A Theoretical Consideration on Applicability of Floridi’s Information Ethics Framework from the Utilitarian Viewpoint

Abstract

　Information Ethics (IE), which has been developed since the late 1990s by Luciano Floridi as a comprehensive normative ethics for present-day advanced information society, is becoming increasingly influential in various discussions on ethical issues in information-related fields. In this study, we examined the theoretical framework of IE and considered possible methodologies for implementing it in applied fields such as libraries. First, we identified three theoretical issues to be resolved in IE from the perspective of application: (1) the difficulty of directly applying its fundamental principles, (2) the difficulty of quantitative evaluation, and (3) the ambiguity of the specific implications in the concepts of good and evil. Next, focusing on utilitarianism among the existing normative ethical theories, we suggested that the above issues could be resolved by adopting the idea of rule utilitarianism based on the utilitarian dimensions of IE. In conclusion, we proposed the possibility of implementing the ethical principles of IE to practice by introducing: (1) secondary rules, (2) a quantitative perspective, and (3) a perspective on distribution, after positioning the ethical principles of IE as the primary rules.