{"id":70,"date":"2026-07-16T06:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/?page_id=70"},"modified":"2026-07-19T13:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T13:23:23","slug":"what-is-ethics-prototyping","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/what-is-ethics-prototyping\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Ethics Prototyping?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WHAT IS ETHICS PROTOTYPING?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ETHICS
CAN BE PROTOTYPED BEFORE THE FUTURE ARRIVES.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Ethics Prototyping is a method for using fiction to portray societies transformed by science, technology, institutions, and culture as concrete narratives, and for collaboratively envisioning the values, norms, and institutions those societies will need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

FICTION\u3000\u2192\u3000CONFLICT\u3000\u2192\u3000DIALOGUE\u3000\u2192\u3000ETHICS PROTOTYPE<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

WHY PROTOTYPE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHY
PROTOTYPE?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

As science and technology continue to advance at an extraordinary pace, new ethical questions arise one after another. Yet many are raised only after a technology has already been implemented in society, leaving ethical reflection to play catch-up. Ethics Prototyping uses fiction to anticipate and examine ethical problems we are likely to face. By prototyping the ethics of the next generation now, we aim to help society prepare for the ethical challenges ahead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

WHY FICTION?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FICTION
CREATES A SHARED LANDSCAPE FOR DISCUSSION.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

Making ethics tangible<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although ethics has long addressed questions of great social importance, much of its work has remained within academia. Moreover, even a well-reasoned argument can feel imposed when it takes the form of an ethicist telling others what is right. Ethics Prototyping therefore uses works of fiction to make ethics concrete and bring ethical discussion closer to everyday life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

Treating emotion as an entry point to discussion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fiction gives concrete form to the norms proposed in discussion through characters, institutions, events, and conflicts, bridging abstract debate and actual society. It also provides common ground on which experts and citizens can imagine the same situations and talk together, opening a bottom-up path for public participation in ethical debate. Even emotions such as disgust or unease can be examined: rather than suppressing or surrendering to them, we can ask what they register and confront them anew through imagination.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

TWO APPROACHES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we take as given, and what do we examine?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ethics Prototyping can take several forms. These categories help us clarify what can be prototyped, which questions can be addressed, and how far the inquiry can connect with public deliberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

INSTITUTION-BASED<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institution-based<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This approach assumes that a legal institution or social rule already exists, then asks what new ethical norms that society would require.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

NORM-BASED<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norm-based<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This approach assumes that an ethical norm has already become established in society, then asks what institutions or mechanisms would be needed to sustain it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

QUESTIONS WE CAN PROTOTYPE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What ethics would be needed in a society where parents could freely choose their child\u2019s sex?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

What if consciousness could be uploaded to a computer, making immortality possible?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For example, we might ask what ethics would be needed in a society where parents could freely choose their child\u2019s sex at birth, or in one where consciousness could be uploaded to a computer and immortality became possible. Rather than merely identifying problems, we aim to propose concrete ethical norms capable of guiding people\u2019s judgments and institutions in such societies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

LOOKING BACK AT THE PRESENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMAGINING THE FUTURE MEANS
REEXAMINING THE VALUES OF THE PRESENT.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At first glance, Ethics Prototyping may seem to be an exercise in imagining the ethics of distant societies or fictional worlds. Yet it is we, living in the present, who envision those ethics. By considering what ethics a different society would require, we bring normally unexamined moral intuitions into view and clarify what we truly regard as good or bad. Ethics Prototyping looks back at the present from the ethics the future may need, revealing ethical demands that may already apply to us today.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHAT IS ETHICS PROTOTYPING? \u502b\u7406\u306f\u3001\u672a\u6765\u3092\u5f85\u305f\u305a\u306b\u8a66\u4f5c\u3067\u304d\u308b\u3002 \u502b\u7406\u30d7\u30ed\u30c8\u30bf\u30a4\u30d4\u30f3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-70","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethics-prototyping.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}