Epistemic Value Theory and Information Ethics

Minds and Machines, Vol.14, No. 1, pp. 101-117, 2004

28 Pages Posted: 19 Nov 2009

Date Written: April 7, 2003

Abstract

Three of the major issues in information ethics - intellectual property, speech regulation, and privacy - concern the morality of restricting people’s access to certain information. Consequently, policies in these areas have a significant impact on the amount and types of knowledge that people acquire. As a result, epistemic considerations are critical to the ethics of information policy decisions (cf. Mill 1978 [1859]). The fact that information ethics is a part of the philosophy of information highlights this important connection with epistemology. In this paper, I illustrate how a value-theoretic approach to epistemology can help to clarify these major issues in information ethics. However, I also identify several open questions about epistemic values that need to be answered before we will be able to evaluate the epistemic consequences of many information policies.

Keywords: epistemic value theory, epistemology, information ethics, intellectual property, philosophy of information, privacy, social epistemology, speech regulation

Suggested Citation

Fallis, Don, Epistemic Value Theory and Information Ethics (April 7, 2003). Minds and Machines, Vol.14, No. 1, pp. 101-117, 2004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1509146

Don Fallis (Contact Author)

Northeastern University ( email )

360 Huntington Ave,
Boston, MA 02115
United States

HOME PAGE: http://philpeople.org/profiles/don-fallis

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