Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Information Technology and Moral Philosophy.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextSeries: Publisher: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008Copyright date: ©2008Edition: 1st edDescription: 1 online resource (429 pages)Content type:
  • text
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 9780511384073
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 303.48/33
Online resources:
Contents:
Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Introduction -- 1 Norbert Wiener and the Rise of Information Ethics -- Science, technology, and ethics -- The birth of information ethics -- Cybernetics and human nature -- Cybernetics and society -- Society and 'intelligent' machines -- A good human life and the principles of justice -- Entropy and the metaphysics of information ethics -- The explanatory power of wiener's metaphysical ideas -- Moor's Computer Ethics Theory -- Floridi's Foundation for Computer Ethics -- Wiener's methodological contributions to computer ethics -- Information Ethics and Human Values -- Identifying and Dealing with Information Ethics Problems or Opportunities -- Proactively Improving the World -- Wiener's information ethics legacy -- References -- 2 Why We Need Better Ethics for Emerging Technologies -- Introduction -- Technological revolutions -- Technological revolutions and ethics -- Three rapidly developing technologies -- Better ethics -- References -- 3 Information Ethics: Its Nature and Scope -- 1 A unified approach to information ethics -- 1.1. Information-as-a-Resource Ethics -- 1.2. Information-as-a-Product Ethics -- 1.3. Information-as-a-Target Ethics -- 1.4 The Limits of Any Microethical Approach to Information Ethics -- 2 Information ethics as macroethics -- 2.1 What is IE? -- 2.2 What is a Level of Abstraction? -- 2.3 What Counts As a Moral Agent, According to IE? -- 2.4 What Counts As a Moral Patient, According to IE? -- 2.5 What Are Our Responsibilities As Moral Agents, According to IE? -- 2.6 What Are the Fundamental Principles of IE? -- 3 Six recurrent misunderstandings -- 3.1 Informational Objects, Not News -- 3.2 Minimalism Not Reductionism -- 3.3 Applicable Not Applied -- 3.4 Implementable Not Inapplicable -- 3.5 Preservation and Cultivation Not Conservation.
3.6 A Secular, Not a Spiritual or Religious Approach -- 4 Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 4 The Transformation of the Public Sphere: Political Authority, Communicative Freedom, and Internet Publics -- Publics, principals, and agents: the transformation of political authority -- Publics and the public sphere: some conceptual issues -- Communicative freedom and the distributive public sphere: the role of agency -- From publics to public sphere: the institutional form of transnational democracy -- Conclusion -- References -- 5 Democracy and the Internet -- A thought experiment -- Public (and private) forums -- Specialization - and fragmentation -- Social cascades -- Common experiences -- Proposals -- Disclosure -- Self regulation -- Subsidy -- Links -- Public sidewalk -- Anticensorship, but well-beyond anticensorship -- References -- 6 The Social Epistemology of Blogging -- Democracy and the epistemic properties of internet-based communication -- Epistemic comparisons of the conventional media and the blogosphere -- To Filter or Not to Filter -- Blogging as an adversarial process -- Social mechanisms and users' psychological states -- References -- 7 Plural Selves and Relational Identity: Intimacy and Privacy Online -- Introduction -- I active and passive selves -- II relationships, self-presentations, and interpretations -- III the dominance of highly voluntary self-presentations online -- Conclusion -- References -- 8 Identity and Information Technology -- Introduction -- Online identity -- Cyborgs -- Character identity -- The importance of self-presentation to identity -- Conclusion -- 9 Trust, Reliance, and the Internet -- 1. Trust and reliance -- 2. Two forms of trust -- 3. The internet -- 10 Esteem, Identifiability, and the Internet -- 1. Esteem, reputation, and the 'compounding effect'.
2. Three cases somewhat analogous to the internet -- 2.1 Pseudonyms -- 2.2 Name Changes -- 2.3 Secret Societies -- 3. Anonymity as an insurance strategy -- 4. Anonymity as an esteem-optimizing strategy -- 5. Anonymity as an ad hoc strategy -- 5.1. In-Group Esteem -- 5.2. Segmented Audiences -- 6. Back to the future: the internet context -- 11 Culture and Global Networks: Hope for a Global Ethics? -- Introduction -- 1. From Global Village to Electronic Metropolis -- 2. From Computer Ethics to Global Ethics? Convergences, Divergences, and Critical Meta-questions -- Convergences? -- 1. Responsibility As a Unifying Ethical Concept? -- 2. A Global Research Ethic? -- 3. Convergence re Virtue Ethics/Ethics of Care - Confucian Ethics -- 4. Convergences 'on the Ground'? - Emerging Notions of Privacy in China and Hong Kong -- Challenges to global ethics -- 1. Divergences: Technology Assessment -- 2. Online Research: National Differences Revisited - The RESPECT Guidelines -- 3. Divergences East-West - A Case Study in Research Ethics -- 4. Divergences: Online and Offline Ethical Behavior - Minority/Immigrant/Diaspora Media Use -- Conclusion -- Unscientific postlude -- 12 Collective Responsibility and Information and Communication Technology -- Part A: Application of the collective end theory to social knowledge acquisition -- Joint Procedures (Conventions) -- Joint Institutional Mechanisms -- Collective Ends -- Assertion, Information, and Joint Action -- Assertion -- Assertion and Joint Action -- Communication, storage, and retrieval of information by means of ict -- Communication, Storage, and Retrieval of Information -- Communication, Storage, and Retrieval of Information by Means of ICT -- Part B: Collective responsibility of the communication, storage, and retrieval of knowledge by means of ICT -- Responsibility -- Collective Moral Responsibility.
Collective Responsibility for the Communication, Storage, and Retrieval of Information -- Collective responsibility for the communication, storage, and retrieval of information by means of ICT -- 13 Computers as Surrogate Agents -- 1. Human surrogate agency -- 2. Computers, computer programs, and robots -- 3. Computer systems as surrogate agents -- 3.1. Incompetence -- 3.2. Misbehavior -- 3.3. Differences between Computer Systems and Human Surrogate Agents -- 4. Issues of responsibility, liability, and blame -- 5. Conclusion -- 14 Moral Philosophy, Information Technology, and Copyright: The Grokster Case -- Introduction -- Consequentialism -- Sea changes -- Secondary liability: technology providers -- Grokster -- Overview of the remaining argument -- A deontological approach to copyright -- Intent and the lockean proviso -- Liability for technology -- Conclusion -- 15 Information Technology, Privacy, and the Protection of Personal Data -- 1. Why personal data will always be in demand -- 2. Personal data -- 3. Moral reasons for protecting personal data -- 3.1. Information-Based Harm -- 3.2. Informational Inequality -- 3.3. Informational Injustice -- 3.4. Moral Autonomy and Moral Identification -- Conclusion -- 16 Embodying Values in Technology: Theory and Practice -- Introduction -- Part 1: epistemology -- A. Technical Mode -- B. Philosophical Mode -- C. Empirical Mode -- D. Balls in Play -- Part 2: practice -- A. The Design Context -- B. Case Study: RAPUNSEL -- Constitutive activities -- C.1 Discovery -- C.2 Translation -- C.3 Verification -- Summary of methodology -- Reflections on values in design -- 17 Information Technology Research Ethics -- Introduction -- Science and values -- Cudos -- Ethical judgments qua scientists -- Regulation of research -- Freedom of speech and freedom of research -- Reasons for freedom of research.
Potentially harmful results -- The obligations of researchers -- Conclusion -- 18 Distributive Justice and the Value of Information: A (Broadly) Rawlsian Approach -- Introduction -- Information as a primary good -- Rawls's Conception of Primary Goods -- Information and Rational Plans of Life -- Categories of Primary Goods -- Towards complex equality: objections to the rawlsian framework -- Basic Socioeconomic Needs: Pogge's Critique -- As Pogge notes, Rawls does not deviate from this view in later works: -- Choice-Sensitivity: Dworkin's Critique -- Functionalism: Sen's Critique -- Positionality: Garfinkel's Critique -- Pluralism: Walzer's Critique -- Conclusions -- Select Bibliography -- Index.
Summary: This book gives an in-depth philosophical analysis of moral problems to which information technology gives rise, for example, problems related to privacy, intellectual property, responsibility, friendship and trust, with contributions from many of the best-known philosophers writing in the area.
No physical items for this record

Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Introduction -- 1 Norbert Wiener and the Rise of Information Ethics -- Science, technology, and ethics -- The birth of information ethics -- Cybernetics and human nature -- Cybernetics and society -- Society and 'intelligent' machines -- A good human life and the principles of justice -- Entropy and the metaphysics of information ethics -- The explanatory power of wiener's metaphysical ideas -- Moor's Computer Ethics Theory -- Floridi's Foundation for Computer Ethics -- Wiener's methodological contributions to computer ethics -- Information Ethics and Human Values -- Identifying and Dealing with Information Ethics Problems or Opportunities -- Proactively Improving the World -- Wiener's information ethics legacy -- References -- 2 Why We Need Better Ethics for Emerging Technologies -- Introduction -- Technological revolutions -- Technological revolutions and ethics -- Three rapidly developing technologies -- Better ethics -- References -- 3 Information Ethics: Its Nature and Scope -- 1 A unified approach to information ethics -- 1.1. Information-as-a-Resource Ethics -- 1.2. Information-as-a-Product Ethics -- 1.3. Information-as-a-Target Ethics -- 1.4 The Limits of Any Microethical Approach to Information Ethics -- 2 Information ethics as macroethics -- 2.1 What is IE? -- 2.2 What is a Level of Abstraction? -- 2.3 What Counts As a Moral Agent, According to IE? -- 2.4 What Counts As a Moral Patient, According to IE? -- 2.5 What Are Our Responsibilities As Moral Agents, According to IE? -- 2.6 What Are the Fundamental Principles of IE? -- 3 Six recurrent misunderstandings -- 3.1 Informational Objects, Not News -- 3.2 Minimalism Not Reductionism -- 3.3 Applicable Not Applied -- 3.4 Implementable Not Inapplicable -- 3.5 Preservation and Cultivation Not Conservation.

3.6 A Secular, Not a Spiritual or Religious Approach -- 4 Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 4 The Transformation of the Public Sphere: Political Authority, Communicative Freedom, and Internet Publics -- Publics, principals, and agents: the transformation of political authority -- Publics and the public sphere: some conceptual issues -- Communicative freedom and the distributive public sphere: the role of agency -- From publics to public sphere: the institutional form of transnational democracy -- Conclusion -- References -- 5 Democracy and the Internet -- A thought experiment -- Public (and private) forums -- Specialization - and fragmentation -- Social cascades -- Common experiences -- Proposals -- Disclosure -- Self regulation -- Subsidy -- Links -- Public sidewalk -- Anticensorship, but well-beyond anticensorship -- References -- 6 The Social Epistemology of Blogging -- Democracy and the epistemic properties of internet-based communication -- Epistemic comparisons of the conventional media and the blogosphere -- To Filter or Not to Filter -- Blogging as an adversarial process -- Social mechanisms and users' psychological states -- References -- 7 Plural Selves and Relational Identity: Intimacy and Privacy Online -- Introduction -- I active and passive selves -- II relationships, self-presentations, and interpretations -- III the dominance of highly voluntary self-presentations online -- Conclusion -- References -- 8 Identity and Information Technology -- Introduction -- Online identity -- Cyborgs -- Character identity -- The importance of self-presentation to identity -- Conclusion -- 9 Trust, Reliance, and the Internet -- 1. Trust and reliance -- 2. Two forms of trust -- 3. The internet -- 10 Esteem, Identifiability, and the Internet -- 1. Esteem, reputation, and the 'compounding effect'.

2. Three cases somewhat analogous to the internet -- 2.1 Pseudonyms -- 2.2 Name Changes -- 2.3 Secret Societies -- 3. Anonymity as an insurance strategy -- 4. Anonymity as an esteem-optimizing strategy -- 5. Anonymity as an ad hoc strategy -- 5.1. In-Group Esteem -- 5.2. Segmented Audiences -- 6. Back to the future: the internet context -- 11 Culture and Global Networks: Hope for a Global Ethics? -- Introduction -- 1. From Global Village to Electronic Metropolis -- 2. From Computer Ethics to Global Ethics? Convergences, Divergences, and Critical Meta-questions -- Convergences? -- 1. Responsibility As a Unifying Ethical Concept? -- 2. A Global Research Ethic? -- 3. Convergence re Virtue Ethics/Ethics of Care - Confucian Ethics -- 4. Convergences 'on the Ground'? - Emerging Notions of Privacy in China and Hong Kong -- Challenges to global ethics -- 1. Divergences: Technology Assessment -- 2. Online Research: National Differences Revisited - The RESPECT Guidelines -- 3. Divergences East-West - A Case Study in Research Ethics -- 4. Divergences: Online and Offline Ethical Behavior - Minority/Immigrant/Diaspora Media Use -- Conclusion -- Unscientific postlude -- 12 Collective Responsibility and Information and Communication Technology -- Part A: Application of the collective end theory to social knowledge acquisition -- Joint Procedures (Conventions) -- Joint Institutional Mechanisms -- Collective Ends -- Assertion, Information, and Joint Action -- Assertion -- Assertion and Joint Action -- Communication, storage, and retrieval of information by means of ict -- Communication, Storage, and Retrieval of Information -- Communication, Storage, and Retrieval of Information by Means of ICT -- Part B: Collective responsibility of the communication, storage, and retrieval of knowledge by means of ICT -- Responsibility -- Collective Moral Responsibility.

Collective Responsibility for the Communication, Storage, and Retrieval of Information -- Collective responsibility for the communication, storage, and retrieval of information by means of ICT -- 13 Computers as Surrogate Agents -- 1. Human surrogate agency -- 2. Computers, computer programs, and robots -- 3. Computer systems as surrogate agents -- 3.1. Incompetence -- 3.2. Misbehavior -- 3.3. Differences between Computer Systems and Human Surrogate Agents -- 4. Issues of responsibility, liability, and blame -- 5. Conclusion -- 14 Moral Philosophy, Information Technology, and Copyright: The Grokster Case -- Introduction -- Consequentialism -- Sea changes -- Secondary liability: technology providers -- Grokster -- Overview of the remaining argument -- A deontological approach to copyright -- Intent and the lockean proviso -- Liability for technology -- Conclusion -- 15 Information Technology, Privacy, and the Protection of Personal Data -- 1. Why personal data will always be in demand -- 2. Personal data -- 3. Moral reasons for protecting personal data -- 3.1. Information-Based Harm -- 3.2. Informational Inequality -- 3.3. Informational Injustice -- 3.4. Moral Autonomy and Moral Identification -- Conclusion -- 16 Embodying Values in Technology: Theory and Practice -- Introduction -- Part 1: epistemology -- A. Technical Mode -- B. Philosophical Mode -- C. Empirical Mode -- D. Balls in Play -- Part 2: practice -- A. The Design Context -- B. Case Study: RAPUNSEL -- Constitutive activities -- C.1 Discovery -- C.2 Translation -- C.3 Verification -- Summary of methodology -- Reflections on values in design -- 17 Information Technology Research Ethics -- Introduction -- Science and values -- Cudos -- Ethical judgments qua scientists -- Regulation of research -- Freedom of speech and freedom of research -- Reasons for freedom of research.

Potentially harmful results -- The obligations of researchers -- Conclusion -- 18 Distributive Justice and the Value of Information: A (Broadly) Rawlsian Approach -- Introduction -- Information as a primary good -- Rawls's Conception of Primary Goods -- Information and Rational Plans of Life -- Categories of Primary Goods -- Towards complex equality: objections to the rawlsian framework -- Basic Socioeconomic Needs: Pogge's Critique -- As Pogge notes, Rawls does not deviate from this view in later works: -- Choice-Sensitivity: Dworkin's Critique -- Functionalism: Sen's Critique -- Positionality: Garfinkel's Critique -- Pluralism: Walzer's Critique -- Conclusions -- Select Bibliography -- Index.

This book gives an in-depth philosophical analysis of moral problems to which information technology gives rise, for example, problems related to privacy, intellectual property, responsibility, friendship and trust, with contributions from many of the best-known philosophers writing in the area.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2025. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.

Licensed e-book