MIT271b:  Technology and Human Values
STUDY QUESTIONS 
FOR 
Final Exam: Ethics and Justice

The test will contain only 6 of the 10  possible questions listed below.
You will be required to answer only 5 of the 6 that appear on the test. 
Complete answers should be approximately 200-400 words each.

1.	According to McGinn, what is “technological maximality” (4)?  What is the problem with it (3)?  Why must any solution rest on a conditional theory of human rights (3)?
2.	How does the notion of “human rights” differ from the earlier notion of “natural rights”(2)?  How would a contextualized theory of human rights differ from these, and how would it be the same (2)?  Using examples, explain the six conditions McGinn suggests for infringing on rights (6).
3.	Using examples, explain why Rifkin warns us against re-engineering (6).  What does he mean that computers are replacing human minds (2)?  Do you agree (2)?
4.	According to Bush, what are the three “tech-myths” — what is right and what is wrong about them (6)?  What is an “equity analysis”, and why does she think we need it (2)?   What would it tell us about refrigeration (2)?
5.	According to Dyson, why are the sun, the genome and the internet technologies that could provide social justice?  Explain the individual strengths of the sun and the internet (2), the combined promise to revive village life (6), and why such a revival is said to be desirable (2).
6.	What are stasists (5) according to Virginia Postrel?  What is “the one best way” (4) and what is the problem with that view (1)?
7.	According to Schiller, how does U.S. information control allow for cultural dominance that provides economic domination (4)?  How do deregulation and privatization limit the potential for global domination of any nation (2)?  Why does this maintain the political status quo (2)?  How is Schiller’s argument borne out by the limitations of the “Wired Warrior’s Digital Dream” (2)?
8.	How do the changes in the 1931 film “Frankenstein” from the original novel, “Frankenstein; the Modern Prometheus” authored by Mary Shelley in 1816, reflect changes in social views about biotechnology? (2)  Explain, using examples, the four contemporary biotechnology concerns that Russo and Cover explore (8).
9.	According to Wachbroit, why does cloning not suffer the same problems as genetic engineering (5) and reproductive technologies (4)? Why does David Castle think it does (1)?
10.	Why does Wachbroit think concerns with human individualism are not important (6)?  How would parthenogenesis be preferable to cloning (1)?  What problems would it raise (3)?