A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

Conclusions and Further Questions

Here, then, is the central philosophical question posed by the transportation system of the future: How may society discover the right tradeoffs between its obligation to pass on to future generations a healthy and wholesome world, on the one hand, and the needs and desires of the current global population on the other? This is the question posed since the release of the Bruntland report in 1987 by those concerned with the sustainability of the transportation system (Bruntland 1987).

Beyond its obligation to future generations, how should society discover the right allocation of resources across its current population? Few would begrudge the African woman engaged in head transport an improved road and a vehicle to use for ferrying water, food and other resources to and fro. But how best to provide that roadway and vehicle, whether by wringing efficiencies out of other parts of the system, or by reallocating resources from haves to have nots, remains a pressing issue.

Fundamentally it is an institutional question. Are markets robust enough to mediate these decisions? And, if not, to what extent should the focus be on improving the functioning of markets or alternatively resorting to non-market mechanisms.

Many economists would suggest establishing clear property rights and effective processes for protecting them, and letting markets take care of the rest. Yet no economist would disagree that, in much of the transportation domain, prices are way ...