ABSTRACT
The very idea of responsibility and responsibility ethics is, following Max Weber's distinction between Verantwortungsethik and Gesinnungsethik, usually related to a consequentialist approach. However, this supposition is often not fulfilled in more complex fields, e.g. in responsibility debates on future science and technology. Techno-futures are images of the future development of society in which technology and scientific-technical progress play a perceptible role. The answers to the question of What follows for responsible research and innovation (RRI)? Related to a hermeneutical approach will make it possible to add meta-information to RRI debates and should thus be able to enrich those debates. However, it seems possible to propose at least three more general lines of thinking which could enrich and orientate ongoing RRI debates: focus on present developments instead of trying to anticipate the future, avoidance of narrowing future development through a technocratic lens and contributing to a more transparent democratic debate.
