George the Chemist: A Dilemma About Sabotage, Disaster Prevention, and Justification of Duplicity

Sergei Talanker
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Sergei Talanker: Western Galilee College, Israel

International Journal of Technoethics (IJT), 2021, vol. 12, issue 2, 48-59

Abstract: The present paper is an attempt to answer Bernard Williams' classical dilemma of George the chemist, who is asked by a senior colleague to partake in a CBW research program. Both George and the colleague oppose the research, and George is advised not to publicize his attitude for George to get the job instead of someone more eager. On the one hand, George does not want to be involved in the research, yet on the other hand, he does not want to allow it to be completed faster. The author views George's potential actions as sabotage and argues that since the existing ethical codes demand putting safety ahead of the pressures of the employers, sabotage should not be out of the question. CBW endangers entire communities, and thus secretly sabotaging its research amounts to disaster prevention and should be considered a professional duty by consequentialists and deontologists alike, even if it may involve deception and furthermore deception about deception.

Date: 2021
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