我们所知道的伦理已经不复存在。是时候重新审视伦理学了。

在一个 "另类事实 "和颠覆性技术时代的决策。

鉴于国际事务的令人不安的状况，我们有理由对道德如何在公共和私人生活中被框定、合用，或者在某些情况下被完全忽视而感到非常担忧。

鉴于日益增长的党派主义，公然违反国际法，以及部署变革性的、有时是有害的技术，我们必须承认道德是负责任的领导和公共政策的重要工具。

但是，除了简单的认识之外，我们必须认真审视道德是如何嵌入我们的决策中的，以便它能够有效地被用来做好事，而不是被当作实现自私目的的手段，这在今天是太常见了。

对一些人来说，伦理学已经成为一种二元的、零和思维的练习。对其他人来说，道德只是部落政治的工具。在一个 "另类事实 "和故意洗刷道德的世界里，真正的道德推理旨在解决内在的紧张关系和权衡，却经常成为牺牲品。

无论你是在选举中投票、上大学、在金融机构工作、参与零工经济，还是在政府任职，我们都必须挑战自己，了解一些基本问题，以便为快速变化的世界重新定义道德。

首先，要推进道德议程，特别是在这个时候，需要什么工具？

其次，如何才能促进真正的、真诚的努力，使伦理学成为推理和应对困难挑战的工具，而在这种情况下，价值观会发生冲突，存在许多不确定性。

首先，我们需要认识到，社会有一个 "完美的问题"。

如今的道德争论通常采取义愤填膺和道德肯定的形式。一切都是二元的。我们生活在一个零和、赢家通吃的社会，包括伦理学。在这种情况下，如果你不同意我的观点，你不仅是错的，而且也是一个坏人。

我们经常忽略一个最基本的事实：没有人是完美的。人类和他们所生活的家庭和社区一样，都是有缺陷的。价值观的冲突和权衡是不可避免的。没有人可以垄断美德。

事实上，优秀的工程师明白，每一个被自然或他们的设计最大化的特征都会伴随着固有的缺陷、弱点或脆弱性。例如，鸡蛋是一个强大的保护环境，但在以特殊方式敲击时却很脆弱。即使是超强的金属也缺乏弹性，在受压时也会变脆。

尽管认识到自然和日常生活中的缺陷，我们仍然以一种期待完美的方式运作。因此，"乌托邦 "这个词源于希腊语，意味着 "没有地方"，这并不是巧合。它并不存在。如此多的乌托邦文学以乌托邦结束也不是巧合。人类社会不可能是完美的。

历史证明了清规戒律的道德方式的破产。我们在道德恐慌中看到了这一点，这种恐慌是由对单一真理的信仰助长的，由恐惧和不安全感激起的。这种模式很熟悉。一种邪恶被确认。然后必须从社会中消除它。

对美国人来说，他们想到的是历史上的例子，如塞勒姆巫术审判和红色恐怖--以及移民政策中的仇外心理，这一直延续到今天。在今天的俄罗斯，我们看到对幽灵般的纳粹威胁的固守。

一元化的道德论断弊大于利。这就是为什么我们需要重新认识伦理学。不仅仅是作为哲学家和学者的工具，而是作为个人可以参与的积极过程，帮助为我们的生活提供方向，为公共辩论提供尊重的结构。

伦理学旨在实现一个目的或最终目的。它的主要特点是一个反复的过程，可以进行修正和修订。这样一来，伦理学就是一个用来做决定的实用工具，而不是一套静态的原则，可以从架子上拿下来。

虽然围绕着原则或价值观，如不杀生、不偷盗、不说谎，往往可以达成共识，但每一个原则都有限制和例外。更重要的是，很少有实际的选择只涉及到实现一个目标。在复杂的情况下，许多价值观会发挥作用，不同的价值观会发生冲突，或者被不同的利益相关者放在不同的优先位置。对于一个复杂的挑战，很少只有一种行动方案，而往往是几种，每一种都有不同的好处、风险和不良后果。

面对困难的权衡和改善危害的必要性的伦理学方法并不是主流的范式。但它应该是。

The Information Age simultaneously presents significant ethical challenges and opportunities.

Collectively, information technologies, biotechnologies, and nanotechnologies have given birth to an inflection point in human history: the Information Age. Re-envisioning ethics will be helpful for all realms of human endeavor, but it is particularly essential for addressing the challenges posed by emerging technologies that are rapidly transforming daily life and reshaping human destiny.

To make matters more difficult, there are many uncertainties about how emerging technologies will impact society. And therefore, we must consider many options or paths forward in making choices regarding near-term considerations.

The benefits, risks, and societal impacts of technologies being deployed or likely to be developed need to be evaluated. In some cases, choices must be made as to which technologies can be embraced, which should be rejected, and how to shape and/or regulate technologies capable of being used in harmful or undesirable ways.

Disagreements are already evident. Some technologies available have been utilized for inherently destructive purposes. Social media is being used to empower misinformation and lies. The collection and conglomeration of personal data can undermine privacy and empower surveillance tools and techniques to manipulate behavior for marketing or political purposes.

As technologies such as artificial intelligence increasingly shape everyday life, there is a struggle for the ethical high ground. Corporations want to be seen as virtuous—or at least not an enemy of the good. And so, we see leaders like Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the largest asset management company in the world, advocating that corporations embrace social responsibility and "a sense of purpose." We also see a proliferation of private sector initiatives such as AI for Good and the Partnership for AI seeking to align corporate interests with broad societal goods. Similarly, universities are attracting major contributions to establish hubs for the study of AI and its practical applications.

But with these developments, we must ask ourselves: Do ideas follow money? Or does money follow ideas? In the case of AI ethics, the verdict is not yet in. However, one thing is clear. There are real incentives for businesses and governments to be aligned with ethics initiatives, if only to be seen as being on the right side of history.

Ethics washing is a reality in the binary world in which we live—whether by corporations, politicians, or universities. Much lip service is given to virtues such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, even as the goals and means to achieve them remain ill-defined and elusive.

It is time for a genuine re-envisioning of ethics.

A re-envisioning of ethics is certainly not a rejection of the past. Ethics will continue to be grounded in shared principles as goals to strive to fulfill. The Golden Rule or something like it exists in all traditions and offers a good starting point. The dignity and rights of each individual has become sacrosanct. What exactly those rights are and require of us and our governments remains a subject for debate and further elucidation.

The various approaches to ethics should not be reduced to algorithms for determining what is absolutely right and good. Each approach underscores differing considerations that we would like to have factored into good decision-making.

A re-envisioning of ethics should center around its function as a tool for helping make difficult decisions where values, needs, and goals conflict. Good ethics is about the application of skillful means in working through such difficult challenges towards an imperfect yet acceptable resolution. In evaluating differing courses of action, each with varying benefits, disadvantages, and weaknesses, good decision-making requires more than selecting the best option forward. Good decisions also entail addressing those detriments or harms created by the choice made.

Looking ahead, ethical reasoning requires input from a variety of perspectives and experiences as well as collaborative problem solving across disciplines and professions. An appeal to virtue will be essential, but virtue alone will not be enough.

This moment calls for an open and good-faith effort to empower ethics as a tool for better living rather than as a placebo dispensed by the powerful to justify their interests. Whether this happens is an open question.

In the meantime, beware of those preaching perfection. They may be the enemies of the good.

Joel H. Rosenthal is president of Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Subscribe to his President’s Desk newsletter to receive future columns translating ethics, analyzing democracy, and examining our increasingly interconnected world.

Wendell Wallach is a Carnegie-Uehiro Fellow at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, where he co-directs the Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative (AIEI).