Socially Extended Moral Deliberation about Risks

Current debates about risky technologies are frequently heated and end up in stalemates, due to the scientific and moral complexities of these risks. This chapter argues that emotions can make an important contribution to deliberation about ethical aspects of risk, because emotions can point out what morally matters. However, the chapter will also address the fact that emotions can be biased and that it can be hard to overcome such biases. The role that works of art can play in enticing moral emotions concerning responsible innovation of risky technologies will be examined. It is argued that works of art can contribute to emotional moral reflection on risky technologies by making abstract problems more concrete, letting us broaden narrow personal perspectives, exploring new scenarios, going beyond boundaries and challenging our imagination. In that sense, emotions as well as works of art can contribute to socially extended knowledge concerning ethical aspects of risk.