EXPLORATORY ETHICS

Ian Barbour is wisely aware of two kinds of ethical problems that cons tantly interact: first, those where we know the good but lack the will to do it; second, those where, in uncertainties and conflicts of valu es, we have to discover the best course of action. Both have long hist ories; but new technologies, which mean new powers, accentuate both. T hree issues in Barbour's work deserve comment here: (1) the ways in wh ich technology requires new ethical thinking, but cannot of itself mak e ethical prescriptions; (2) the perplexing relation of technology to political processes; (3) the relation between need and greed, a valid distinction that may be more puzzling than Barbour allows because a te chnological culture multiplies needs. I applaud Barbour's achievement. I find it ironic that I occasionally think him a shade too optimistic , whereas he has occasionally said the same of me.