Nanotechnology challenges: implications for philosophy, ethics and society

Abstract

Introduction / Joachim Schummer and David Baird -- I. The Drexler challenge. 1. Two cultures of nanotechnology? / Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent. 2. The Drexler-Smalley debate on nanotechnology : incommensurability at work? / Otávio Bueno -- II. The metaphysics of nanotechnology. 3. Noumenal technology : reflections on the incredible tininess of nano / Alfred Nordmann. 4. Nanotechnology and nature : on two criteria for understanding their relationship / Gregor Schiemann. 5. Small, but determined : technological determinism in nanoscience / Cyrus C. M. Mody -- III. The truth of nanoscopic images. 6. When is an image not an image? / Joseph Pitt. 7. Changes in the design of scanning tunneling microscopic images from 1980 to 1990 / Jochen Hennig -- IV. Dealing with complexity. 8. Analyzing the complexity of nanotechnology / Marc J. De Vries. 9. Nanotechnology : generalizations in an interdisciplinary field of science and technology / Martin Meyer and Osmo Kuusi -- V. Social and environmental ethics of nanotechnology. 10. What counts as a 'social and ethical issue' in nanotechnology? / Bruce V. Lewenstein. 11. The promise and threat of nanotechnology : can environmental ethics guide us? / Christopher J. Preston -- VI. Managing the risks of nanotechnology. 12. Nanosciences and their convergence with other technologies : new golden age or apocalypse? / Louis Laurent and Jean-Claude Petit. 13. Living with uncertainty : toward the ongoing normative assessment of nanotechnology / Jean-Pierre Dupuy and Alexei Grinbaum. 14. Great uncertainty about small things / Sven Ove Hansson -- VII. Public discourses on the future. 15. Bridging the gaps : science fiction in nanotechnology / José López. 16. Beyond truth : pleasure of nanofutures / Arne Hessenbruch -- VIII. Visions and public reactions to nanotechnology. 17. Narratives for nanotech : anticipating public reactions to nanotechnology / Christopher P. Toumey. 18. 'Societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology' : meanings, interest groups, and social dynamics / Joachim Schummer.