Includes bibliographical references and index.

The book investigates the meaning of RRI if little or no valid knowledge about consequences of innovation and technology is available. It proposes a hermeneutical turn to investigate narratives about possible futures with respect to their contemporary meaning instead of regarding them as anticipations of the future.

Cover ; Title Page ; Copyright; Contents; Foreword; Preface; 1. What Makes New Science and Technology Meaningful to Society?; 1.1. Motivation and objectives; 1.2. The need for orientation in NEST fields; 1.3. Short propaedeutic; 1.3.1. The meaning of "sociotechnical meaning"; 1.3.2. NEST: new and emerging science and technologies; 1.3.3. Techno-visionary futures; 1.4. A brief guide to this book; 1.4.1. The flow of argumentation; 1.4.2. The chapters; 1.4.3. The achievements; 2. Extending the Object of Responsibility Assessments in RRI; 2.1. Motivation and overview.

2.2. Some impressions of RRI debates so far2.3. A pragmatic view on the notion of responsibility; 2.3.1. The concept of responsibility; 2.3.2. The EEE approach to responsibility; 2.3.3. Responsibility assessment; 2.4. The object of responsibility debates in RRI so far; 2.5. The object of responsibility debates in RRI: an extension; 2.6. Concluding remarks; 3. Assessing Responsibility by Considering Techno-Futures; 3.1. Responsibility assessments: introduction and overview; 3.2. Brief remarks on the epistemology of prospective knowledge.

3.2.1. The epistemologically precarious character of prospective knowledge3.2.2. Futures as social constructs; 3.3. Responsibility for NEST: the orientation dilemma; 3.3.1. Challenges to providing orientation in NEST fields; 3.3.2. The orientation dilemma; 3.4. Three modes of orientation; 3.4.1. Prediction and prognostication: mode 1 orientation; 3.4.2. Scenarios and the value of diversity: mode 2 orientation; 3.4.3. The value of divergence: mode 3 orientation; 3.5. The hermeneutic approach to techno-visionary futures; 4. Definitions and Characterizations of NEST as Construction of Meaning.

4.1. Motivation and point of departure4.2. Some observations from NEST debates; 4.2.1. Nanotechnology; 4.2.2. Synthetic biology; 4.2.3. Enhancement; 4.3. The pragmatic character of definitions1; 4.4. Defining and characterizing as meaning-giving activity; 5. Understanding Nanotechnology: A Process Involving Contested Assignments of Meaning; 5.1. Nanotechnology: a paradigmatic RRI story; 5.2. The early time of nanotechnology: troubled beginnings; 5.2.1. Apocalyptic techno-visionary futures related to nano; 5.2.2. Threats to human health and the environment.

5.2.3. Philosophical characterizations5.3. Defining nanotechnology: a mission impossible?; 5.4. The meaning of nanotechnology: the shift from a revolutionary to a quite normal technology; 5.4.1. Looking back: the development of nanotechnology's meaning; 5.4.2. Hermeneutic work on nanotechnology; 5.4.3. Lessons learned for RRI debates; 6. Robots: Challenge to the Self-Understanding of Humans; 6.1. Autonomous technology: challenges to our comprehension; 6.2. Robots that can make plans and Man's self-image; 6.2.1. Planning robots; 6.2.2. Planning as special type of acting.

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