Langford IV: Technology and Contemporary Ethics

The second batch of essays raised a number of questions and perspectives that I think too important to let pass into obscurity. Although they properly belong in the second unit of the course, here are four worth thinking about further:

• In some ways, the internet seems to address the problems Lippmann pointed out under the heading of "Speed, Words and Clearness." Yet as one begins to explain how, the most difficult problems (e.g. accuracy of information) seem to stubbornly remain. The question of whether the additional challenges to the quality of public opinion introduced by the internet (e.g. information overload and establishing the quality of sources) actually makes for a more dire situation than Lippmann described seems a reasonable one.
• Many people in the class argued that a consumerist attitude on the part of citizens is insufficient to promote and realize a good society, and I wondered whether these people would extend such an argument to education. For example, do you think a university should promote a notion of educational quality consistent with the consumer or political sovereignty of its students?
• Those who tried to compare Sunstein and Cherny quickly recognized that something important depends on whether or not you think contemporary participation in politics in the US is a problem (either because of the degree or the kind of participation). This is not a new issue, but how is one to address it without risking that the cure is worse than the disease?
• One person wrote a defense of specialized (electronic) forums, arguing that the sorts of "virtual" communities that form in such environments may create the conditions for healthier democracies than the "real" communities that have generated our current democratic condition(s). This is not a possibility Sunstein considered.

Langford's Internet Ethics, chapters 9 & 10

Having finished not only the Langford book, but the essays on utilitarian ethics as well, let's return to the questions I asked when we discussed the Weckert essay and see how we answer them now:

• Which issues raised in the Langford book do you think are easily handled by traditional ethics and politics?
• Which do you think raise the most pressing ethical concerns?
• Do you think the computer is a "neutral" technology with respect to the issues raised by Weckert, or does it predispose its users to behave in certain ways (with respect to ethical issues)?

One of the interesting features of Langford is the reader responses included as notes at the end of most of the chapters. With which of the notes to chapter 9 were you most in sympathy? If you were to write a note to be included at the end of the last chapter, what claims/issues would it address and what would it say?

For Tuesday:: We'll read one or two articles from the current literature of computer ethics, and we'll decide which ones exactly in class.

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