Internet ethics: An examination of information ethics as a theory to address Internet ethical concerns.

摘要

The Internet has introduced issues and problems that pose challenges concerning the potential development of an adequate ethical theory and the application of that theory on and to the Internet. Specifically, the global nature of the Internet concomitant with rapid technological change, continuously alters the circumstances to consider in both ethical theory and application. It is this ethical domain specific to the Internet that will be explored in this thesis. Within this domain, I will examine an innovative ethical theory, Floridi's Information Ethics, and its success or failure to deal with identified ethical concerns.; The first chapter of this thesis examines the historical efforts of Computer Ethics with a view to defining "Internet Ethics". The second chapter surveys the historical development of the Internet and then describes the existing and emerging ethical concerns on the Internet. The third chapter critically reviews Luciano Floridi's Information Ethic (InfoE) as a potential theory for Internet Ethics (IE). Finally, Chapter Four assesses the usefulness and applicability of Floridi's theory against the emerging ethical concerns identified in Chapter Two.