ABSTRACT
The ethics of technology is a relatively new field of applied ethics (Mitcham and Briggle, 2010). Few standards have crystallized in it, and there is still no consensus, not even on fundamental issues, such as on the direction and goals of the ethics of technology and on the relationship of philosophical-ethical expertise to the moral positions of affected individuals and stakeholders on the one hand and to policy decisions on the other. For this reason it seems advisable for me to provide a few preparatory clarifications regarding my understanding of ethics before beginning the discussion of the ethics of nanotechnology. This is important to ensure that both the basis of the later results on the ethical issues of nanotechnology and their claim to validity are transparent.
