責任倫理學是以責任概念為主導範疇的倫理學，但責任概念本身卻不直接是道德相關的概念。以法律意義的歸咎(Zurechnung)做為典型來分析，責任是介於行動能力的因果性與規範的解釋建構之間的連繫性概念。責任概念在此雖然不直接是道德的概念，但以它為標幟的責任倫理學，卻代表新的道德意識的建立。現代科技行動的集體性與累積性，使得行動主體不限於有意志決定的個體或群體，而行動的結果更是經由附帶效應的作用，而擴展到不可預見的未來。科技行動既已超出意志決定與預期目標之間的領域，因而它所產生的道德問題，也已經不是傳統倫理學所能處理的範圍。科技所產生的新型責任， 稱之為「未來責任」(Zukunftverantwortung)與「共同責任」(Mitverantwortung)。這種責任的規範奠基成為倫理學的新課題。我們將引用哲學家尤納斯與阿培爾新近所建立的「未來倫理學」與「對話的責任倫理學」來說明這些責任的義務性基礎所在，以做為科技時代的應用倫理學基礎研究。
＂The ethics of responsibility＂ has a distinct meaning by virtue of the concept of responsibility. This concept is not directly a moral one. It is, instead, one that is internal to a wider concept of ＂moral consciousness＂. But this wider concept must be viewed differently than it has been viewed. It used to contain only contemporary and inter-subjective relations. Now it has to extend to relations that refer to the future and to unintended effects. This change is due to the growth of human powers through technology. Unintended and unpredictable effects arise. I want to develop a concept of responsibility that is suited for encompassing these. Also I want to go into the foundations of such an ethics and the obligations it can generate. To this end I will make use of Hans Jonas "Future Ethics" and Karl-Otto Apel ＂Communicative Responsibility Ethics”
