"Revolution? What Revolution?" Successes and limits of computing technologies in philosophy and religion

Computing technologies like other technological innovations in the modern West are inevitably introduced with the rhetoric of "revolution". Especially during the 1980s (the PC revolution) and 1990s (the Internet and Web revolutions), enthusiasts insistently celebrated radical changes— changes ostensibly inevitable and certainly as radical as those brought about by the invention of the printing press, if not the discovery of fire.\ud These enthusiasms now seem very "1990s�—in part as the revolution stumbled with the dot.com failures and the devastating impacts of 9/11. Moreover, as I will sketch out below, the patterns of diffusion and impact in philosophy and religion show both tremendous success, as certain revolutionary promises are indeed kept—as well as (sometimes spectacular) failures. Perhaps we use revolutionary rhetoric less frequently because the revolution has indeed succeeded: computing technologies, and many of the powers and potentials they bring us as scholars and religionists have become so ubiquitous and normal that they no longer seem "revolutionary at all. At the same time, many of the early hopes and promises instantiated in such specific projects as Artificial Intelligence and anticipations of virtual religious communities only have been dashed against the apparently intractable limits of even these most remarkable technologies. While these failures are usually forgotten they leave in their wake a clearer sense of what these new technologies can, and cannot do

East–West Perspectives on Privacy, Ethical Pluralism and Global Information Ethics

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are both primary drivers and facilitating technologies of globalization—and thereby, of exponentially expanding possibilities of cross-cultural encounters. Currently, over one billion persons throughout the planet have access to the Web: of these, Asian users constitute 35.8% of the Web population, while Europeans make up 28.3 % of world users—and North Americans only 20.9% (Internet World Stats, 2007). Our histories teach us all too well that such encounters—especially concerning potentially global ethical norms—always run the risk of devolving into more destructive rather than emancipatory events. Speci?cally, these encounters risk pulling us into one of two contradictory positions. First of all, naïve ethnocentrisms too easily issue in imperialisms that remake “the Other” in one’s own image—precisely by eliminating the irreducible differences in norms and practices that de?ne distinctive cultures. Second, these imperialisms thereby inspire a relativistic turn to the sheerly local—precisely for the sake of preserving local identities and cultures. Hence the general problem: how we might foster a cross-cultural communication for a global ICE that steers between the two Manichean polarities of ethnocentric imperialism and fragmenting relativism

The internet:a new field for qualitative inquiry?

The paper describes how free association qualitative interviews (HOLLWAY & JEFFERSON 2000), conducted via the Internet with a group of young people with diabetes, revealed the possibilities of viewing the Internet as an arena for field studies. Drawing upon the fieldwork notion that in order to fully understand and appreciate action from the perspective of the participants, one must get close to and participate in a wide cross-section of everyday activities over an extended period of time (EMERSON, FRETZ & SCHAW 1996), I identified the Internet as a meaningful space in which to meet Danish youth with diabetes. Developing on-line relations with more than 20 young people with diabetes, contributed to a rich, "bottom up" picture of their lived experiences with diabetes. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs020215

A conceptual framework for digital civics pedagogy informed by the philosophy of information

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw on the philosophy of information, specifically the work of Luciano Floridi, to argue that digital civics must fully comprehend the implications of the digital environment, and consequently an informational ontology, to deliver to students an education that will prepare them for full participation as citizens in the infosphere. Design/methodology/approach – Introducing this philosophy for use in education, the research discusses the ethical implications of ontological change in the digital age; informational organisms and their interconnectivity; and concepts of agency, both organic and artificial in digitally mediated civic interactions and civic education. Findings – With the provision of a structural framework rooted in the philosophy of information, robust mechanisms for civics initiatives can be enacted. Originality/value – The paper allows policy makers and practitioners to formulate healthy responses to digital age challenges in civics and civics education

When Religion Meets the Internet: Cyberreligion and the Secularization Thesis

This article examines the presence of cyberreligion, the worldwide increasing use of the internet for religious purposes, in which religion is migrating online as its strategies of adaptation and shaping a new environment. It aims to look at the phenomenon of religious migration to virtual world its possible implications for secularization thesis. The internet is a tool that serves the needs of religious communities, rather subvert their existence and development. The migration of religion to cyberworld has proved that religion not only survives in the face of modernization but also constantly transforms itself and becomes increasingly adaptive, hybrid and reflexive in a new environment. The article argues that the massive emergence of online religion serves a (another) counterpoint to the prediction of the end of religion in modern society as proposed by the proponents of secularization theory. It also claims that religious use of the internet among religion surfers has no significant impacts on the real world organized religions and their religious communal identity

WHEN RELIGION MEETS THE INTERNET (Cyber-Religion and the Secularization Thesis)

This article examines the presence of cyber-religion, the worldwide increasing use of the Internet for religious purposes, in which religion is migrating online as its strategies of adaptation and shaping a new environment. It aims to look at the phenomenon of religious migration to virtual world and its possible implications for secularization thesis. The article argues that the massive emergence of online religion serves a (another) counterpoint to the prediction of the end of religion in modern society as proposed by the proponents of secularization theory. It also claims that religious use of the Internet among religion surfers has no significant impacts on the real world organized religions and their religious communal identity