Machines on a moral spectrum

Professor M.W. Thring

Extracts from a lecture 'Towards a Creative Society: the Philosophy of Technology', published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. Professor Thring, prior to his retirement, was head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Queen Mary College, University of London.

We can define the moral responsibility of the engineer, technologist and applied scientist as that of serving human happiness, just as a doctor has the moral responsibility of serving human health. There should be a Hippocratic Oath for engineers to the effect that they will, as far as they are able, dedicate their work towards the increase of human happiness.

It is useful to put the machines that the engineer can develop on a moral spectrum based on the extent to which the machines help or hinder human beings to realise their potentialities and thus to lead satisfactory lives:

The Moral Spectrum of Machines

- Machines to help invalids, blind and crippled people
- Machines for medicine and surgery
- Educational machines and machines used for arts and crafts

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- Machines to save labour, drudgery and danger
- Transport and communication machines
- Computers

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- Prime movers
- Power conversion machines
- Cosmetic machines

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- Polluting and noisy machines
- Machines for destroying or torturing people

'Machines primarily developed to kill, maim or hurt human beings must come at the bottom of the scale'

Machines primarily developed to kill, maim or hurt human beings, and the by-product effects of machines which harm human health or happiness by noise or chemical effluents, must come at the bottom of the scale. Equally it is clear that machines which restore some of their lost possibilities to invalids, blind or crippled people, such as automatic machines for reading aloud to the blind direct from the printed word, together with all machines to help the doctors and surgeons in their work on human health, and machines for education, should come at the top of the scale.

The use of technology to improve the destructive power of an army, typified by the first use of nuclear fission, is undoubtedly a misuse of the skill and brain of the technologist, just as clearly as would be the use of doctors to produce improved means of torturing and killing human beings. The Hippocratic Oath of the engineer and technologist must be to try always to use his skill to develop the machines higher up this moral spectrum rather than those lower down it.

'Never again should graduates of, for example, the Technische Hochschule in Germany be willing to design and build a murder factory for millions of human beings'

Mr A.Kennaway, M.I.MECH.E, commented at this lecture: Scientists must not allow themselves to be willing tools of evil policies. Never again should graduates of, for example, the Technische Hochschule in Germany be willing to design and build a murder factory for millions of human beings.

Professor M.W. Thring, Bell Farm, Brundish, Suffolk IP13 8BL (tel 037 9384 296).

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