1. Introduction
2. The Intersection of Technology and Morality
   1. Advanced Technology
   2. Ethical Frameworks
      1. Utilitarianism
      2. Deontology
      3. Virtue Ethics
3. Crafting Ethical Dilemmas
4. Themes and Tensions
5. Writing Exercises: Exploring Ethical Dilemmas with Advanced Technology
6. Conclusion

Introduction

I love the comparison of science fiction and fantasy and the common realization that they remain connected. How? Science fiction explores what we see as possible with current technology, while fantasy goes beyond our current scientific understanding. Old science fiction novels have inspired modern technology and lead to ethical questions for users of that technology to consider. These novels that shaped current technologies were both tales of hope and warning. In today’s session, we’ll explore incorporating ethical dilemmas into your stories to prompt readers to reflect on the true impact of your technology.

The Intersection of Technology and Morality

Advanced Technology

Advanced technology is something we’ve already discussed this year, but let’s review the basics. There are so many technologies in our world that sometimes we forget people once considered it an advanced technology. We define advanced technology as a new or developing innovation that still has few users, yet promises to provide future significant value. Now, in science fiction and fantasy, you’ve created an advanced technology for your world that will seem out of our world. Common examples include AI, futuristic transportation, and advanced energy sources. If you want to learn more about the previously mentioned, check out this post! If you’ve already reviewed that post, then move on to ethical frameworks.

Ethical Frameworks

Ethical frameworks are useful for figuring out what action is the most moral. They are a tool we’re taught since childhood based on our family, culture, and society we live in. Differences become obvious when there is a large jump like how being raised in the United States of America versus being raised in India. There are different ethical frameworks at play that often lead to opposing views. Learning about different ethical frameworks will assist you in forming ethics for your novel, whether you adopt one entirely or incorporate ideas from multiple frameworks. Common ethical theories to study include utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the belief that actions are good if they make people happy, and bad if they make people sad or go against happiness. Where happiness is truly a subjective concept, utilitarianism can be an extremely potent approach to use in your novel. This does not differ from when the society you’ve created has a contradictory concept of happiness than that of the readers.

The ethical use of technology within a utilitarian culture will consider the balance of benefits and harms of the device. Does the technological development benefit the majority while minimizing the harm to others? Another consideration is ethical trade-offs. You can see this in the modern example of AI algorithms. Utilitarianism weighs the privacy concerns against the potential benefits of personalized recommendations. Another consideration is resource allocation. Utilitarianism allocates limited resources to maximize overall well-being.

Victor Frankenstein’s creation of the monster in Frankenstein can be examined from a utilitarian standpoint. The pursuit of scientific knowledge leads to unintended consequences, causing harm to himself and society. The question raised asks what the balance between scientific progress and its potential harms.

Deontology

Deontology attributes morality to duties and obligations, regardless of consequences. Duty and obligation have long been an aspect of cultures worldwide, but this is something more. This places your characters in a culture that only sees duty and obligation as the guiding principles. Actions matter more than anything as the established duties and obligations should not allow for deviation from their culture’s standards.

For advanced technology in deontology, you’re going to see a prioritization of protecting human rights. Once again, these are the human rights the society has established, and not ones you’re used to. Using an advanced technology to decimate a city is wrong because it violates the moral duty to protect innocent lives, regardless of whether it eliminates a threat to the governing power. Another example might include one you’re more familiar with. Implementing a live feed from all electronic devices in real time that’s intended to identify and stop criminal activities before they occur. From a deontology perspective, the advanced surveillance technology is wrong because it violates individuals’ right to privacy and cannot respect their autonomy, regardless of its effectiveness in preventing crime.

You can find an example of this in Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, where the Three Laws of Robotics, which are essentially deontological rules the robots must follow. These laws are based on the moral duty of robots to never harm humans, obey orders from humans, and protect their own existence as long as it doesn’t conflict with the first two laws. The ethical dilemma arises from the advanced technology when these laws conflict with each other or other ethical considerations, such as the greater good, individual freedom, or the preservation of human life versus robot life.

Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics focus on character and virtues in moral philosophy, contrasting with the emphasis on duty in deontology. Individuals in this ethical framework prioritize virtues, moral character, eudaimonia, and practical wisdom. Virtues encompass positive traits like honesty, courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. Moral character entails developing into a good person who naturally makes ethical choices. It is believed that virtues and moral character contribute to eudaimonia, often translated as “flourishing” or “well-being,” the ultimate goal in virtue ethics. Practical wisdom entails knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. These principles can lead to complex ethical dilemmas in the context of advanced technology.

When applying virtue ethics to advanced technology, the focus shifts to how the technology’s use can either support or hinder virtues and human well-being. Advanced technologies, such as educational tools, can promote curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom. However, it can also cause other virtues to decline as social media creates fake interactions and excessive screen time. If you look at the movie Surrogates with Bruce Willis, the technology of the Surrogate helped disabled people move and leave their house to live a fuller life. It eventually became a common tool that everyone used to hide from the world. This would be seen as a deviation from eudaimonia.

In “Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood, the novel explores the ethical dilemmas of genetic engineering and biotechnology. The character Crake, a gifted scientist, designs a new genetically modified human race (the Crakers) to establish a virtuous and sustainable society. However, his methods raise doubts about honesty, integrity, and respect for human life.

Crafting Ethical Dilemmas

For crafting the ethical dilemmas in your novel, some parts may be more intuitive than others. Perspective is one that really throws a wrench into many ethical debates. Each character will have their own perspective that drives their sense of happiness, duty, or set of virtues. By taking the time to work through your characters to determine where their ethical dilemmas will pop up will depend on the backstory you’ve given them. Consider if they realize they have these different ethical views, or if they believe everyone has the same ones as them. The best exercise to flesh this out may be to set one character against one who has a different ethical/value system. Then watch how they handle the conflict, and what ideas are the most challenged in the interaction.

Next, you’ll want to consider consequences. Much like our conversation about time travel, every action has a consequence, and ethics is no different. What happens when you send this character, who values happiness in a utilitarian culture, to a culture with a different understanding of happiness? The ripple effects may only cause interpersonal conflict, but it could easily leak over to society and ecosystem conflicts. Even if throwing rocks from space made some people happy, is it really worth it if it causes harm to living beings and ecosystems?

Unintended consequences are a great tool for your novel, especially with ethical issues. Maybe you have two cultures trying to join to survive the invasion of another outside force. These cultures have different standards of living with advanced technology. One believes in its use insofar that it is a tool and not a crutch. The other culture believes that the advanced technology should be used to the fullest extent because it makes life easier and the users happier. Suddenly, the advanced technology is destroyed or rendered inoperable. You now have an entire culture that cannot operate at minimum capacity because they’d become so reliant on the advanced technology.

Themes and Tensions

There are some common themes and tensions you can implement with your advanced technology to really draw out those ethical dilemmas.

Privacy and security is an issue that plagues even our modern world. To what extent does your world balance surveillance technology with personal freedoms? In America, at least, how much do you want the NSA to watch versus what you keep private? These are the sames types of questions you can ask in your books. Fiction allows you to explore privacy and security at various levels and determine what you value and share that experience with readers.

Another common theme is trans-humanism, or the ethical implications of enhancing humans with technology. I’m going to take this view on two different paths. The obvious path is your cyberpunk stories where this most often appears. The enhanced humans often show good and bad traits emphasized by their upgrades. It can create an imbalance of ethics between the enhanced and the unenhanced. What does that difference lead to in cultural aspects?

Next, consider fantasy stories. It’s common to see magically infused bodies, whether that’s through magical markings or gemstones. You can apply trans-humanism concepts in the same way. How do the characters in your story view those who insert magical items into their body to amplify its power? Or align that to how the magic system works in your world. Do these magical beings resemble Mistborn’s Inquisitors, who use hemalurgy to become strong enforcers in the Final Empire? Or The Inheritance Trilogy by Brent Weeks, where the god’s divine essence is interwoven into their bodies?

Writing Exercises: Exploring Ethical Dilemmas with Advanced Technology

1. Choose an advanced technology that exists in your story’s world (e.g., AI, genetic engineering, mind-reading devices, etc.).
2. Determine which ethical framework (utilitarianism, deontology, or virtue ethics) is predominantly followed in your story’s society or by your main characters.
3. Make two characters with different opinions on the use of advanced technology according to the ethical framework you chose.
   • One character advocates for embracing and fully using technology.
   • Another character who opposes the use of the technology because of ethical concerns.
4. Write a scene where these two characters have a passionate argument about the ethics of using advanced technology. Explore the following aspects:
   • Their motivations and reasoning for their respective stances.
   • Potential unintended consequences of using or not using the technology.
   • How the technology might violate or uphold important virtues, duties, or principles in their society.
   • The impact the technology might have on individual freedoms, privacy, or security.
5. Add a third character with a different ethical perspective than the first two. Have this character interject into the debate and offer a contrasting viewpoint.
6. Consider potential resolutions or compromises to the ethical dilemma:
   • Implementing safeguards or regulations to mitigate potential misuse of the technology.
   • Limiting the technology’s use of specific scenarios or populations.
   • Exploring alternative technologies or solutions that align better with ethical principles.
7. Reflect on how ethical dilemmas involving advanced technology can enhance the intrigue and depth of your story. How might these dilemmas shape the characters’ choices, the plot, and the overall themes of your narrative?

Remember, this exercise encourages critical thinking about the intersection of technology and morality, as well as to practice developing compelling ethical dilemmas that can enrich your fantasy or science fiction stories.

Conclusion

Ethical dilemmas can become the lifeblood of a story for many readers, adding depth and purpose to the narrative. While not all readers may be interested, incorporating these dilemmas into your work can improve your science fiction and fantasy stories. You can present these dilemmas from different perspectives, either supporting your own stance or arguing against it.

By combining ethical frameworks like utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics, we can explore moral dilemmas arising from technological progress. When crafting these dilemmas, consider various viewpoints, potential unintended consequences, and overarching themes like privacy, security, and trans-humanism. These thought-provoking elements can turn your stories into powerful tools for examining the relationship between technology and humanity.

Crafting ethical dilemmas is about more than just posing questions. Writing about ethical dilemmas in advanced technology can make your writing more thought-provoking and help explore the complex connection between innovation and morality.

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