Information ethics as e-nvironmental ethics

Abstract

This chapter outlines a specific interpretation of information ethics (IE) as an e-nvironmental ethics. In Section 4.1, I introduce the foundationalist problem in computer ethics (CE). In Section 4.2, I argue that the ethical questions prompted by ICTs put classic macroethics under pressure. In Section 4.3, I propose a model of IE as a macroethics that can deal with ICT-related ethical problems better than other macroethics; and, in Section 4.4, I argue that IE can provide the theoretical foundation for CE. In Section 4.5, I outline the patient-oriented, ontocentric nature of IE. In Section 4.6, I make explicit the four ethical principles supported by IE as a macroethics. In Section 4.7, I defend the view that IE counts as a macroethics rather than a microethics and compare it to other approaches. In Section 4.8, I further clarify the nature of IE as a macroethics by analysing three applications of IE.