As with any significant new technology, drones have changed the human experience. Nevertheless, it is important to also take into account the ethical aspects that these modifications may have on humanity. In this sense, one of the greatest factors would be the invasion of privacy, which drones allow in a more discreet manner. Furthermore, they may also be used for wars, helping combat enemy troops from far away, without having to sacrifice one’s own men. As expected, this would lead different ethical theories to have various positions on the subject, especially deontology and utilitarianism. As a whole, paradoxically drones are more ethically useful than problematic, as they allow less people to be put in harmful situations.
Furthermore, this technology has been used for remote war attacks to deadly effects. This allows nations that have the technology to hurt others without risking their own people. As one can see in figure 1, the use of drone attacks skyrocketed in the United Kingdom from May 2008 to more than 450 per month in November 2013. Therefore, one can see that it has made war easier.
Figure 1. Monthly United Kingdom Drone Attacks, May 2008 – Nov 2013 (Cole, 2014).
According to a deontological theory, such as Immanuel Kant’s, this would actually be acceptable, because it would not put people in danger. He was gravely opposed to using people as a means, and drones would be a way of not endangering them. For him, one should try to construct a universal maxim that should treat “every rational being as an end in itself” (Kant, 1914). Therefore, he would probably generally agree to the use of drones, as it would allow for people to not be taken as a means in some cases.
This would probably be the case for utilitarians, as well, who would argue that this means that less pleasure is being inflicted on at least one person. For them, the ethicalness of an action would be measured by the amount of good and bad that it would cause for the group of people being affected. For J. S. Mill, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong in proportion as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (2005, p. 5). Therefore, as drones allow people not to be harmed or put in dangerous situations, they may be considered useful by utilitarians as well.
Nevertheless, this is not to say that they would be completely in favor of everything that may be done through drones. In fact, deontological theory would be gravely against war, and utilitarianism would be in most cases as well. However, one could argue that if drones did not do this, then actual people would commit these attacks anyways, killing the enemy with or without a drone. Therefore, these electric devices would simply leave some people out.
In conclusion, drones would probably be favored as they imply that people do not have to be in dangerous situations. The main changes that drones have caused are less privacy and being able to attack foreign countries without harming one’s own people. Nevertheless, one could argue that the fact that they keep some people safe would be enough for deontologists and utilitarians to believe that they were good. It is fascinating to study ethics through theories because it sometimes leads to some striking and almost paradoxical results.
Reference List
Cole, C. (2014). New British drone strike states released to Drone Wars UK. Drone Wars UK. 06 Feb. 2014. Retrieved from https://dronewars.net/2014/02/06/new-british-drone-strike-stats-released-to-drone-wars-uk/
Kant, I. (1914). Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals. Bartleby. Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/32/601.html.
Mill, J. S. (2005). Utilitarianism. Jonathan Bennett. Retrieved from http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/mill1863.pdf
