RESEARCH VOLUME FOUR: DESIGNING DIGITAL FREEDOM
ETHICS AS AN ELEMENT OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY Notion of Ethics The term “ethos” as used in Ancient Greece encompasses two different meanings — depending on which of the word’s spelling variants one chose to use — namely, habit and custom, or character and morals. Consequently, ethos reflects guiding beliefs or ideals governing the community, such as — according to Aristotle — practical skills, wisdom, virtue, goodness and goodwill. As a result, ethos has the pursuit of a good life as its teleological goal.1 In ancient times, ethics was linked to natural law, as in Sophocles’ play Antigone. In clear opposition to King Creon, Antigone does not claim a personal (individual) human right; instead she refers to God’s unwritten and unfailing laws. From this perspective, ethical behaviour is seen as a reflection of basic normative principles. The ensuing expectations naturally lead to presumptions about the desired actions and crystallize in a system of rules and institutions that underpin civil society. In more modern times, ethos started to become an important notion for the legal philosophers of the seventeenth century.2 Hobbes expressed the opinion that human identity is founded less in the collective social order than in an individual’s autonomous rights to exercise his or her natural potential. According to Locke, the identity of an individual vested with self-sustaining attributes reflects natural freedom. Only Rousseau changed the discourse by advocating for a transformation from the natural man to the social man. In Kant’s understanding, the moral dignity of the individual must be developed, since humanity is itself a dignity. In other words, for Kant, ethics refers to “right” or “wrong” conduct as part of the philosophy of human behaviour. Ethics is about acting morally. From a general perspective, morals refer to the empirically valid “established conventions” of any social group. That is, the notion of ethics encompasses the “socially valid moral rights, duties and behavioural norms deriving from a culture-specific tradition” (Ulrich 2008, 31). Ethos therefore can then be seen as an individual’s personal conviction, his or her “selfconception in regard to identity and legitimacy” (ibid.). Thus individuals have to justify the moral principles on which their lives are based (ibid.). Ethics as an academic discipline evaluates normative claims from a transparent and unbiased perspective. Ethics thereby addresses principles or rules that state something about good human actions. Three types of
ethics describe its applicable scope (Monteiro 2014). Descriptive, or empirical, ethics outlines the multiple appearances of practised morals and the customs of individuals, groups, institutions and cultures. Normative ethics examines existing attitudes toward morality and frames action-oriented norms. Meta-ethics critically scrutinizes ethical methods and extends them.
Objectives of Ethics Ethics addresses the following concerns (Monteiro 2014): Ethical thinking should reflect the position of those affected by valid moral claims, familiarize them with the critical assessment of practical procedures and encourage attention to issues of social responsibility and moral competence. Ethics also fosters a long-term view of business relationships, that is, fidelity and fiduciary responsibility, as developed in Confucian thinking based on the concept of filial piety (Miles and Goo 2013). The following fundamental ethical values are relevant to the development of the information society (Global Ethics Network for Applied Ethics 2013; Weber 2015a). • Justice/equity: Every individual has an inalienable dignity and is entitled to equal rights; deep respect for each other cultivates justice; fair and equal access to information enables members of civil society to reach for bilateral understanding. • Freedom: Human dignity calls for the development of various freedoms: in the Internet context, for example, the freedom of expression, of beliefs and of access to information. As a consequence, freedom, equality and responsibility must balance each other. • Care and compassion: A capacity for empathy and respect leads to solidarity and reciprocal support. • Participation: The right and ability to participate in societal life and in important decision-making processes are core values. • Sharing: The sharing of information and knowledge in the Internet context enables and leads to sustainable relationships between human beings, and, as a result, strengthens communities. • Sustainability: In the long term, sustainable projects are significant for the protection of a viable environment for all human beings. • Responsibility: Assuming accountability for one’s own actions is a core requirement in a societal setting. The level of responsibility must correspond to the levels of the individual’s power, capacity and capability.
1 See Weber (2015a, 100-101) for a general overview. 2 See Indaimo (2015, 16–32) for more details.
114 • CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE INNOVATION • CHATHAM HOUSE