Responsible Futures

As a field of research and action, Futures Studies inherently requires ethical choices, though these may not be explicit. Concern or care for the future is not the same as responsibility for the future. However, a sense of the future is necessary to act responsibly in the present. Hence images of the future, however they are manifest, are used to guide present action. We show that ethics and anticipation are inter-related, though the implications for responsibility are less clear. The whole concept of what constitutes responsibility is entangled with moral and ethical norms in culturally and political heterogeneous societies. We consider that most, if not all theories of ethics contain an inherent futures orientation. Some images of the future contain clues as to what it means to be responsible. The founding imperative of modern Futures Studies was in response to a deep concern for the future of humanity. Where historically the development and technologies had been at a pace and scale that was locally controllable with limited harm, a new 20th century era of freedom and the means to develop technologies rapidly had led to a situation where society no longer had control of its future. This was most apparent when the atomic bomb was developed and used. Therefore, it was necessary to be able to discern the trajectories to avoid serious future harm. The second half of the 20th century saw the growth in foresight practices and attempts to predict and model futures, as a responsible reaction these changes. The scope of futures research also widened into both private and public spheres bringing about further need for clarity on ethics and responsibilities. These are codified to some extent, but as part of the hermeneutics of Futures Studies, will continue to develop. No singular forms of moral philosophy can provide an adequate answer to the challenges of responsibility in foresight and innovation. Moral norms change in society and so future generations, for whom we have responsibility, will see our sense of responsible futures as different from theirs.