Virtual Violations, Privacy, and Other Dangers of the Internet to be Focus of Lecture Series Beginning October 1 at Simmons College
Renowned Philosophers of the Internet Age to Speak on the Ethics of Technology Starting Oct. 1

BOSTON (Sept. 17, 2001) – Threats to personal privacy, the ability to hurt others in the virtual world, and the possibility of ultimate nihilism due to risk-free anonymity will be explored in the three-part Lowell Lecture Series "Information, Interconnection, Intrusion: The Impact of Technology on Our Lives," beginning Oct. 1 and continuing throughout the month at Simmons College, 3^rd Floor Conference Center, 300 The Fenway, Boston. The series is free and open to the public.

Judith Wagner DeCew, professor of philosophy at Clark University and author of In Pursuit of Privacy: Law, Ethics and the Rise of Technology will speak Oct. 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. about the priority of privacy in the age of technology. DeCew will describe new ways technologies threaten privacy, and how to defend that privacy.

Hubert Dreyfus, professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of On the Internet (Thinking in Action) What Computers Still Can’t Do and Being-in-the-World, will speak Oct. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. Dreyfus, a nationally recognized philosopher, will speak on "Anonymity vs. Commitment in the Present Age: On the Danger of the Internet." Dreyfus upholds what he believes Kierkegaard’s stand on the Internet would be – that since the Internet promotes risk-free anonymity and lack of responsibility, that would, in turn, level all qualitative distinctions and lead to nihilism.

Deborah G. Johnson, Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics, Technology, Culture, and Communication at the University of Virginia, and author of Computer Ethics, Ethical Issues and Engineering, and Computers, Ethics and Social Values, will speak from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 29. The topic of her discussion will be the ethical implications of actions in virtual environments. Arguing that individuals can harm others in the virtual world, she will explore ways to develop notions of responsibility.

For more information on the lecture series, contact Ellen Donovan in the Simmons College Department of Philosophy at 617-521-2220. The series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute.

Simmons College is a nationally recognized, small, private, predominantly women’s university in the heart of Boston. It has undergraduate programs for women and graduate programs for women and men.

CONTACT

Katie Fiermonti
617-521-2369

See Also

Lowell Lecture Series

 

 

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