de Jong Irja Marije, Kupper Frank, de Ruiter Corine, Broerse Jacqueline
Athena Institute, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Forensic Psychology section, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Postbus 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Life Sci Soc Policy. 2017 Dec;13(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s40504-017-0049-7. Epub 2017 Feb 28.
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a science policy concept that gained traction from 2000 onwards in the EU and US, in which alignment on purposes and values between different stakeholders is a key aspect. This thought experiment problematizes this particular notion: ethically acceptable and societally desirable outcomes are not necessarily achieved when alignment is a consequence of early closure. To argue this point, we took the example of the potential development of scanning technology for the detection of paedophilia among job applicants, for which indicators of broad societal support were found in an RRI project on neuroimaging. We analysed this case by looking through several lenses, obtained by structured and non-structured literature searches. We explored how facts and values are masked when a taboo topic is considered. This results in the black boxing of the problem definition, potential solutions and development trajectories. Complex unstructured problems can thus be perceived as manageable structured problems, which can in turn lead to irresponsible policies surrounding technology development. Responsible processes of research and technology development thus require the involvement of a critical reflector who is alert to signs of early closure and who prevents foreclosure of ongoing reflexive deliberation. There is an important role for ethical, legal and societal aspect studies within the framework of RRI. This paper shows that the concepts of "value/fact diversity masking" and "early discursive closure" are new avenues for RRI research.
责任研究与创新（RRI）是一个科学政策概念，自2000年起在欧盟和美国受到关注，其中不同利益相关者在目的和价值观上的一致性是一个关键方面。这个思想实验对这一特定概念提出了质疑：当一致性是早期封闭的结果时，不一定能实现道德上可接受且社会上可取的结果。为了论证这一点，我们以在求职者中检测恋童癖的扫描技术的潜在发展为例，在一个关于神经成像的RRI项目中发现了广泛社会支持的指标。我们通过结构化和非结构化文献检索获得的多个视角来分析这个案例。我们探讨了在考虑一个禁忌话题时事实和价值观是如何被掩盖的。这导致了问题定义、潜在解决方案和发展轨迹的黑箱化。复杂的非结构化问题因此可能被视为可管理的结构化问题，进而可能导致围绕技术发展的不负责任的政策。因此，负责任的研究和技术开发过程需要有一个批判性的反思者参与，他要警惕早期封闭的迹象，并防止正在进行的反思性审议被预先阻止。在RRI框架内，伦理、法律和社会方面的研究有着重要作用。本文表明，“价值/事实多样性掩盖”和“早期话语封闭”的概念是RRI研究的新途径。
