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The Moral Impotence of Contemporary Experts

University of Toronto

Technological growth in developed and developing countries in the 20th century has lent a great deal of importance to scientific reasoning in the management of human affairs. An important outgrowth has been the development of systems thinking to organize the workplace. The business reengineering process and the enterprise resource planning system are contemporary instances of the application of systems thinking that have had a serious influence on the modern work organization. This article traces the roots and evolution of systems thinking and investigates whether it is influential in shaping contemporary work organizations. The article also deals with the existential question of whether it is possible for experts to exercise morality and responsibility when they participate in complex work organizations shaped by the application of systems thinking. These concerns begin to motivate the broader question of whether it is possible for anyone to live in the age of systems.

Key Words: systems thinking • work organization • expertise • information systems • human sustainability • morality • responsibility

Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol. 24, No. 4, 342-352 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0270467604267478


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