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Who Is Responsible? Nanotechnology and Responsibility in the Italian Daily Press

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Responsibility in Nanotechnology Development

Part of the book series: The International Library of Ethics, Law and Technology ((ELTE,volume 13))

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Abstract

The chapter examines the news stories about nanotechnology in the Italian daily press to identify the different representations of responsibility in the coverage. The chapter extends the current research on the definition of responsibility by nanotechnology practitioners and highlights how responsibility is predominantly defined in the terms of the ‘traditional contract of science’. This implies that scientists’ responsibility is primarily to advance scientific knowledge and deliver to society the benefits promised by scientific progress. Also, the analysis shows that the division of labour underlying the ‘traditional contract of science’ also limits the number and variety of topics on which different social actors can be rightfully considered as sources for the coverage. More specifically, the discussion of radical uncertainties surrounding the nanotechnology enterprises, of precautionary measures, of new institutional arrangements for deliberation on science and technology, is left entirely to civil society organizations, citizens, and humanities scholars.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All English translations are made by the Author of this chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental, Ethical, Legal and Social Decisions on Emerging Technologies (CIGA), University of Padova, Viale Porta Adige 45, Rovigo, Italy

    Simone Arnaldi

  2. Istituto Jacques Maritain, Trieste, Italy

    Simone Arnaldi

Authors
  1. Simone Arnaldi
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Correspondence to Simone Arnaldi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental, Ethical, Legal and Social Decisions on Emerging Technologies (CIGA), University of Padova, Rovigo, Italy

    Simone Arnaldi

  2. Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS)/Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

    Arianna Ferrari

  3. Department of Philosophy, Sociology Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Paolo Magaudda

  4. Department of Philosophy, Sociology Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Francesca Marin

Appendices

Appendices

1.1 Appendix A: Boolean Search Term Used to Gather Articles from Factiva Database

atleast3 nanotec* OR atleast3 nanosci* AND ((nanoscal* OR nanocristal* OR nanotub* OR nanomat* OR (nanometr*) NOT (nanometr*/N15/luce or nanometr*/N15/laser or nanometr*/N15/lunghezza or nanometr*/N15/UV or nanometr*/N15/onda) OR nanodot* OR nanomed* OR nanopart* OR nanofil* OR nanoing* OR nanocomp* OR nanoelettr* OR nanobot* OR nanorobot* OR nanomacch* OR fulleren* OR buckminsterfulleren* OR fullerit* OR carta/N2/grafen* OR grafen* OR buckytube* OR assembla*/N2/molecolar* OR fabbrica*/N2/molecolar* OR micromacch* OR quantic*/N2/dot* OR fil*/N2/quantic* OR pozz*/N2/quantic* OR sub micron OR (atom* adj5 manipol* OR atom* adj5 muov* OR atom* adj5 moss* OR atom* adj5 fabbric*) OR (microscopi* adj3 atomic*) OR (microscopi* adj3 tunnel) NOT (bomb/N10/atomic* or arm*/N10/atomic* or central*/N10/atomic* or bomb*/N10/nuclear or arm*/N10/nuclear nuclear or central/N10/nuclear or nanosecond* or apple or ipod or mp3)) or digest or notizi*/N2/brev* or brev*/N2/economia or brev*/N2/finanz* or brev/N2/mercat* or mostre or appuntamenti or rassegn*)

1.2 Appendix B: Searched Outlets

Adnkronos – General News (Italian Language) Or Publication Adnkronos – Health News (Italian Language) Or Publication Adnkronos – Labor News (Italian Language) Or Publication Adnkronos – Sustainability (Italian Language) Or Publication AKI – Adnkronos International (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Agricultural News Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Economic and Financial Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Entertainment News Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Foreign Affairs News Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Health Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – PMI News Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Political and Economic News Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Politics News Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Regional Service (Italian Language) Or Publication ANSA – Sports News Service (Italian Language) Or Publication Corriere della Sera (Italian Language) Or Publication La Repubblica (Italian Language) Or Publication La Stampa (Italian Language)

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Arnaldi, S. (2014). Who Is Responsible? Nanotechnology and Responsibility in the Italian Daily Press. In: Arnaldi, S., Ferrari, A., Magaudda, P., Marin, F. (eds) Responsibility in Nanotechnology Development. The International Library of Ethics, Law and Technology, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9103-8_11

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