Information Technology and Moral Philosophy

An international team of philosophers shed light on many of the ethical issues arising from information technology.

Jeroen van den Hoven (Edited by), John Weckert (Edited by)

9780521855495, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 March 2008

428 pages
23.4 x 15.7 x 3 cm, 0.69 kg

'This collection of 18 essays is rich in ideas on the implications of information technology and morality. Variety is the collection's strong point, though there are certainly some common themes, including the nature of identity and agency … This work will appeal to scholars in several disciplines, including communication, political science, computer science, and philosophy. Summing up: recommended.' S. E. Forschler, Choice

Information technology is an integral part of the practices and institutions of post-industrial society. It is also a source of hard moral questions and thus is both a probing and relevant area for moral theory. In this volume, an international team of philosophers sheds light on many of the ethical issues arising from information technology, including informational privacy, digital divide and equal access, e-trust and tele-democracy. Collectively, these essays demonstrate how accounts of equality and justice, property and privacy benefit from taking into account how information technology has shaped our social and epistemic practices and our moral experiences. Information technology changes the way that we look at the world and deal with one another. It calls, therefore, for a re-examination of notions such as friendship, care, commitment and trust.

Introduction
1. Norbert Wiener and the rise of information ethics Terrell Ward Bynum
2. Why we need better ethics for emerging technologies James H. Moor
3. Information ethics: its nature and scope Luciano Floridi
4. The transformation of the public sphere: political authority, communicative freedom, and internet publics James Bohman
5. Democracy and the internet Cass R. Sunstein
6. The social epistemology of blogging Alvin I. Goldman
7. Plural selves and relational identity: intimacy and privacy online Dean Cocking
8. Identity and information technology Steve Matthews
9. Trust, reliance, and the internet Philip Pettit
10. Esteem, identifiability, and the internet Geoffrey Brennan and Philip Pettit
11. Culture and global networks: hope for a global ethics? Charles Ess
12. Collective responsibility and information and communication technology Seumas Miller
13. Computers as surrogate agents Deborah G. Johnson and Thomas M. Powers
14. Moral philosophy, information technology, and copyright: the Grokster case Wendy J. Gordon
15. Information technology, privacy, and the protection of personal data Jeroen van den Hoven
16. Embodying values in technology: theory and practice Mary Flanagan, Daniel C. Howe and Helen Nissenbaum
17. Information technology research ethics Dag Elgesem
18. Distributive justice and the value of information: a (broadly) Rawlsian approach Jeroen van den Hoven and Emma Rooksby.

Subject Areas: Computer science [UY], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]