21
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 22
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 23
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 24
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 25
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 26
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 27
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 28
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 29
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 30
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 31
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 32
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 33
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 34
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 35
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 36
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 37
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 38
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 39
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 40
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 41
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 42
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 43
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 44
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 45
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 46
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 47
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 48
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 49
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 50
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 51
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 52
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 53
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 54
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 55
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 56
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 57
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 58
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 59
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 60
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 61
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 62
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 63
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 64
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 65
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 66
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 67
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 68
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 69
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 70
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 71
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 72
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 73
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 74
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 75
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 76
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 77
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 78
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 79
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 80
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 81
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 82
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 83
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 84
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 85
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 86
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 87
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 88
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - Cover3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com