So, where do we find standards for ethical behavior in terms of responsible innovation in the future?
I think firstly that innovation itself must receive a change of status. People need to grapple more seriously with it and its implications in all its dimensions. In the past, there was a common understanding of ethics, of what was good and bad. This was grounded in what was held to be “natural.” Yet, innovation is opening up possibilities for us to interfere with nature, and this creates a crisis within ethics that needs to be discussed and resolved. Certainly philosophy can provide a guide for standards of ethical behavior in a society that has forgotten absolutes such as good, bad or what can perhaps be described as “God.” Yet, the innovations we are introducing imply a need to go beyond standards or rules. I believe we need to research and develop a methodology concerning responsible innovation. You make innovation sound dangerous. In many senses it is. We are getting to the point where we cannot imagine the global consequences of our innovations. So, when you consider such matters,
