From Subjectivity to Objectivity: Bernard Lonergan's Philosophy as a Grounding for Value Sensitive Design

DOSSIER Steven Umbrello, From Subjectivity to Objectivity STEVEN UMBRELLO FROM SUBJECTIVITY TO OBJECTIVITY: BERNARD LONERGAN’S PHILOSOPHY GROUNDING FOR VALUE SENSITIVE DESIGN AS A 1. Introduction 2. Objectivity 3. VSD and moral commitments 4. Conclusion ABSTRACT: FROM SUBJECTIVITY TO OBJECTIVITY: BERNARD LONERGAN’S PHILOSOPHY AS A GROUNDING FOR VALUE SENSITIVE DESIGN This article explores the potential of Bernard Lonergan’s philosophy of subjectivity as objectivity as a grounding for value sensitive design (VSD) and the design turn in applied ethics. The rapid pace of scientific and technological advancement has created a gap between technical abilities and our moral assessments of those abilities, calling for a reflection on the philosophical tools we have for applying ethics. In particular, applied ethics often presents interconnected problems that require a more general framework for ethical reflection. Lonergan’s philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of selfunderstanding and self-transcendence in achieving objectivity, can provide a valuable perspective on VSD and the design turn in applied ethics. The article examines how Lonergan’s philosophy can be applied to VSD and the design turn, and how scientific knowledge can be integrated into an ethics of science without reducing it to an external reflection. By adopting Lonergan’s perspective, we can address the ethical challenges arising from scientific and technological advancements while promoting a more holistic approach to applied ethics. 1. Introduction As ethical issues have changed, applied ethics has taken various “turns”. The 1950s saw the emergence of the empirical turn, which emphasized using scientific data to guide moral judgment 1. Alongside that, we also witnessed the biomedical turn, which concentrated on ethical issues raised by developments in biotechnology and medicine 2. The 1970s saw the emergence of the environmental turn, concentrating on the moral challenges brought on by environmental P. Borry, Schotsmans, K. Dierickx, The origin and emergence of empirical ethics, in G. Widdershoven et al. (eds), Empirical Ethics in Psychiatry, International Perspectives in Philosophy & Psychiatry, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008. 2 P. Borry, P. Schotsmans, K. Dierickx, The birth of the empirical turn in bioethics, in «Bioethics», 19, 1, 2005, pp. 49-71. 1 36 S&F_n. 29_2023 deterioration and climatic change 3, and the 1980s heralded the “animal turn”, focusing on questions of how we (should) treat nonhuman animals 4. More recently, applied ethics has shifted to a “design turn”, which, in light of scientific and technical breakthroughs, highlights the significance of the design process for new technologies, and argues that we ought to be incorporating human values into and throughout that design process in order to support and advance ethical norms 5. The design turn further seeks to ensure that the advantages of technological breakthroughs are accessible to all, and it aims to close the gap between technical progress and our moral commitments. One of the most prominent and well-developed approaches for embedding ethics in design is value sensitive design (VSD) 6. VSD is a method of developing technology that considers moral principles and ethical ideals throughout the design process of technologies, making sure that they respect human autonomy, uphold our values, and advance welfare. Because VSD acknowledges that technical breakthroughs have broad ethical implications and that design choices have the potential to influence society and people’s lives, VSD is essential to the design turn in applied ethics 7. VSD seeks to advance more ethical and equitable design and use by incorporating ethical issues into the design process itself. However, both a lack of moral commitments in VSD and the lack of a philosophical grounding for values have raised concerns about the method’s effectiveness for addressing these challenges. In this article, I present Bernard Lonergan’s philosophy of subjectivity as 3 F. Mathews, Environmental Philosophy, in G. Oppy, N. Trakakis (eds), History of Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand, Springer, Dordrecht 2014. 4 J.B. Callicott, Animal liberation: A triangular affair, in «Environmental ethics», 2, 4, 1980, pp. 311-338. 5 J. van den Hoven, The Design Turn in Applied Ethics, in J. van den Hoven, S. Miller, T. Pogge, (eds.), Designing in Ethics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017, p. 11-31. 6 B. Friedman, D.G. Hendry, Value sensitive design: Shaping technology with moral imagination, MA: MIT Press, Cambridge 2019. 7 Ibid. 37 DOSSIER Steven Umbrello, From Subjectivity to Objectivity objectivity as a novel way to understand and ground both VSD and, more broadly, the design turn in applied ethics. Lonergan’s philosophy places a strong emphasis on self-awareness and self-transcendence as means for achieving objectivity 8. He contends that human subjectivity is an integral component of objectivity, rather than a roadblock to it; we can overcome our biases and arrive at a more impartial perception of reality by becoming aware of who we are and what those biases are 9. This offers a useful viewpoint on the ethical issues raised by scientific and technological breakthroughs, which has significant implications for VSD and the design turn in applied ethics. Yet, despite its potential, Lonergan’s philosophy has not been properly examined in relation to these domains. By investigating the possibilities of Lonergan’s philosophy as a foundation for VSD, this article seeks to close this gap and present a potential principled grounding for the moral commitments that have been argued for in contemporary iterations of VSD. 10 The article shows how Lonergan’s philosophy may be used to understand the objectivity of moral values and how this may aid us in understanding and grappling with the moral issues brought on by developments in science and technology. 2. Objectivity The foundation of Lonergan’s philosophy is the notion that through a process of self-transcendence, humans are capable of knowing objective reality 11. According to Lonergan, objectivity is a dynamic and ongoing process of inquiry that is constantly open to modification and improvement rather than a set of unchanging facts that exist independently of human experience, and being “attentive, 8 C. Friel, Faith and Feeling in Lonergan, in «Australian eJournal of Theology», 21, 2013, pp. 139-154. 9 B. Lonergan. Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. Vol. 3. Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan, University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1992. 10 B. Friedman, D.G. Hendry. Value Sensitive Design, cit. 11 M.H. McCarthy. Authenticity as self-transcendence: The enduring insights of Bernard Lonergan, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame 2015. 38 S&F_n. 29_2023 intelligent, reasonable, and accountable” is the process by which objective knowledge is attained 12. This calls for a (...truncated)