Discourses on information ethics: The claim to universality

An important question one can ask of ethical theories is whether and how they aim to raise claims to universality. This refers to the subject area that they intend to describe or govern and also to the question whether they claim to be binding for all (moral) agents. This paper discusses the question of universality of Luciano Floridi’s information ethics (IE). This is done by introducing the theory and discussing its conceptual foundations and applications. The emphasis will be placed on the ontological grounding of IE. IE’s claims to universality will be contrasted with those raised by discourse ethics. This comparison of two pertinent ethical theories allows for a critical discussion of areas where IE currently has room for elaboration and development.

[1]  Immanuel Kant,et al.  Kritik der praktischen Vernunft ; Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten , 1974 .

[2]  C. Ess.  Ethical pluralism and global information ethics , 2006, Ethics and Information Technology.

[3]  Alison Adam.  Gender, Ethics, and Information Technology , 2005 .

[4]  Fahri Yetim,et al.  Acting with genres: discursive-ethical concepts for reflecting on and legitimating genres , 2006, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[5]  Constructivist Negotiation Ethics , 2002 .

[6]  Luciano Floridi,et al.  Philosophy and Computing: An Introduction , 1999 .

[7]  C. Ess.  Universal Information Ethics? Ethical Pluralism and Social Justice , 2007 .

[8]  Mikko Siponen,et al.  A Pragmatic Evaluation of the Theory of Information Ethics , 2004, Ethics and Information Technology.

[9]  Michael S. H. Heng,et al.  From Habermas's communicative theory to practice on the internet , 2003, Inf. Syst. J..

[10]  Patricia H. Werhane,et al.  Persons, rights, and corporations , 1985 .

[11]  Luciano Floridi,et al.  Information technologies and the tragedy of the Good Will , 2006, Ethics and Information Technology.

[12]  Simon Rogerson,et al.  Computer Ethics and Professional Responsibility , 2003 .

[13]  Bernd Carsten Stahl,et al.  Responsible Management of Information Systems , 2003 .

[14]  Santiago Castro-Gómez.  Habermas, J. (1992). Erläuterungen Zur Diskursethik (Aclaraciones sobre la ética discursiva). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. , 1992 .

[15]  James H. Moor,et al.  Reason, relativity, and responsibility in computer ethics , 1998, CSOC.

[16]  Luciano Floridi,et al.  What is the Philosophy of Information , 2002 .

[17]  E. Trauth,et al.  Handbook of critical information systems research : theory and application , 2005 .

[18]  Judy Anderson.  Cyberethics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace , 2005 .

[19]  J. Habermas.  Erläuterungen zur Diskursethik , 1991 .

[20]  Bernd Carsten Stahl,et al.  Information Systems: Critical Perspectives , 2008 .

[21]  Bernd Carsten Stahl,et al.  On the Difference or Equality of Information, Misinformation, and Disinformation: A Critical Research Perspective , 2006, Informing Sci. Int. J. an Emerg. Transdiscipl..

[22]  L. Floridi.  Four challenges for a theory of informational privacy , 2006, Ethics and Information Technology.

[23]  M. Heidegger.  Sein und Zeit , 1927 .

[24]  Heiner Hastedt,et al.  Aufklärung und Technik : Grundprobleme einer Ethik der Technik , 1994 .

[25]  J. Habermas,et al.  Die Einbeziehung des Anderen : Studien zur politischen Theorie , 1996 .

[26]  Terrell Ward Bynum,et al.  Flourishing Ethics , 2006, Ethics and Information Technology.

[27]  B. Stahl.  Responsible computers? A case for ascribing quasi-responsibility to computers independent of personhood or agency , 2006, Ethics and Information Technology.

[28]  D. Howcroft.  Handbook Of Information Systems Research , 2005 .

[29]  M. Poster,et al.  What's the Matter with the Internet? , 2001 .

[30]  Rafael Capurro,et al.  Towards an ontological foundation of information ethics , 2006, Ethics and Information Technology.

[31]  Alison E. Adam,et al.  Computer ethics in a different voice , 2001, Inf. Organ..

[32]  L. Kohlberg.  The Philosophy of Moral Development Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice , 1981 .

[33]  A. Adam.  Cyberstalking and Internet pornography: Gender and the gaze , 2002, Ethics and Information Technology.

[34]  U. Beck,et al.  Politik der Globalisierung , 1998 .

[35]  J. Habermas.  Faktizität und Geltung : Beiträge zur Diskurstheorie des Rechts und des demokratischen Rechtsstaats , 1992 .

[36]  Herman T. Tavani,et al.  Ethics and Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology , 2006 .

[37]  A. Wellmer.  Ethik und Dialog : Elemente des moralischen Urteils bei Kant und in der Diskursethik , 1986 .

[38]  D. George,et al.  Ethics and the Information Revolution , 2008 .

[39]  Luciano Floridi,et al.  Global Information Ethics: The Importance of Being Environmentally Earnest , 2007, Int. J. Technol. Hum. Interact..

[40]  Göran Collste.  Ethics in the Age of Information Technology , 2000 .

[41]  James H. Moor.  Just consequentialism and computing , 2004, Ethics and Information Technology.

[42]  Luciano Floridi,et al.  On the Morality of Artificial Agents , 2004, Minds and Machines.

[43]  Herman T. Tavani.  Ethics and technology - ethical issues in an age of information and communication technology (2. ed.) , 2007 .

[44]  Otfried Höffe,et al.  Moral als Preis der Moderne : ein Versuch über Wissenschaft, Technik und Umwelt , 1993 .

[45]  Luciano Floridi,et al.  Information ethics, its nature and scope , 2006, CSOC.

[46]  Peter Ulrich,et al.  Integrative Wirtschaftsethik : Grundlagen einer lebensdienlichen Ökonomie , 2001 .

[47]  Herman T. Tavani,et al.  Readings in Cyberethics , 2001 .

[48]  John Weckert,et al.  Information Technology And Social Justice , 2006 .

[49]  J. Habermas.  Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns , 1981 .

[50]  L. Floridi,et al.  Mapping the foundationalist debate in computer ethics , 2002, Ethics and Information Technology.

[51]  J. Habermas.  Moralbewusstsein und kommunikatives Handeln , 1983 .

[52]  K. Apel,et al.  Diskurs und Verantwortung : das Problem des Übergangs zur postkonventionellen Moral , 1988 .

[53]  D. Frisby,et al.  Towards a Transformation of Philosophy , 2023 .

[54]  T. Takenouchi.  Capurro's Hermeneutic Approach to Information Ethics: Ethos in the Information Society and the Development of "angeletics" , 2004 .

[55]  Kay Mathiesen,et al.  What is Information Ethics? , 2004, CSOC.

[56]  Luciano Floridi,et al.  On the intrinsic value of information objects and the infosphere , 2002, Ethics and Information Technology.

[57]  A. Stinchcombe.  Information and Organizations , 2019 .

[58]  P. Ricoeur,et al.  Éthique et morale , 1990 .

[59]  L. Floridi.  © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Information ethics: On the philosophical foundation of computer ethics ⋆ , 2022 .