Philosophical Perspectives on Computer-Mediated Communication

by Charles Ess

Overview

The rush to the Information Superhighway and the transition to an Information Age have enormous political, ethical, and religious consequences. The essays collected here develop both interdisciplinary and international perspectives on privacy, critical thinking and literacy, democratization, gender, religion, and the very nature of the revolution promised in cyberspace. These essays are essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand and reflect upon these events and issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791428726
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	02/01/1996
Series:	SUNY series in Computer-Mediated Communication
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Charles Ess is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Drury College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Thoughts along the I-Way: Philosophy and the Emergence of CMC

Charles Ess

I. Epistemology and Semiotics

1.  Discourse across Links

David Kolb

2.  Mediated Phosphor Dots: Toward a Post-Cartesian Model of CMC via the Semiotic Superhighway

Gary Shank and Donald Cunningham

II. Ethics, Gender, and Politics

3.  Privacy, Respect for Persons, and Risk

Dag Elgesem

4.  Pseudonyms, MailBots, and Virtual Letterheads: The Evolution of Computer-Mediated Ethics

Peter Danielson

5.  Intellectual Property Futures: The Paper Club and the Digital Commons

John Lawrence

6.  Posting in a Different Voice: Gender and Ethics in CMC

Susan Herring

7.  "This Is Not Our Fathers' Pornography": Sex, Lies, and Computers

Carol J. Adams

8.  Power Online: A Poststructuralist Perspective on CMC

Sunh-Hee Yoon

9.  The Political Computer: Democracy, CMC, and Habermas

Charles Ess

III. Impacts and Implications for Religious Authority, Communities, and Beliefs

10. The Unknown God of the Internet: Religious Communication from the Ancient Agora to the Virtual Forum

Stephen D. O'Leary and Brenda E. Brasher

11. Sacred Text in the Sea of Texts: The Bible in North American Electronic Culture

Phil Mullins

Contributors

Index

Editorial Reviews

"It is timely and offers a unique and, at times, profound interpretation of Computer Mediated Communication. It is an important philosophical discussion of the 'Internet.'" — Robert Cavalier, Carnegie Mellon University

"The essays that make up this interesting book do a good job surveying some of the central philosophical, moral, and political issues involved in hypertext, networked communication, and other aspects of the new, and increasingly important, digital textuality." — George Landow, Brown University

From the Publisher

Develops 11 interdisciplinary and international perspectives on such issues of the Information Age as privacy, critical thinking, literacy, democratization, gender, religion, and the nature of the revolution promised by the purveyors of cyberspace. Among the specific topics are privacy as respect, intellectual property futures, pornography, the unknown god of the Internet, and sacred text in the sea of texts. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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