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 are used to guide present action. We show that ethics and anticipation are inter-related, though the implications for responsibility are less clear. The 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. The founding imperative of modern Futures Studies was in response to a deep concern for the future of humanity. A 20th-century era of freedom and the means to develop technologies has led to a situation where society no longer had control of its future. A responsible collective reaction to these changes was attempts to predict and model futures that avoided serious harm. Futures research spread into both private and public spheres bringing further need for clarity on ethics and responsibilities. These are partly codified, but the hermeneutics of Futures Studies will continue to develop. No singular form 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.