There is no agreement on how nanoethics should proceed. In this article I focus on approaches for discerning ethical issues
in nanotechnology, which is as of yet one of the most difficult and urging tasks for nanoethics. I discuss and criticize two
existing approaches for discerning ethical issues in nanotechnology and propose a network approach as alternative. I discuss
debates in nanoethics about the desirable role of ethics in nanotechnological development and about the newness of ethical
issues in nanotechnology. On basis of a critical analysis of both debates, I formulate a number of desiderata for a method
for discerning ethical issues in nanotechnology and argue that the network approach that my colleagues and I have developed
for ethical issues in research and development networks is also appropriate in nanotechnology.
Keywords Ethical issues - Ethics - Moral methodology - Network analysis - Nanotechnology - Nanoethics - Research and development