Values,technologies, and epistemology

The aim of this paper is to make possible dialogue between those who claim that technologies are coded with social, political, or ethical values and those who argue that they are value-neutral. To demonstrate the relevance of this bridge-building project, the controversy regarding agrifood biotechnology will be used as a case study. Drawing on work by L. H. Nelson about the nature of human knowledge-building enterprises and E. F. Kittay’s account of the relationally-constituted self, the argument will be made that all technologies embody the values of the communities that created them. Zahra Meghani is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rhode Island. Her research interests are philosophy of technology, feminist theory (especially feminist epistemology and feminist philosophy of science), normative ethics, practical ethics (especially health care ethics), disability issues, and political theory.