Infrastructuralism: The Normative Ethical Theory of the Future—Rooted in Viability-Enabling Infrastructure

This document introduces Infrastructuralism, a normative ethical theory that evaluates moral actions based on their impact on shared, viability-enabling infrastructure. Unlike utilitarianism, deontology, or virtue ethics, Infrastructuralism is grounded in the structural preconditions that make moral agency possible. It presents two original axioms—Campbell’s Paradox and the Possibility Clause—which together defend the necessity of preserving the viability-enabling infrastructure that makes moral judgment possible. While rooted in moral philosophy, Infrastructuralism is not limited to human-centric ethics. It extends to AI systems, corporations, institutions, and collective agents—any entity whose existence and agency depend on shared infrastructure. It also serves as the foundational normative theory underlying the Herd Ethics framework, a derived application focused on inter-agent moral responsibility and infrastructure-sustaining policy.

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2025-08-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16877946
Primary Topic
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Infrastructuralism: The Normative Ethical Theory of the Future—Rooted in Viability-Enabling Infrastructure

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
article

Infrastructuralism: The Normative Ethical Theory of the Future—Rooted in Viability-Enabling Infrastructure

article en

Abstract

This document introduces Infrastructuralism, a normative ethical theory that evaluates moral actions based on their impact on shared, viability-enabling infrastructure. Unlike utilitarianism, deontology, or virtue ethics, Infrastructuralism is grounded in the structural preconditions that make moral agency possible. It presents two original axioms—Campbell’s Paradox and the Possibility Clause—which together defend the necessity of preserving the viability-enabling infrastructure that makes moral judgment possible. While rooted in moral philosophy, Infrastructuralism is not limited to human-centric ethics. It extends to AI systems, corporations, institutions, and collective agents—any entity whose existence and agency depend on shared infrastructure. It also serves as the foundational normative theory underlying the Herd Ethics framework, a derived application focused on inter-agent moral responsibility and infrastructure-sustaining policy.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 50%
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
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