Nanotechnology

As space travel and intentions to colonise other planets are becoming the norm in public debate and scholarship, we must also confront the technical and survival challenges that emerge from these hostile environments. This paper aims to evaluate the various arguments proposed to meet the challenges of human space travel and extraterrestrial planetary colonisation. In particular, two primary solutions have been present in the literature as the most straightforward solutions to the rigours of extraterrestrial survival and flourishing: (1) geoengineering, where (...) the environment is modified to become hospitable to its inhabitants, and (2) human (bio)enhancement where the genetic heritage of humans is modified to make them more resilient to the difficulties they may encounter as well as to permit them to thrive in non-terrestrial environments. Both positions have strong arguments supporting them but also severe philosophical and practical drawbacks when exposed to different circumstances. This paper aims to show that a principled stance where one position is accepted wholesale necessarily comes at the opportunity cost of the other where the other might be better suited, practically and morally. This paper concludes that case-by-case evaluations of the solutions to space travel and extraterrestrial colonisation are necessary to ensure moral congruency and the survival and flourishing of astronauts now and into the future. (shrink)

Recently criticisms against autonomous weapons were presented in a video in which an AI-powered drone kills a person. However, some said that this video is a distraction from the real risk of AI—the risk of unlimitedly self-improving AI systems. In this article, we analyze arguments from both sides and turn them into conditions. The following conditions are identified as leading to autonomous weapons becoming a global catastrophic risk: 1) Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) development is delayed relative to progress in narrow (...) AI and manufacturing. 2) The potential for very cheap manufacture of drones, with prices below 1 USD each. 3) Anti-drone defense capabilities lagging offensive development. 4) Special global military posture encouraging development of drone swarms as a strategic offensive weapon, able to kill civilians. We conclude that while it is unlikely that drone swarms alone will become existential risk, lethal autonomous weapons could contribute to civilizational collapse in case of new world war. (shrink)

in: Henk ten Have (ed.), Nanotechnology: Science, Ethics and Policy Issues, Paris (UNESCO Series in Ethics of Science and Technology), 2006 (forthcoming).

It might become possible to build artificial minds with the capacity for experience. This raises a plethora of ethical issues, explored, among others, in the context of whole brain emulations (WBE). In this paper, I will take up the problem of vulnerability – given, for various reasons, less attention in the literature – that the conscious emulations will likely exhibit. Specifically, I will examine the role that vulnerability plays in generating ethical issues that may arise when dealing with WBEs. I (...) will argue that concerns about vulnerability are more matters of institutional design than individual ethics, both when it comes to creating humanlike brain emulations, and when animal-like emulations are concerned. Consequently, the article contains reflection on some institutional measures that can be taken to protect the sims' interests. It concludes that an institutional framework more likely to succeed in this task is competitive and poly-centric, rather than monopolistic and centralized. (shrink)

This introduction provides background information on the emerging field of nanotechnology and its ethical dimensions. After defining nanotechnology and briefly discussing its status as a discipline, about which there exists a meta-controversy, this introduction turns to a discussion of the status of nanoethics and lays out particular issues of concern in the field, both current and emerging.

Although quantum technologies (QT) are still in their early stages of development, their ethical foundations are already being shaped by their innovation context. While earlier works have discussed the ethical implications of this emerging field, the contextualization of these risks in broader socio-technical dynamics has received less attention. Drawing on interdisciplinary sources, I present a critical interpretive literature review of QT’s ethical challenges, situating them within the technologies’ broader socio-technical context and showing how innovation dynamics and socio-political factors contribute to (...) shaping their normative futures. While many of QT’s ethical challenges stem from anticipated technical affordances, these risks must also be understood through broader socio-technical dynamics, opening valuable lines of inquiry into who sets research priorities, whose interests are served, and what alternative futures are foreclosed. Through expanding our view of QT’s ethical challenges towards the structural conditions that inscribe, and sometimes intensify them, we gain a better understanding of the normative assumptions being embedded into the field, elucidating how these narrow the space for alternative forms of innovation. Insights suggest that, without critical reflection, the hegemonic innovation trajectory risks constraining democratic oversight and ethical reflection precisely at a foundational moment, when QT’s pathways are being locked in. (shrink)

Although quantum technologies (QT) are still in their early stages of development, their ethical foundations are already being shaped by their innovation context. While earlier works have discussed the ethical implications of this emerging field, the contextualization of these risks in broader socio-technical dynamics has received less attention. Drawing on interdisciplinary sources, I present a critical interpretive literature review of QT’s ethical challenges, situating them within the technologies’ broader socio-technical context and showing how innovation dynamics and socio-political factors contribute to (...) shaping their normative futures. While many of QT’s ethical challenges stem from anticipated technical affordances, these risks must also be understood through broader socio-technical dynamics, opening valuable lines of inquiry into who sets research priorities, whose interests are served, and what alternative futures are foreclosed. Through expanding our view of QT’s ethical challenges towards the structural conditions that inscribe, and sometimes intensify them, we gain a better understanding of the normative assumptions being embedded into the field, elucidating how these narrow the space for alternative forms of innovation. Insights suggest that, without critical reflection, the hegemonic innovation trajectory risks constraining democratic oversight and ethical reflection precisely at a foundational moment, when QT’s pathways are being locked in. (shrink)

This piece defends an integrative medicine approach to Medical AI, grounded in a Daoist perspective. Specifically, it draws on the Daoist classic Zhuangzi to argue that algorithms in medical AI should not be restricted to offering diagnoses and treatments from a Western medical perspective alone. Instead, medical AI should be prepared to provide patients with various forms of alternative medicine (such as Chinese medicine). This can significantly benefit public health and address the healthcare needs of a broader population.

This piece defends an integrative medicine approach to Medical AI, grounded in a Daoist perspective. Specifically, it draws on the Daoist classic _Zhuangzi_ to argue that algorithms in medical AI should not be restricted to offering diagnoses and treatments from a Western medical perspective alone. Instead, medical AI should be prepared to provide patients with various forms of alternative medicine (such as Chinese medicine). This can significantly benefit public health and address the healthcare needs of a broader population.

As the innovative potential of quantum technologies comes into focus, so too does the urgent need to address their ethical implications. While many voices highlight the importance of ethical engagement, less attention has been paid to the conditions that make such engagement possible. In this article, I argue that one key condition is technological understanding: the cognitive skill to recognise how a technology can be used to realise an aim. More specifically, I claim that meaningful ethical discussion depends, first and (...) foremost, on understanding a technology’s functional capabilities: what it can do and what it can be used for. Presenting such ‘functional understanding’ as an epistemic requirement helps guide efforts to improve understanding of quantum technologies in support of ethical engagement. Such efforts often focus on explaining, in broad strokes, the underlying physics and technical details. While technical insights may indeed support ethical analysis, they are neither sufficient nor always necessary for grasping the broader societal and ethical implications of a technology. What is indispensable for such discussions is an understanding of its (potential) functions. To foster ethical engagement with quantum technologies, I therefore advocate a functions-oriented approach to promoting understanding of these technologies. At first glance, presenting technological understanding as an epistemic requirement for meaningful ethical engagement may seem to raise the bar for participation. However, by decoupling functional understanding from technical expertise, this condition becomes attainable for a broader group, contributing not only to a well-informed but also to a more inclusive ethical debate. (shrink)

As the innovative potential of quantum technologies comes into focus, so too does the urgent need to address their ethical implications. While many voices highlight the importance of ethical engagement, less attention has been paid to the conditions that make such engagement possible. In this article, I argue that one key condition is _technological understanding_: the cognitive skill to recognise how a technology can be used to realise an aim. More specifically, I claim that meaningful ethical discussion depends, first and (...) foremost, on understanding a technology’s functional capabilities: what it can do and what it can be used for. Presenting such ‘functional understanding’ as an epistemic requirement helps guide efforts to improve understanding of quantum technologies in support of ethical engagement. Such efforts often focus on explaining, in broad strokes, the underlying _physics_ and technical details. While technical insights may indeed support ethical analysis, they are neither sufficient nor always necessary for grasping the broader societal and ethical implications of a technology. What is indispensable for such discussions is an understanding of its (potential) _functions._ To foster ethical engagement with quantum technologies, I therefore advocate a functions-oriented approach to promoting understanding of these technologies. At first glance, presenting technological understanding as an epistemic requirement for meaningful ethical engagement may seem to raise the bar for participation. However, by decoupling functional understanding from technical expertise, this condition becomes attainable for a broader group, contributing not only to a well-informed but also to a more inclusive ethical debate. (shrink)

Time-travel-themed web novels have thrived in China for over two decades. A recent trend sees a group of individuals journeying together from the near future to an ancient dynasty, which raises significant questions about the role of modern technology in regenerating traditional societies, both constructively and disruptively. Illumine Lin’gao (臨高啟明, 2009-) is a landmark work created through collective authorship and recognized as the longest-running serialized web novel in China. The story features over five hundred twenty-first-century Chinese people traveling back to (...) the late Ming dynasty in 1628 to establish an industrialized society. This article explores collective time travel as a narrative innovation and the role of technology in facilitating an anachronic industrialization process, wherein colonial and gender issues are downplayed. While the narrative offers an enchanting vision of egalitarianism, prioritizing collective welfare over individual success, it also contradicts itself by internalizing the ideologies of colonialism and male chauvinism. In responding to Joseph Needham’s question, “Why did modern science develop in Europe rather than in China?”, the novel envisions an early industrial revolution in pre-modern China, reflecting a problematic yearning for a techno-uchronia. (shrink)

Transparency has become a fundamental public value and a linchpin for effective policymaking. Accordingly, emerging biotechnologies, along with their regulatory and implementation frameworks, are increasingly evaluated against this standard. To illustrate this point, we draw on the example of a citizen conference addressing the issue of xenotransplantation. The citizen group expressed conditional support for xenotransplantation, with their approval hinging on specific requirements that can be analyzed through the lens of transparency. Transparency involves at least three key dimensions. First, it required (...) openness and the provision of information to those directly affected by xenotransplantation, such as the transplanted patients. Second, it requires establishing an effective system of checks and balances through regulatory bodies and state authorities. Third, it calls for the disclosure of xenotransplantation research processes to the wider public. Additionally, another vital aspect of transparency – and one that contributes to good policies in the context of citizen participation – is demonstrating how citizens' opinions are genuinely considered and integrated into the policymaking process. Reflecting on the citizen conference as a “showing” of transparency itself, the complete fulfilment of its demands must always appear as lacking, even though such participation formats may facilitate transparency in terms of both visibility and explanation. (shrink)

In Section “Introduction” we introduce the concept of quantum computing [QC]; in essence, the attempt to solve very complex computational problems characterized by numerous variables interacting simultaneously by using quantum mechanical effects (such as superposition and quantum interference). In Section “Applications of QC”, we summarise some applications of QC developed to date and discuss some of the benefits that this technology may bring about for individuals and society. In Section “Ethical Issues underlying QC”, we evaluate some of the downsides (or (...) ethical challenges) arising from the possible wide-scale implementation of this technology. We claim that QC poses utterly new ethical challenges that will likely require novel conceptual tools and methods to be fully and properly tackled. However, we note that QC is not only crucial for the challenges it poses to ethics but also because it affords unique opportunities for enhancing our cognitive abilities and therefore for improving our cognitive profiles. Thus, in Section “QC and the Extended Mind Thesis”, we explore possible points of contact between QC and the extended mind thesis [EMT]. We argue that QC can provide solid evidence to validate some of the claims underlying EMT. Finally, we wrap up the paper (Section “Conclusion”) by summarising what we have achieved and by pointing out possible future research directions. (shrink)

Research on emerging technologies such as AI-driven health interventions, extended reality (XR) systems, biobanks, and genome editing poses novel ethical challenges that traditional ethics governance models struggle to address. This article explores various models of research ethics governance within the European Union (EU) context, starting from traditional one-time research ethics committee (REC) reviews, REC review with post-approval monitoring, as well as alternative models such as ethics self-assessment, and ethics-by-design approaches. Based on literature analysis and a survey of European research ethics (...) experts, the study identifies prevalent models of research ethics oversight, research ethics expert perceptions of their sufficiency, and challenges such as insufficient technical and ethics expertise, lack of specific guidelines, and unclear boundaries of REC responsibilities. Findings also indicate that traditional REC reviews remain dominant but have limitations in effectively managing rapidly evolving technologies. Research ethics experts highlighted the feasibility of continuous oversight mechanisms to better integrate ethical reflection throughout the research lifecycle. The article concludes by recommending a shift towards proportional, risk-based oversight, development of clearer, technology-specific guidelines, enhanced REC training, and improved harmonization across EU ethics governance systems to address current gaps. (shrink)

In dynamic sociotechnical contexts, values evolve over time and diverge across stakeholder groups, complicating the coordination of innovation processes through individual and collective commitments. This paper argues that sociotechnical agendas, which are structured sets of technology-related issues that shape attention and guide decision-making, can be a helpful framework for examining the interplay between personal and shared values. We demonstrate how three levels of agenda-setting contribute to the recognition and institutionalization of values: issue salience that determines what values matter, attribute framing (...) that shapes how values are interpreted, and network interconnection that establishes how values relate to each other. We examine sociotechnical agenda-setting as a process through which personal and institutional values are negotiated, aligned, and contested, often under conditions of tension and uncertainty. While sociotechnical agendas can foster consensus and support responsible technological development, they also pose challenges, including power imbalances, selective framing, and psychological influence. The study calls for further research into how transparent and inclusive agenda-setting processes can promote responsible value sharing in ways that advance broader societal goals. (shrink)

The advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) hides the invisible work done by humans in selecting and refining the data that are necessary for training the algorithms that allow the GenAI system to function in a manner that appears intelligent. This invisible work is done by so-called microworkers, who often work from developing countries in poor conditions, with strongly limited rights with regards to salary, sick leave, holidays, trade union protection and privacy. This special category of workers seems to subvert, (...) in the current techno-liberal market, the relationship that ties humans to machines, whereby the served (humans are served by the machine) become the servant (humans serve the machine to the advantage of a limited part of society). This subversion of the human–machine relationship leads us to analyse Marx’s notion of alienation in modern data-driven society. The old alienation of workers finds a new declination today as “data-based alienation” in the dual sense of alienation of the workers from their data, which are used by digital platforms to organise labour, and the alienation of workers from themselves, since the control of their data by digital platforms reduces their autonomy. Under this last regard lies discussion of the notion of slavery in data-centred societies, where digital platforms have generated new special categories of workers, especially in the AI sector, that tend to to be denied the rights that we normally enjoy and have less space for liberty. We hold that under the model of the digital platforms the old forms of slavery are not used only because there are more efficient forms of individual exploitation that can be reached even with active cooperation of workers and an appearance of legality. (shrink)

Successful translation of medical devices from the bench to the bedside is conditioned by the accurate estimation of market opportunities. Because market conditions can change significantly over time, this assessment is challenging in the early stages of technological development. In this study a qualitative analysis of market trends and regulatory frameworks was conducted to assess how transient market conditions influence the development and distribution of nanomedical technologies, using nanotechnologies developed for COVID-19 as the example. The findings demonstrate that the unpredictable (...) nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a volatile market for nanomedical solutions, discouraging private sector investment and contributing to growing disparities in resource allocation. Because access to these nanomedical technologies has been determined more by financial and geopolitical factors than by genuine medical need, it is argued that a more regulated market is necessary to ensure fair distribution of the products of nanomedical R&D. Policies should prioritize equitable access based on medical necessity rather than economic privilege to support the sustainable development of future nanotechnologies. To emphasize the necessity of humanizing sciences underlying the development of new medical technologies, these arguments are provided from a personal perspective, in the context of a 180-mile commute the author has taken weekly, for many years, to teach this subject in a higher education setting. To additionally challenge the linear flow and impersonal didactics of papers from the relevant technical genre, the discussion swings between topics, following a natural stream of thought, arguing concordantly in favor of the adoption of the same type of freedom, intuitive and improvisatory, in every aspect of human expressions and inquiries about the physical world. (shrink)

Successful translation of medical devices from the bench to the bedside is conditioned by the accurate estimation of market opportunities. Because market conditions can change significantly over time, this assessment is challenging in the early stages of technological development. In this study a qualitative analysis of market trends and regulatory frameworks was conducted to assess how transient market conditions influence the development and distribution of nanomedical technologies, using nanotechnologies developed for COVID-19 as the example. The findings demonstrate that the unpredictable (...) nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a volatile market for nanomedical solutions, discouraging private sector investment and contributing to growing disparities in resource allocation. Because access to these nanomedical technologies has been determined more by financial and geopolitical factors than by genuine medical need, it is argued that a more regulated market is necessary to ensure fair distribution of the products of nanomedical R&D. Policies should prioritize equitable access based on medical necessity rather than economic privilege to support the sustainable development of future nanotechnologies. To emphasize the necessity of humanizing sciences underlying the development of new medical technologies, these arguments are provided from a personal perspective, in the context of a 180-mile commute the author has taken weekly, for many years, to teach this subject in a higher education setting. To additionally challenge the linear flow and impersonal didactics of papers from the relevant technical genre, the discussion swings between topics, following a natural stream of thought, arguing concordantly in favor of the adoption of the same type of freedom, intuitive and improvisatory, in every aspect of human expressions and inquiries about the physical world. (shrink)

The growth and dissemination of scientific knowledge are characteristic of contemporary engineering worldwide. In recent decades, the distinctive features of engineering sciences have been discussed in comparison to both the natural sciences and other forms of knowledge circulating in engineering practice. The range of problems in the philosophy of engineering sciences includes, for example, the relationship between theory and practice; the processes of explaining and formalising knowledge; the demarcation between natural sciences and engineering sciences and their interaction in technoscience; the (...) emergence and formation of branches of engineering science and their mutual influence; the development of engineering science disciplines in different national contexts; the logic and structure of engineering research; multi- and interdisciplinary research methodologies; the nature of engineering systems thinking and ontologies; the functions of languages, visualizations and artefacts; the problems of digitisation and the application of Artificial Intelligence in engineering research; as well as specific questions of experimentation, modelling, quantification, etc. The special collection invites contributions from philosophy of engineering, STS and engineering studies, engineering ethics, and related fields, as well as methodological research in engineering education, including comparative studies and case studies. (shrink)

This paper examines the rise of right-wing libertarianism and techno-solutionism as interconnected phenomena reshaping global political and economic landscapes, with Argentina under Javier Milei serving as a pivotal case study. It explores how these ideologies, while promising individual empowerment and efficiency, risk exacerbating social inequalities, weakening democratic institutions, and enabling exploitative practices in areas such as resource extraction and technological governance. It also critiques the reduction of complex socio-political issues to technological fixes, which often neglect ethical considerations and reinforce existing (...) power structures. The analysis situates Milei’s policies—such as deregulation—within broader global trends, including the commodification of dissent and the emergence of "platform-states" that challenge traditional notions of sovereignty. By engaging with philosophical frameworks and historical precedents, the paper highlights the dangers of embracing a technocratic, market-driven vision that denies the possibility of collective resistance and political imagination. Finally, the text argues for the need to counter these ideologies through alternative frameworks that prioritise equity, sustainability, and democratic participation. (shrink)

There can be a temptation to dismiss moral pushback against novel science and technology, particularly commonplace labels for nanotechnology and synthetic biology like “playing God” or “messing with nature". One of the reasons for this is an implicit association between tragic themes and a lack of constructive benefit. Therefore, this paper uses concepts from art and cinema to offer a new perspective on public "fears": ecstatic reframing. By treating negative narratives not as roadblocks to progress, but portals into latent dreams, (...) this novel method reframes such views as housing a positive vision. However, while this offers a new approach regarding public talk of emerging science and technology, lay ethics is ultimately insufficient to deal with the underlying problems that stimulate their tragic tone. This paper uses a classic concept from anthropology--rites of passage--to argue that public unease is fundamentally cultural: modernity's lack of a collectively agreed upon worldview and primordial ritual structure for stewarding change. This "cultural deficit" may lie at the core of tragic narratives regarding emerging science and technology. (shrink)

Background Higher education institutions, particularly universities of technology, are ideally situated to advance critical inquiry and implementation of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and digital transformation. This is a fundamental mission of higher education and universities of technology, to act as generators and incubators of technological innovation and educating and training the innovators of tomorrow in responsible and ethical conduct. In this brief communication, we will set out to outline policy positions for actors (at policy-making level as well as those (...) in university management and governance) in higher education institutions to consider in order to support responsible and sustainable digital transformation. Moreover, here we outline our position that it is time for a paradigm shift in digital transformation that attempts to separate it from neoliberal economic models and mindsets, and looks to alternative epistemologies and political economies (and ontologies) for ecologically sustainable and ethical digital transformation. Here we propose a concept of bifurcation, or a radical break or fork, or series of forks, from the deleterious and unsustainable practices and systems of the past that have led to a global ecological emergency. We propose to use an interdisciplinary notion of bifurcation in order to underline the need to facilitate and foster a radical change of recent culture and late-modern societies – supported and enabled by the best digital technologies that we do have and fostering also the inception and implementation of innovative new technologies fit for the purpose of this bifurcation. (shrink)

In recent years, synthetic biology emerged as a potentially ground-breaking biotechnology, promising breakthroughs in healthcare, biodiversity conservation and bioremediation. Combining various technoscientific methods, synthetic biology consists in the application of engineering principles to biology, which is seen as unsatisfactory and perfectible. This methodology makes synthetic biology a postmodern technology of care, namely the political practice of refashioning biology to improve the condition of both human and more-than-human beings. Emphasising the disciplining dimension of care (in the Foucauldian sense of creating ‘docile (...) bodies’), I show that synthetic biology consists in the application of such a dimension to more-than-human lifeforms. That is, I critically highlight how synthetic biology, in its attempt to design novel and functional organisms, seeks to actually produce lifeforms that are ‘ontologically disciplined’ since they possess a simplified and controllable biological structure. The argument I advance in this paper sheds light on how care in the postmodern world is increasingly becoming associated with the simplification of complex biological systems, namely with the production of bioengineered organisms that are fitter to face current global challenges. Care, therefore, operates as a form of ontological disciplining by inscribing predetermined ways of being within the genetic code of more-than-human organisms. (shrink)

The exponential growth in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the past few years has seen important new considerations in economics, global politics, communication, data analysis and more. Many great promises are in store for those who master this technology, but so too are many potential disasters. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Asia, the most populous continent where national strategies since 2017 have focused on the importance of AI for establishing the stability and prosperity of the region. On 16 and (...) 17 October 2024, the Centre for Applied Ethics at Hong Kong Baptist University, in collaboration with the Dicastery for Culture and Education, held a conference to discuss particular social and ethical challenges facing Asia with AI. Scholars gathered from across the continent and even beyond to bring to light and collaborate on what issues we uniquely face. We offer this piece to highlight problems and potential responses. (shrink)

In this Discussion Note I argue that to understand the problem of consciousness, both as it applies to humans and may apply to machines, is a matter of paradigm lenses. I challenge the positing of human superiority with regard to intelligence and consciousness. I begin by reviewing Thomas Kuhn’s notion of paradigm shifts, including what he regarded as the limitations of scientific progress, which he saw as in a state of long-term flux, with no absolute knowledge possible as long as (...) science moved from paradigm to paradigm. I also consider Werner Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle with respect to viewpoint, and I recall the debate over classical and quantum models of understanding and how such a discussion reflects on the debate over consciousness. I review the recent controversy over Information Integration Theory (IIT), criticized as a poor scientific theory, but defended as philosophical theory, and why this distinction is important. I close by considering panpsychism as a model for understanding emergence and how consciousness could emerge from the continuous progress of machine thinking on the way to artificial general intelligence (AGI), as understood as technological singularity. (shrink)

Transparency and openness are frequently praised as vital institutional strategies to foster public trust in science. The expectation is that transparent and open science will be more trusted, either because publics will have access to information about what scientists do or because scientists will behave better under the watchful gaze of others. In this contribution, we challenge this widespread assumption by searching for the downsides of transparency in relation to public trust in science. The question we ask is: could transparency (...) also have unintended negative effects on public trust? First, we consider _theoretical_ treatments of transparency that challenge its status as an absolute value. This analysis highlights the benefits of seclusion and secrecy and the perils of excessive transparency. Next, we turn to the _practice_ of transparency, as enacted via open-science strategies. Open Science is a framework defined by a commitment to openness, sharing and collaboration; effectively, it offers a set of actionable strategies for scientists to be transparent. We examine risks associated with both specific open-science strategies and an Open Science normativity. This allows us to explicate three concrete pathways via which the enactment of transparency could inadvertently harm public trust in science. These pathways indicate that transparency (as enacted via open-science strategies) could fuel 1) well-placed distrust, 2) misplaced trust or 3) misplaced distrust. Eventually, we conclude that the architecture of Open Science needs a conditional and contextual operationalisation of transparency which results in new responsibilities for the scientific community. (shrink)