More on Technology

First, thanks for a lively conversation today and good discussion. We'll keep going with technology on Thursday when we discuss AI. In the meantime, here are a few things that I talked about in class:

You can see the scene I was discussing from 2001: A Space Odyssey here.

And you can see the book I mentioned, World Made by Hand here.

I also wanted to add these few paragraphs from the International Committee of the Red Cross. As they speak about nuclear weapons, they make the point that I was trying to make in class: this particular piece of technology is not morally neutral, which means that some forms of technology are not morally neutral. Also, notice that they cite an advisory opinion from 1996 in which the International Court of Justice declared the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons to be illegal.

"In 1996 the ICRC welcomed the fact that the International Court of Justice, in its Advisory Opinion on nuclear weapons, confirmed that the principles of distinction and proportionality found in international humanitarian law are " intransgressible " and apply also to nuclear weapons. In applying those principles to nuclear weapons the Court concluded that " the use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the principles and rules of international humanitarian law " . It was unable to decide whether, even in the extreme circumstance of a threat to the very survival of the State, the use of nuclear weapons would be legitimate.

Some have cited specific, narrowly defined scenarios to support the view that nuclear weapons could be used legally in some circumstances. However, the Court found that " ...The destructive power of nuclear weapons cannot be contained in either space or tim e (...). The radiation released by a nuclear explosion would affect health, agriculture, natural resources and demography over a very wide area. Further, the use of nuclear weapons would be a serious danger to future generations... " . In the light of this finding, the ICRC finds it difficult to envisage how any use of nuclear weapons could be compatible with the rules of international humanitarian law.

The position of the ICRC, as a humanitarian organization, goes – and must go – beyond a purely legal analysis. Nuclear weapons are unique in their destructive power, in the unspeakable human suffering they cause, in the impossibility of controlling their effects in space and time, in the risks of escalation they create, and in the threat they pose to the environment, to future generations, and indeed to the survival of humanity. The ICRC therefore appeals today to all States to ensure that such weapons are never used again, regardless of their views on the legality of such use."