Beyond Humanisms

In the first part of this paper a short history of Western humanisms (Socrates, Pico della Mirandola, Descartes, Kant) is presented. As far as these humanisms rest on a fixation of the ‘humanum’ they are metaphysical, although they might radically differ from each other. The second part deals with the present debate on trans- and posthumanism in the context of some breath-taking developments in science and technology.Angeletics, a theory of messengers and messages, intends to give an answer to the leading question of this paper, namely: ‘what does it mean to go beyond humanisms?’ The conclusion exposes briefly an ethics of hospitality and care from an angeletic perspective

Digital futures : A brief essay on sustainable life in the digital age

The following reflections are based on the premise that individual and social life is open not only to a single goal, in a deterministic historical process, but rather, to a number of possibilities, among which we can find digitalisation. Society, understood as interaction among free citizens and between them and their government, must now promote everyone?s participation in the creation of potential digital futures. These must be based on fair rules and also promote digital literacy both in the sense of educating citizens in the management of digital technologies and in giving them the tools to reflect critically upon them in relation to sustainable lifestyles

Medicine 2.0 Reflections on a pathology of the information society Rafael Capurro

Abstract This article is based on another article published in Spanish in the magazine Humanidades Médicas, number 47, February 2010 (pp. 1-15

Einführung in die Digitale Ontologie

Wir leben in digitalen Kulturen. Die digitale Technik prägt bis in den Alltag hinein unsere Lebensweise, die Art und Weise, wie wir wissenschaftlich lehren und forschen, unsere Politik und Ökonomie, unser Rechts- und Verwaltungssystem usw. Zwar ist das Verhältnis von Technik und Kultur in der Menschheitsgeschichte immer eng gewesen, aber das Besondere unserer heutigen Situation besteht m. E. darin, dass dies global, beinahe gleichzeitig und auf der Basis digitaler Technik geschieht, die sich ..

Ethical issues of online social networks in Africa

The African debate about information technology in general, and OSNs in particular, is a debate on African identities arising out of processes of mutual respect or disrespect, and also from the social capabilities, natural environments, histories and cultures of African peoples. It concerns questions such as: What are the cultural and historical conditions underlying this debate in Africa? What are the bad and good practices of OSNs in Africa to date? How do mass media in conjunction with OSNs and other interactive digital media influence social and political movements in Africa? What is the impact of OSNs in other countries and cultures outside Africa on African societies? And, last but not least, what are the ethical values at stake when African people develop and use OSNs? The paper addresses some of these questions. In the first part, a brief account of OSNs in Africa is presented. The second part deals with OSNs from a phenomenological and ethical perspective. In the outlook, the role of the Africa Network for Information Ethics (ANIE) and of the newly created Africa Center of Excellence for Information Ethics (ACEIE) at the University of Pretoria, is explained. Both are important platforms for building a teaching research community on information ethical issues in Africa.http://www.ajol.info/index.php/innovationhb201

¿Quiénes somos en la era digital?

Who are we in the digital age

Medicine 2.0 - reflections on a pathology of the information society

This article is based on another article published in Spanish in the magazine Humanidades Médicas, number 47, February 2010 (pp. 1-15) and also on a lecture that was published in the FORUM MEDIZIN 21"Ärztin / Arzt sein im 21, January 2009.The article analyzes the impact that digital communication and information technology can have on medicine both as a science, and as a practice. The technological changes that lead to a Medicine 2.0 occur on several levels, such as: information overload, the physician-patient relationship, the self-perception of both physician and patient, as well as the concept of the human body and what is understood as sickness and as health. With the purpose of defining a pathology of the information society, an anthropological framework is proposed based on concepts developed by Swiss physician and psychiatrist, Medard Boss, illustrating with a few examples a systematic analysis of said pathology. The article concludes by proposing guidelines for an ethical outline of a Medicine 2.0 as a reference for preventive and therapeutic care in the information society.I would like to thank the translators Monica Santana (South Africa) and Dr. Michael Eldred (Cologne) as well as Oscar Krütli (Córdoba, Argentina) and José María Díaz Nafría (León, Spain) for their invaluable critique of this text.http://www.innovation.ukzn.ac.za/innovationbase.htmam201

¿Quiénes somos en la era digital?

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