The previous chapters have provided a detailed overview of the variety of ethical challenges posed by the development of ICTs. By way of conclusion, in this epilogue I would like to invite the reader to look into the possible future of Information and Computer Ethics. More specifically, I shall try to forecast how the convergence of two fundamental trends of our times, globalization and the development of the information society, may interact with the ethical problems analysed in this book. (...) The exercise will not be based on some untenable technological determinism. Humanity is, and will remain, firmly in charge of its destiny and hence be responsible for it. Rather, it will mean adopting the farmer's view that, with enough intelligence, toil and a bit of luck, one might be able to tell today what one will probably reap tomorrow. Before trying to ‘look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not’ (Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene III, 59–62), two clarifications might be in order. First, the future of globalization is a phenomenon too complex even to sketch in this brief epilogue. For a synthetic, well-balanced and informed overview, the reader may wish to consult Held and McGrew (2001) and consider that this chapter is written from what Held et al. (1999)) have defined as a ‘transformationalist perspective’, according to which ‘globalization does not simply denote a shift in the extensity or scale of social relations and activity. (shrink)

In this short epilogue, Barragán and Ryynänen discuss the possibility of using kitsch and kitsch theories horizons for interpreting contemporaneity in various ways. The main spearhead of the critical notes is aimed at academic culture, which Barragán and Ryynänen claim to have become “kitschified” in a sense.

This chapter focuses on Plato's Protagoras. This dialogue that has received enormous attention in discussions concerning Plato on pleasure because toward the end of the Protagoras Socrates discusses a form of hedonism, on the basis of which he then bases his subsequent argument on the nature of virtue and action. Since this hedonism facilitates his argument, it is natural to conclude that Socrates must endorse it. And, of course, this would mean that Plato, at least at some point in his (...) career, was a hedonist. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: notes.

L’article aborde le rôle de l’intellectuel dans la société moderne par rapport à l’engagement activiste de la recherche. Un groupe de recherche de l’Université de Roskilde au Danemark constitué par Jacob Dahl Rendtorff et Sandra Frost, en collaboration avec Reidar Due de l’Université d’Oxford, vient d’obtenir une subvention de la Fondation danoise pour la recherche indépendante afin d’effectuer des recherches sur « L’éthique et la politique de la libre pensée. Le rôle de l’intellectuel public ». Ce projet doit être considéré (...) dans un contexte de discussion croissante sur le rôle du chercheur dans la société, qui s’accompagne d’une étude approfondie de l’intellectuel public au sein des sociétés démocratiques. (shrink)

Abstract In a context of human demographic, technological and economic pressure on natural systems, we face some demanding challenges. We must decide 1) whether to “preserve” nature for its own sake or to “conserve” nature because nature is essentially a reservoir of goods that are functional to humanity’s wellbeing; 2) to choose ways of life that respect the biodiversity and evolutionary potential of the planet; and, to allow all this to come to fruition, 3) to clearly define the role of (...) scientific expertise in a democratic society, recognizing the importance of biospheric equilibrium. In fact, in socio-scientific controversies, which are characterized by complex linkages between some life and environmental sciences objects and economic, political and ethical issues, a posture of transparent, impartial commitment is appearing, more and more, as a deontological necessity. (shrink)

This volume brings together two different, almost disjoint ways of thinking about causation in physics; and that, to my mind, is its special virtue. In describing these two modes of thought it will help to use a conventional philosophical device: a diagrammatic contrast between Kant and Hume. For Kant causality involves order under the universal rule of law. For Hume the concept is intimately connected with our sense that we can make things happen and a projection from that to the (...) presumption that causes in the world outside ourselves similarly make these effects occur. The first point of view has dominated discussions about causality in modern physics throughout the century, both in the general and special theories of relativity and in the various quantum theories. The second has only really entered with the serious discussion of action at a distance in quantum mechanics following the discovery of the Bell inequalities, and that in a piecemeal and not obviously consistent way, for the two traditions sit uneasily together. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:EPILOGUE Robert J. Daly, SJ. Boston College April 2002 Iwill arrange my comments under four headings: (1) what we had hoped to accomplish; (2) what we actually did accomplish; (3) what we may have learned from this; (4) what this might now enable us to do in thefuture. This epilogueisbeingwritten in April, 2002,twenty-twomonths after the conference. To draw what good we can from this delay, writing at this (...) distance allows me to summarize and draw conclusions with, perhaps, a bit more balance. On the other hand, my listening again to the audio record in the course ofpreparing this publication has enabled me to relive something of the original experience. (1)As I indicated in the introduction, we had unrealistically hoped that, by the time ofthe conference, the five presenters, and perhaps also the twoprincipals inthe "Girard-Lonergan Conversation," wouldhavealready exchanged with each other not just first drafts, but even second drafts of their papers, and that the conference itself would then be invited to join a conversation that was already well under way. As it turned out, I couldn't muster the organizational skills and resources needed to achieve this. But reflecting after the fact, I can see that so carefully detailed a preparation might have been counterproductive. Carrying out our original plan might have been at the cost ofimposing more ofa Western analytic pattern on our discussion ofother traditions, and of!thus smothering from the outset some of the insight that did occur. We had also hoped that the opening "Girard-Lonergan Conversation" would provide an analytic resource for the rest of the meeting. But that did not happen to any great extent. (2)The proximate preparation for this conference began with a draft version ofmy paper being sent to the other major presenters. I opened with 194Robert J. Daly, SJ. a series of brief sketches of salient points in the often unhappy but also occasionally felicitous history ofChristianity on this theme ofviolence and institution. Then, after emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between the normative and the descriptive, I tried to make some sense, both rational and theological, of all this data, especially by reflecting on the influences and consequences ofthe belief in hell, on the one hand, and the hope of universal salvation, on the other. The next major religious theme was Judaism. Reuven Kimelman provided a detailed—and, for some, overwhelming—glimpse of the way the talmudic traditions deal with the theme of war and its restrictions. This highly text-oriented and interpretation-of-texts driven presentation seemed to many, at first, to be irrelevant to mimetic theory and to the need to be confronting actual violence. But, in the course of Sandor Goodhart's response, and in the course ofthe at times spirited discussion that followed, we began to understand that how one interprets texts and traditions, and how these are played off against each other, is indeed fundamental to the way Jews typically try to deal with the practical challenges of violence. Qamar-ul Huda's presentation on IsIamfocused stronglyonthe way the spiritual teachings of Islam—i.e., islam as a religion rather than Islam as a political or national institution—foster peace. The initial reaction was somewhat similarto the reaction to Kimelman's paper: disappointment that Huda was not talking more directly about contemporary Muslim extremist violence. But here, too, the discussion enabled us to catch a glimpse both of the inner spiritual resources of Islam, and of the limitations ofthe range of concerns that Westerners typically bring to the table. Francis Clooney, in his presentation ofHinduism, strongly emphasized the great variety in Hinduism, stressing that one cannot speak ofHinduism as such. Much of this variety comes from the several millennia of Hindu history, and from the complex relationships to Buddhism and Jainism which, themselves, are important parts of Hindu history, and also from the fact that only recently have Hindus, after centuries of Moslem or Colonial domination, once again returned to positions of political and military power. Finally, Christopher Ives's presentation on Buddhism, in a way similar to my presentation on Christianity, but more extensively or more consequently, pointed out the various ways in which Buddhism has been politically and... (shrink)

The author is not sure that his philosophical career merits an epilogue, but he had an itch to write one, and he thought of composing it in dialogue form, mainly for brevity's sake but also in the hope of imparting a touch of vitality. Yet writers of philosophical dialogue, except Plato, commonly leave one feeling that they would have served their purpose better by straight exposition, or by some sort of Cartesian meditation if they wished to capture benevolence with (...) something a little more human and intimate. The author found that Berkeley had not the art of Plato despite the subtlety of his theme and the beauty of his prose. He also had no intention of defending his views against all corners. (shrink)