Digital Souls: A Philosophy of Online Death
Social media is full of dead people. Nobody knows precisely how many Facebook profiles belong to dead users but in 2012 the figure was estimated at 30 million. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them, or do they have a right to persist? Philosophers have been almost entirely silent on the topic, despite their perennial focus on death as a unique dimension of human existence. Until now.

Drawing on ongoing philosophical debates, Digital Souls claims that the digital dead are objects that should be treated with loving regard and that we have a moral duty towards. Modern technology helps them to persist in various ways, while also making them vulnerable to new forms of exploitation and abuse. This provocative book explores a range of questions about the nature of death, identity, grief, the moral status of digital remains and the threat posed by AI-driven avatars of dead people. In the digital era, it seems we must all re-learn how to live with the dead.

1137301229
Digital Souls: A Philosophy of Online Death
Social media is full of dead people. Nobody knows precisely how many Facebook profiles belong to dead users but in 2012 the figure was estimated at 30 million. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them, or do they have a right to persist? Philosophers have been almost entirely silent on the topic, despite their perennial focus on death as a unique dimension of human existence. Until now.

Drawing on ongoing philosophical debates, Digital Souls claims that the digital dead are objects that should be treated with loving regard and that we have a moral duty towards. Modern technology helps them to persist in various ways, while also making them vulnerable to new forms of exploitation and abuse. This provocative book explores a range of questions about the nature of death, identity, grief, the moral status of digital remains and the threat posed by AI-driven avatars of dead people. In the digital era, it seems we must all re-learn how to live with the dead.

30.95 In Stock
Digital Souls: A Philosophy of Online Death

Digital Souls: A Philosophy of Online Death

by Patrick Stokes
Digital Souls: A Philosophy of Online Death

Digital Souls: A Philosophy of Online Death

by Patrick Stokes

Paperback

$30.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    In stock. Ships in 2-4 days.
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

Social media is full of dead people. Nobody knows precisely how many Facebook profiles belong to dead users but in 2012 the figure was estimated at 30 million. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them, or do they have a right to persist? Philosophers have been almost entirely silent on the topic, despite their perennial focus on death as a unique dimension of human existence. Until now.

Drawing on ongoing philosophical debates, Digital Souls claims that the digital dead are objects that should be treated with loving regard and that we have a moral duty towards. Modern technology helps them to persist in various ways, while also making them vulnerable to new forms of exploitation and abuse. This provocative book explores a range of questions about the nature of death, identity, grief, the moral status of digital remains and the threat posed by AI-driven avatars of dead people. In the digital era, it seems we must all re-learn how to live with the dead.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781350139152
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 02/20/2021
Pages: 208
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.43(d)

About the Author

Patrick Stokes is a senior lecturer in Philosophy at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of The Naked Self: Kierkegaard and Personal Identity (2015) and Kierkegaard's Mirrors: Interest, Self, and Moral Vision (2010) and his current research interests include Kierkegaard, personal identity, the philosophy of death, moral progress, the ethics of conspiracy theory and the work of K.E. Løgstrup.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vi

Introduction 1

1 Dying online 17

2 Online identity 31

3 Presence 53

4 Electric corpses 69

5 Second death 93

6 When the dead speak 123

7 Prey to the living 147

Coda: Mind uploads? 163

Notes 167

Index 191

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews