The Social Dimension of Technology: The Control of Chemical and Biological Weapons

Abstract

This paper deals with a number of conceptual issues that arise from attempts by governments and civil society to control the spread of chemical and biological weapons. The first part outlines key aspects of the international control of chemical and biological weapons, focusing on the main treaties that outlaw these weapons. It then highlights some of the key practical and conceptual dilemmas in implementing these controls. These are the problems of definition, ‘dual-use’, how distinguishing defensive from offensive research, verification, and difficulty of analyzing chemical and biological warfare from a cultural perspective. Also this second part contains a discussion of some of the author’s own research on the history of chemical and biological warfare, and adds some reflections on how this work might inform some of the contemporary practical issues in the control of chemical and biological warfare.The most obvious contribution that philosophers can (and do) make to the control of chemical and biological weapons is in the field of ethics; the author argues that other debates from philosophy of science, over terms such as tacit knowledge, ontology, underdetermination and feminist philosophy of science, have the potential to shed further light on the dilemmas facing the arms control community.

Keywords

• conceptos
• diseminación
• guerra
• desarme
• ética
• comunidad