Great essay. Have you considered slightly re-working it into a form suitable for a widely read publication? There's always a chance that the NYT or WaPo or somebody might take it.
p.s. As a physicist I particularly appreciated the aside about space colonization, which is a favorite fantasy of 8-year old boys and tech lords.
In summary, first, moral hazards and opportunities here are not new (Rogers 2022), but technoscientific forms of AI and Autonomous Weapons are simply novel applications of the same themes (Clarke, Eads et al. 2024). Still, Cardinal virtues will always apply when guiding ethical behaviour.
Classical approaches to bioethical and strategic concerns are not new, they are part of the very fabric of the encounter with knowledge and reason since the dawn of civilisation as humans have always lived with the challenges of war and ill-health (Quay, Zhang et al. 2021). In this essay the Hippocratic oath, with its emphasis on conventions, norms and the relational aspect of "The Good" in medicine is a place to begin a discussion of bioethical considerations at the Bio-Strategic scale (Rotblat 1999). Clearly, just because we can do something in biomedicine does not mean we should (North 2002). As the changes and powers of biotechnology involve the AI mediated forms of advance, that in part can be even more obscure to societies that engage with these issues, it is important to both seek issues of common ground and test them against the evidence available to analysis of Bio-Strategic considerations (Pruitt 2018).
Plato was clear that there was value in the Hippocratic approach to health and medicine (Krimsky 2019), but also introduced broader aspects of four Cardinal Virtues that should guide behaviour in even more contentious actions and considerations of society. The warrior code of courage above all else was not considered adequate as even mercenaries could die with honour in battle (Plato 2026). As Plato's Athenian argues in "The Laws" along with courage "the same degree as justice and temperance and wisdom, when united with courage, are better than courage only; for a man cannot be faithful and good in civil strife without having all virtue ."
The Courage to seek new areas of discovery needs to be ruled by the rationality of Wisdom, and the appetite for novel needs to be tempered by Prudence centred on the whole of society, such that any imbalance can be addressed by our institutions for ensuring Justice.
Great essay. Have you considered slightly re-working it into a form suitable for a widely read publication? There's always a chance that the NYT or WaPo or somebody might take it.
p.s. As a physicist I particularly appreciated the aside about space colonization, which is a favorite fantasy of 8-year old boys and tech lords.
This is how Philippics are meant to be done.
Quay is one of the not so silent researchers and teachers.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tommy-cleary-b25b5796_the-code-as-witness-covid-origins-scientific-activity-7472599714794958848-60dA?utm_medium=ios_app&rcm=ACoAABR1ro0B0loTmAqQEJwLUSBzGcw5xe0O-5w&utm_source=social_share_send&utm_campaign=copy_link
Similar themes in my current essay for ANU.
In summary, first, moral hazards and opportunities here are not new (Rogers 2022), but technoscientific forms of AI and Autonomous Weapons are simply novel applications of the same themes (Clarke, Eads et al. 2024). Still, Cardinal virtues will always apply when guiding ethical behaviour.
Classical approaches to bioethical and strategic concerns are not new, they are part of the very fabric of the encounter with knowledge and reason since the dawn of civilisation as humans have always lived with the challenges of war and ill-health (Quay, Zhang et al. 2021). In this essay the Hippocratic oath, with its emphasis on conventions, norms and the relational aspect of "The Good" in medicine is a place to begin a discussion of bioethical considerations at the Bio-Strategic scale (Rotblat 1999). Clearly, just because we can do something in biomedicine does not mean we should (North 2002). As the changes and powers of biotechnology involve the AI mediated forms of advance, that in part can be even more obscure to societies that engage with these issues, it is important to both seek issues of common ground and test them against the evidence available to analysis of Bio-Strategic considerations (Pruitt 2018).
Plato was clear that there was value in the Hippocratic approach to health and medicine (Krimsky 2019), but also introduced broader aspects of four Cardinal Virtues that should guide behaviour in even more contentious actions and considerations of society. The warrior code of courage above all else was not considered adequate as even mercenaries could die with honour in battle (Plato 2026). As Plato's Athenian argues in "The Laws" along with courage "the same degree as justice and temperance and wisdom, when united with courage, are better than courage only; for a man cannot be faithful and good in civil strife without having all virtue ."
The Courage to seek new areas of discovery needs to be ruled by the rationality of Wisdom, and the appetite for novel needs to be tempered by Prudence centred on the whole of society, such that any imbalance can be addressed by our institutions for ensuring Justice.