Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making
Autonomous vehicles, though having enormous potential, face a number of challenges. As a computer system interacting with society on a large scale and human beings in particular, they will encounter situations, which require moral assessment. What will count as right behavior in such situations depe...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-02-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00031/full |
id |
doaj-5a539cf1b74745edaa38c809c5c4c36c |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-5a539cf1b74745edaa38c809c5c4c36c2020-11-24T22:27:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532018-02-011210.3389/fnbeh.2018.00031320702Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision MakingLasse T. Bergmann0Larissa Schlicht1Carmen Meixner2Peter König3Gordon Pipa4Susanne Boshammer5Achim Stephan6Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyInstitute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyInstitute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyInstitute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyInstitute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyInstitute of Philosophy, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyInstitute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyAutonomous vehicles, though having enormous potential, face a number of challenges. As a computer system interacting with society on a large scale and human beings in particular, they will encounter situations, which require moral assessment. What will count as right behavior in such situations depends on which factors are considered to be both morally justified and socially acceptable. In an empirical study we investigated what factors people recognize as relevant in driving situations. The study put subjects in several “dilemma” situations, which were designed to isolate different and potentially relevant factors. Subjects showed a surprisingly high willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others, took the age of potential victims in a crash into consideration and were willing to swerve onto a sidewalk if this saved more lives. The empirical insights are intended to provide a starting point for a discussion, ultimately yielding societal agreement whereby the empirical insights should be balanced with philosophical considerations.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00031/fullautonomous vehiclesexperimental philosophymoral cognitiondecision makingsocial acceptancetrolley problems |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Lasse T. Bergmann Larissa Schlicht Carmen Meixner Peter König Gordon Pipa Susanne Boshammer Achim Stephan |
spellingShingle |
Lasse T. Bergmann Larissa Schlicht Carmen Meixner Peter König Gordon Pipa Susanne Boshammer Achim Stephan Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience autonomous vehicles experimental philosophy moral cognition decision making social acceptance trolley problems |
author_facet |
Lasse T. Bergmann Larissa Schlicht Carmen Meixner Peter König Gordon Pipa Susanne Boshammer Achim Stephan |
author_sort |
Lasse T. Bergmann |
title |
Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making |
title_short |
Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making |
title_full |
Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making |
title_fullStr |
Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making |
title_full_unstemmed |
Autonomous Vehicles Require Socio-Political Acceptance—An Empirical and Philosophical Perspective on the Problem of Moral Decision Making |
title_sort |
autonomous vehicles require socio-political acceptance—an empirical and philosophical perspective on the problem of moral decision making |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
issn |
1662-5153 |
publishDate |
2018-02-01 |
description |
Autonomous vehicles, though having enormous potential, face a number of challenges. As a computer system interacting with society on a large scale and human beings in particular, they will encounter situations, which require moral assessment. What will count as right behavior in such situations depends on which factors are considered to be both morally justified and socially acceptable. In an empirical study we investigated what factors people recognize as relevant in driving situations. The study put subjects in several “dilemma” situations, which were designed to isolate different and potentially relevant factors. Subjects showed a surprisingly high willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others, took the age of potential victims in a crash into consideration and were willing to swerve onto a sidewalk if this saved more lives. The empirical insights are intended to provide a starting point for a discussion, ultimately yielding societal agreement whereby the empirical insights should be balanced with philosophical considerations. |
topic |
autonomous vehicles experimental philosophy moral cognition decision making social acceptance trolley problems |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00031/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT lassetbergmann autonomousvehiclesrequiresociopoliticalacceptanceanempiricalandphilosophicalperspectiveontheproblemofmoraldecisionmaking AT larissaschlicht autonomousvehiclesrequiresociopoliticalacceptanceanempiricalandphilosophicalperspectiveontheproblemofmoraldecisionmaking AT carmenmeixner autonomousvehiclesrequiresociopoliticalacceptanceanempiricalandphilosophicalperspectiveontheproblemofmoraldecisionmaking AT peterkonig autonomousvehiclesrequiresociopoliticalacceptanceanempiricalandphilosophicalperspectiveontheproblemofmoraldecisionmaking AT gordonpipa autonomousvehiclesrequiresociopoliticalacceptanceanempiricalandphilosophicalperspectiveontheproblemofmoraldecisionmaking AT susanneboshammer autonomousvehiclesrequiresociopoliticalacceptanceanempiricalandphilosophicalperspectiveontheproblemofmoraldecisionmaking AT achimstephan autonomousvehiclesrequiresociopoliticalacceptanceanempiricalandphilosophicalperspectiveontheproblemofmoraldecisionmaking |
_version_ |
1725750412294750208 |