Ethical Issues and Nanotechnology

摘要

Commercialization of products using nanotechnology has faced and will continue to face barriers of acceptance because of the fears associated with the technology. This paper clarifies the distinction between law and ethics, considers the primary ethical issues related to nanotechnology development and provides a model by which we can make better; i.e., more ethical, decisions relating to the use of nanotechnology in new products. This paper seeks to increase the awareness of those involved in the use of nanotechnology as a basis for new products. We know there is much concern about using this technology in all the ways it can be used. We see that concern reflected in popular literature and art and we see it reflected by recent studies such as the July 2004 study by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering. That study concluded that technical research and commercial use of nano-based products should proceed - but with some caution, and that funding should be provided for rigorous and widespread discourse between the many stakeholders who have a vested interest in the outcomes of nano-based research and the attendant commercial products. This paper will focus on the fears that people have about nanotechnology and will relate those fears to their underlying values. As values are the underlying basis for ethics and ethically-based decisions, the paper will then discuss how better and more ethically-based decisions can be made with regard to nanotechnology. The paper will end with a guide to ethical decision making that is based on a stakeholder-based ethical decision making model.