Ethics and Philosophy of Technology Section, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX, Delft, The Netherlands.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2018 Apr;24(2):607-628. doi: 10.1007/s11948-017-9924-0. Epub 2017 Jun 8.
The adverse effects of artificial nighttime lighting, known as light pollution, are emerging as an important environmental issue. To address these effects, current scientific research focuses mainly on identifying what is bad or undesirable about certain types and uses of lighting at night. This paper adopts a value-sensitive approach, focusing instead on what is good about darkness at night. In doing so, it offers a first comprehensive analysis of the environmental value of darkness at night from within applied ethics. A design for values orientation is utilized to conceptualize, define, and categorize the ways in which value is derived from darkness. Nine values are identified and categorized via their type of good, temporal outlook, and spatial characteristics. Furthermore, these nine values are translated into prima facie moral obligations that should be incorporated into future design choices, policy-making, and innovations to nighttime lighting. Thus, the value of darkness is analyzed with the practical goal of informing future decision-making about urban nighttime lighting.
人工夜间照明的负面影响，即光污染，正成为一个重要的环境问题。为了解决这些影响，当前的科学研究主要集中在确定某些类型和用途的夜间照明有哪些不好或不希望出现的地方。本文采用了价值敏感的方法，关注的是夜间黑暗的好处。通过这样做，它从应用伦理学的角度对夜间黑暗的环境价值进行了首次全面分析。本文利用价值导向设计的方法，对从黑暗中获得价值的方式进行了概念化、定义和分类。通过其善的类型、时间展望和空间特征，确定并分类了九种价值。此外，这九种价值被转化为应纳入未来设计选择、决策制定和夜间照明创新的表面道德义务。因此，对黑暗的价值进行了分析，其实际目标是为未来关于城市夜间照明的决策提供信息。
