Digital Ethics as Translational Ethics

Abstract

There are growing calls for more digital ethics, largely in response to the many problems that have occurred with digital technologies. However, there has been less clarity about exactly what this might mean. This chapter argues first that ethical decisions and considerations are ubiquitous within the creation of digital technology. Ethical analyses cannot be treated as a secondary or optional aspect of technology creation. This argument does not specify the content of digital ethics, though, and so further research is needed. This chapter then argues that this research must take the form of translational ethics: a robust, multi-disciplinary effort to translate the abstract results of ethical research into practical guidance for technology creators. Examples are provided of this kind of translation from principles to different types of practices.