Robots and people with dementia: Unintended consequences and moral hazard

The use of social robots in elder care is entering the mainstream as robots become more sophisticated and populations age. While there are many potential benefits to the use of social robots in care for the older people, there are ethical challenges as well. This article focuses on the societal cons...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: O’Brolcháin, Fiachra (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2019
In: Nursing ethics
Year: 2019, Volume: 26, Issue: 4, Pages: 962-972
Further subjects:B Ethical Climate
B Virtue Ethics
B Robots
B dementia care
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The use of social robots in elder care is entering the mainstream as robots become more sophisticated and populations age. While there are many potential benefits to the use of social robots in care for the older people, there are ethical challenges as well. This article focuses on the societal consequences of the adoption of social robots in care for people with dementia. Making extensive use of Alasdair MacIntyre’s Dependent Rational Animals to discuss issues of unintended consequences and moral hazard, we contend that in choosing to avoid the vulnerability and dependency of human existence, a society blinds itself from the animal reality of humankind. The consequence of this is that a flourishing society, in which each individual is helped to develop the virtues essential to her flourishing, becomes harder to achieve.
ISSN:1477-0989
Contains:Enthalten in: Nursing ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0969733017742960