CAREER: Ethics and Belief Inside the Development of Nanotechnologies

从理论上讲，分子纳米技术将意味着从原子开始建造东西的能力，精确地重新排列物质，并控制其结构。纳米技术有望改善生活，超越人类无数的身体和精神限制。作为在人体内外工作的自我复制的超级智能机器，分子纳米技术可能不仅会从根本上改变人类生活的物理，而且会从社会，心理和精神层面改变。因此，在理论发展阶段，开始探讨分子奈米科技的伦理意涵，是时候了，本研究者试图透过叙述性分析奈米科技发展中的话语，来了解奈米科技发展中的伦理意涵。重点是在该领域工作的工程师和科学家，以回答以下问题：科学家和工程师将什么定义为与纳米技术发展有关的伦理问题？如果有的话，科学家和工程师如何想象面对或解决这些定义的伦理问题？宗教观点和个人信仰如何成为纳米技术发展的伦理框架中的一个因素？这些数据是从一系列的话语，口头和书面，以丰富的理解纳米技术的开发人员的道德和信仰，从而揭示其在很大程度上是隐性的，新形成的道德/伦理框架。 一本关于纳米技术伦理学的教科书，以及最终关于纳米技术研究人员的希望和梦想的教育电影，有望作为该项目的具体成果提供。

Theoretically, molecular nanotechnology will mean the ability to build things from the atom up, to rearrange matter with precision, and to control its very structure. Nanotechnology promises enhanced living, and the transcendence of myriad human physical and mental limitations. As self-replicating, super-intelligent machines working within and beyond the human body, molecular nanotechnology is likely to radically alter not just the physical, but the social, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of human life. Therefore, now is the time, in the theoretical stages of development, to begin to explore the ethical implications of molecular nanotechnology.This investigator seeks to understand the developing ethics of nanotechnology through a narrative analysis of discourse inside of its development. The focus is on engineers and scientists who are working in the field to answer the questions: What do scientists and engineers define as the ethical issues connected to the development of nanotechnology? How, if at all, do scientists and engineers imagine confronting or addressing those ethical issues as they are defined? In what ways might religious perspectives and personal beliefs be a factor in the ethical framework of developing nanotechnology?The data are drawn from an array of discourses, oral and written, in order to richly understand the ethics and beliefs of the developers of nanotechnology, thus revealing its largely tacit, newly forming moral/ethical frameworks. A textbook on nanotechnology ethics, and eventually, educational film on the hopes and dreams of nanotechnology investigators, are hoped to be offered as tangible outcomes of this project.