I had never had a word for deontology, but have thought about the concept before. I have internally debated whether it is itself an act of survival when as a person I consider whether I should take the deontology approach or a consequential approach - almost feels like sometimes, I default to consequentialism when I can't navigate the possibility of not having something at all, slightly like a cop-out but convince myself its "for the best". I have thought about whether deontology makes me uncomfortable when my creativity does not allow me to imagine a world where we do not use a particular piece of technology at all.
I have been reading Surveillance Capitalism by Zuboff and feel constantly aware of Big Tech - and I have to say, I have debated many times if what I should do is avoid it - and come back exactly to your point - avoiding it would cost me _precious_ time, so I have opted out only selectively, almost like a cost-benefit analysis (how capitalist of me!).
"when my creativity does not allow me to imagine a world where we do not use a particular piece of technology at all" -- yes! I feel so inspired by people that can see that world, insist that not only can it exist but that it must exist, and then fights until they win so thoroughly that everyone (or at least those who care) acts like that outcome was always inevitable. In the US, I find the work of Tawana Petty, Malkia Cyril, Evan Greer, and others helps me have the courage and clarity to see what I just don't have the capacity to see until they paint the picture.
To your point about copping out, I hear that. I am increasingly seeing the use of the two frames as kind of like how we think about appropriate content moderation/intervention. The closer to the wires, like internet governance and ISPs, the more we should deploy deontological, liberatory moral thinking, and the closer we get to the words on a Facebook page the more we should use consequentialism as a moral scalpel to make situational choices. That gets us closer to virtue ethics I suppose, but maybe that's for another post :)
Great thoughts Alix!
I had never had a word for deontology, but have thought about the concept before. I have internally debated whether it is itself an act of survival when as a person I consider whether I should take the deontology approach or a consequential approach - almost feels like sometimes, I default to consequentialism when I can't navigate the possibility of not having something at all, slightly like a cop-out but convince myself its "for the best". I have thought about whether deontology makes me uncomfortable when my creativity does not allow me to imagine a world where we do not use a particular piece of technology at all.
I have been reading Surveillance Capitalism by Zuboff and feel constantly aware of Big Tech - and I have to say, I have debated many times if what I should do is avoid it - and come back exactly to your point - avoiding it would cost me _precious_ time, so I have opted out only selectively, almost like a cost-benefit analysis (how capitalist of me!).
"when my creativity does not allow me to imagine a world where we do not use a particular piece of technology at all" -- yes! I feel so inspired by people that can see that world, insist that not only can it exist but that it must exist, and then fights until they win so thoroughly that everyone (or at least those who care) acts like that outcome was always inevitable. In the US, I find the work of Tawana Petty, Malkia Cyril, Evan Greer, and others helps me have the courage and clarity to see what I just don't have the capacity to see until they paint the picture.
To your point about copping out, I hear that. I am increasingly seeing the use of the two frames as kind of like how we think about appropriate content moderation/intervention. The closer to the wires, like internet governance and ISPs, the more we should deploy deontological, liberatory moral thinking, and the closer we get to the words on a Facebook page the more we should use consequentialism as a moral scalpel to make situational choices. That gets us closer to virtue ethics I suppose, but maybe that's for another post :)
A really illuminating read. Thank you.