Email and Ethics

• How is personal identity manifested or constructed in text? * Can we know what others are feeling if we communicate with them via computer-mediated communication? * Can we actually act on or with others in computer-mediated communication? * Are computer-mediated friendships and political relations valuable, and what are their limitations? In E-mail and Ethics , Emma Rooksby explores the ways in which interpersonal relations are affected by being conducted via computer-mediated communication. For over a decade, computer-mediated communication has been available as institutional and personal communication technology, and it has been becoming more widely available ever since its inception. It is often considered to be an efficient, productive and cost-effective form of communication, and it is claimed to bring many social and personal benefits, in fields ranging from political action and formation of friendships, to therapeutic discussion and education access. The advent of this channel of communication has prompted a renewed investigation into the nature and value of forms of human association.
  Rooksby addresses these concerns in her rigorous investigation of the benefits, limitations and implications of computer-mediated communication. With its depth of research and clarity of style, this book will be of essential interest to philosophers, scholars of communication, cultural and media studies, and all those interested in the importance and implications of computer-mediated communication.

Author Biography

Emma Rooksby is Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Australia. Her research covers computer ethics, including on-line democracy, on-line relationship and the ethics of text-based communication. Her publications include Habitus: a sense of place (edited with Jean Hillier, Routledge, forthcoming), and ‘Empathy in computer-mediated communication’ in Mark Wolf (ed.) Virtual Morality (Peter Lang Publishing, forthcoming).