Discourse ethics in TA procedures:a game theory model

摘要

This article argues that an ethic applying the technology assessment (TA)-method is only feasible as a risk ethic,since the consequences of technical action are ambivalent and uncertain.It first distinguishes possible strategies of justification for a risk ethic,that is (a) deontological,(b) tele-ological and (c) procedural approaches.On the basis of the critique of both (a) and (b),a central problem for the integration of discourse ethics in the TA-method is highlighted by reverting to a game theory modeling:As it turns out,mechanisms of self-selection undermine the representativity of discourses and thus its legitimation.In view of this dilemma,the article pledges for a complementary approach selectively integrating (a)-(c) into a "provisional moral".