Ethics in Cyberspace

Ethics in Cyberspace

Thomas Ploug Ethics in Cyberspace How Cyberspace May Influence Interpersonal Interaction 123

Professor Thomas Ploug Copenhagen Institute of Technology, AAUK. Lautrupvang 2B 2750 Ballerup Denmark ploug@hum.aau.dk post@thomasploug.dk http://thomasploug.dk Artwork used in the cover design courtesy of Alex Gomez and Kristian Nørgaard ISBN 978-90-481-2369-8 e-isbn 978-90-481-2370-4 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-2370-4 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926162 c Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

Acknowledgements In the process of writing this book and the doctoral dissertation on which it is based I have enjoyed various forms of assistance from a number of people. For all of this I am very grateful. Among friends and colleagues I would like to thank: Peter Øhrstrøm, for his encouragement, interesting conversation and valuable comment; Klaus Robering, for his valuable comments on extensive parts of the book; Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, for very clear, competent and balanced criticism on the first parts of the book; and Søren Holm, for the hospitality shown during my stay as visiting research fellow at the University of Cardiff, and for his clear, balanced and insightful comment on the final product. I also owe thanks to Springer for seeing the potential in the subject of this book, and in particular to Natalie Rieborn and Neil Olivier. Thanks, too, to the two anonymous reviewers at Springer for their thorough comments and suggestions. Finally I owe my deepest gratitude to my family: to Mum and Dad, for your tireless interest in my work; to Berit, for your love and patience throughout: to Naomi and Celine, for the smiles and laughter that can turn any day to sunshine. v

Contents Acknowledgements v I The basic premise 1 1 Ethics in cyberspace 3 1.1 Introduction... 4 1.1.1 The face of the other... 4 1.1.2 The Legal Tender experiment.... 5 1.1.3 Explaining the basic premise..... 8 1.1.4 Road map... 10 2 The basic premise revisited 13 2.1 Shortcomings of the basic premise...... 14 2.1.1 The kind of mediation... 14 2.1.2 The character of actions contrasted... 14 2.1.3 Coincidental difference in interaction... 16 2.1.4 Qualitative identity of situations... 22 2.2 Thebasicpremise... 27 2.2.1 Restating the basic premise...... 27 2.2.2 Exploration of the basic premise... 28 II Action, explanation and cyberspace 31 3 Actions and explanations 33 3.1 Actions and reasons... 34 3.1.1 The moral problem... 34 vii

viii Contents 3.1.2 A Humean theory of motivation... 37 3.1.3 Internalism in relation to normative reasons..... 39 3.1.4 Pure cognitivist internalism... 45 3.2 Explaining the basic premise... 51 3.2.1 The role of beliefs in explanation... 51 3.2.2 The role of ontological conditions in explanation... 59 3.2.3 Explanatory model... 61 4 Interaction in cyberspace 65 4.1 Cyberspace: Infrastructure and interaction... 66 4.1.1 Conceptual computers and digital electronic machines... 66 4.1.2 Defining cyberspace: Virtuality and interaction... 69 4.1.3 Specific kinds of interaction in cyberspace...... 73 4.2 Key properties of cyberspatial interaction... 78 4.2.1 Limited exchange of data and information...... 78 4.2.2 Limited sensory access... 80 4.2.3 Extensive anonymity... 81 4.2.4 Logical relationship between key properties..... 83 III Explaining the basic premise 85 5 Belief and particularity 87 5.1 Structureofanalysis... 88 5.2 Thethreehypotheses... 90 5.2.1 Being convinced to a certain extent... 90 5.2.2 The reality of the patient... 91 5.2.3 Reliable and relevant evidence... 94 6 Belief and reality 99 6.1 Hypothesis I: Reality and determinateness... 100 6.1.1 Determinateness and determinedness... 100 6.1.2 Belief, reality and determinateness... 102 6.2 Hypothesis II: Reality, causality and life-world... 109 6.2.1 Causality and life-world... 109 6.2.2 Belief, reality and causality... 119 6.2.3 Belief, reality and life-world... 128

Contents ix 6.3 Hypothesis III: Reality and vulnerability... 137 6.3.1 Vulnerability and dependency..... 137 6.3.2 Belief, reality and vulnerability.... 144 6.4 Hypotheses I to III: Beliefs and evidence... 152 6.4.1 Linking beliefs and evidence...... 152 7 Belief and evidence 157 7.1 Evidence in cyberspatial interaction..... 158 7.1.1 Lack of evidence... 158 7.1.2 Lack of relevant evidence... 161 7.1.3 Lack of reliable evidence... 172 8 Belief and action 187 8.1 Belief, reality and ethics... 188 8.1.1 Belief, reality and motivation..... 188 8.1.2 The particularity of moral concern... 190 8.2 Explaining the moral difference in interaction... 197 8.2.1 Foundation for explaining [TBP]... 197 8.2.2 Explaining [TBP]... 199 8.2.3 Revisiting sources of inspiration.... 203 9 Concluding remarks 205 9.1 Alternative explanations and interpretations... 206 Bibliography 213 Index 221