Human Rights in an Information Age: A Philosophical Analysis PDF
Preview Human Rights in an Information Age: A Philosophical Analysis
HUMAN RIGHTS IN AN INFORMATION AGE A Philosophical Analysis This page intentionally left blank Human Rights in an Information Age A Philosophical Analysis GREGORY J. WALTERS UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2001 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-3583-3 Printed on acid-free paper National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Walters, Gregory J. (Gregory John), 1956- Human rights in an information age : a philosophical analysis Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8020-3583-3 1. Information society. 2. Information technology - Social aspects. 3. Human rights - Moral and ethical aspects. 4. Human rights - Philosophy. I. Title. HM851.W34 2001 303.48'23 C2001-930510-9 This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its pub- lishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP). In Loving Memory Clarence Joseph Walters 6 April 1925-6 November 1998 This page intentionally left blank Contents Foreword by Alan Gewirih xi Acknowledgments xiii Abbreviations xvii Introduction 3 The Information Age Revolution 4 Purpose and Methodology 10 Three Ethical Challenges of Canadian Information Highway Policy 10 Aims and Terminological Presuppositions 14 The Conceptual Importance of Information to Human Rights 18 Philosophical Parameters and Thesis 21 Structure of the Book 23 1 The Philosophical Framework 26 The Information Age in the Context of Modernity 26 Human Rights in an Information Age 32 2 Information Highway Policy and E-Commerce Strategy 53 The Public Policy Product Cycle 53 Historical and Sociological Specification of Canadian Com- munications Policy 55 Industry Canada and the Information Highway Advisory Council 60 IHAC Policy Phase 1:1993-95 61 viii Contents IHAC Policy Phase II: 1996-98 67 IHAC Policy Phase III: The Canadian Electronic Commerce Strategy 69 Methodological and Ethical Analysis 72 3 The Informational Economy, Work, and Productive Agency 80 Productive Agency, Work, and Human Capital 81 Two Justifications of Private Property 86 Inequality and the Restriction of Property Rights 89 The Global Situation: The Informational Economy 93 The North American Situation 102 The Informational Economy and the Community of Rights 116 4 Privacy and Security Policy: The Historical Situation 117 The Global Situation 117 The Canadian Situation 125 Conclusion 147 5 Privacy and Security: An Ethical Analysis 150 Surveying Our Technological Situation 151 Legal, Social Science, and Philosophical Conceptions of Privacy 157 Action Theory and the Ethical Justification of Privacy Rights 164 Privacy and Security Policy in the Light of the Principle of Human Rights 165 Conclusion 183 6 Information Warfare 187 The 'Revolution in Military Affairs' 188 Information Warfare: Definitions and Conceptions 190 Global Surveillance Practices: The ECHELON Network 196 Strategic Information Warfare Rising 199 Information Warfare and International Human Rights Law 201 Information Warfare and the Principle of Generic Consistency 204 A 'Just' Information War? 213 Is 'Perpetual Peace' Possible in the Information Age? 214 Conclusion 216 7 Information Warfare and Deterrence 218 Information Warfare Policy: Clarifying the Terms of the Debate 219 Contents ix Instrumental Rationality, Reasonableness, and Motivation 221 Strategic Information Warfare Deterrence and the Prisoner's Dilemma 225 Rethinking Policy Alternatives for the Information Age 231 Conclusion 236 Conclusion: Towards a Global Community of Rights in the Information Age 238 Notes 255 References 277 Index 313
The list of books you might like
