What Does Hellen Nissenbaum Mean By The Problem Of Many Hands

1. What does Hellen Nissenbaum mean by the problem of many hands in a computing/IT context? Discuss this problem in the context of the Therac 25 case study. Analyze the above case using the philosophical ethics perspective. The phenomenon that, due to the complexity of the situation and the number of actors involved, it is impossible or at least very difficult to hold someone reasonably responsible is sometimes referred to as the problem of many hands. In a more recent article, Helen Nissenbaum discusses the problem of many hands as one of the barriers for attributing accountability in what she calls a ‘computerized society.’ Some of the barriers she describes are, however, more generally characteristic for modern technology and engineering. She characterizes the problem of many hands as follows: â€Å"Where a mishap is the work of â€Å"many hands,† it may not be obvious who is to blame because frequently it is most salient and immediate causal antecedents do not converge with its locus of decision-making. The conditions for blame, therefore, are not satisfied in a way normally satisfied when a single individual is held blameworthy for a harm† (Nissenbaum 1996: 29). Nissenba um thus attributes the problem of many hands to the difficulty of holding any individual responsible because the different traditional preconditions for responsibility, like intent, knowledge, and freedom of action are distributed over many different individuals and none of them might meet all the conditions.