Yash Patel
English 1020
October 24, 2008
Project 2 Rough Draft
“The Impact of the Internet on our Moral Lives” edited by Robert J. Cavalier is
composed of a number of essays written by a variety of authors. All the essays dealt in some way
with a specific part of the internet, and the essays were written by authors such as Norbert
Wiener, Terrell Ward Bynum, Richard Spinello, Lawrence Hinman, Susan Dwyer, and many
others. The essays talk about many different aspects of the internet. Ethical issues are also
explained in some of the essays. Through the use of variety, virtues, and evidence “The Impact
of the Internet on our Moral Lives” edited by Robert J. Cavalier tries to explain the different
themes internet and its impact on people today.
This book is separated into two different parts. Each part of the book has five essays in it.
The group of essays that have been compiled together in this book all deal with the internet in
some way. For example, in Part I of the book there is an essay titled “Norbert Wiener’s Vision:
The Impact of the Automatic Age on Our Moral Lives” by Terrell Ward Bynum. He talks about
how a mathematician by the name of Norbert Wiener developed a new branch of science called
“cybernetics” and they found that the new “automatic age” as he puts it has as huge social and
ethical impact on humans. He examines and studies many different things dealing with the
“automatic age” to create his ideas. In another essay called “Virtual Virtues: Reflections on
Academic Integrity in the Age of the Internet” by Lawrence M. Hinman, he talks about how with
the rise of the electronic age and the web, plagiarism in academics has begun to increase as well.
He talks about many different ways of plagiarism and compares it to the internet and how much
easier plagiarism has become.
Part II of the book also contains essays dealing with the internet. One of the essays,
“Should We Let Computers Get Under Our Skin,” by James H. Moor talks about cyborgs. He
gives examples of how more and more people are becoming cyborgs as technology advances. By
cyborg Moor means a person who is a cybernetic organism, in other words half human and half
computer. He goes through many examples of how people today are turning into cyborgs and at
an alarming rate as well. Another essay called “Hackers and the contested Ontology of
Cyberspace” by Helen Nissenbaum, hackers are discussed. She talks about both positive and
negative hackers and the attributes of both.
Many different topics relating to the internet are discussed in this book. It is through this
variety that the editor Robert J. Cavalier tries to get his point across that the internet is a very
complicated resource which has both positive and negative impacts on the world and society.
Some of the topics that are mentioned in the book are cybernetics, philosophers such as Aristotle,
Google, plagiarism, cyborgs, and even hackers. By including such a variety it helps to make it
easier for the reader understand what he is talking about and how there are both positives and
negatives to the internet. “Weiner examined ways in which information and communication
technology could affect—both positively and negatively—fundamental human values…”
(Cavalier). This is a quote from the essay by Terrell Ward Bynum. He talks about both the
positive and negative impact that the internet has on our lives. In the essay by Helen Nissenbaum
about hacker, she talks about both good and bad hackers. She explains both sides of the story. By
including essays that talk about both sides of varying topics, Cavalier reduces bias toward either
saying that the internet is positive or negative. It becomes a more informative book rather than a
book trying to persuade the reader to believe a certain side.
Virtues are something that most people believe in or live by. Virtues show up in our lives
nearly every day. Robert J. Cavalier uses this to try and get his point across. In the essay “Virtual
Virtues: Reflections on Academic Integrity in the Age of the Internet” by Lawrence M. Hinman,
virtues are mentioned throughout. He talks about virtues such as honesty, trust, fairness, respect,
and responsibility. He ties these virtues in with plagiarism and the internet which is the main
theme of his essay. He examines plagiarism and how it has changed with the increase in
technology and use of internet. He says things such as “but what is the impact of doing this on
the relationship of trust between student and professor, especially when all incoming papers are
automatically tested in this way?” (Cavalier) This context surrounding this quote consists of him
talking about how there are programs that can check for plagiarism in papers. He says that
although the internet is a great resource with a lot of information, it also creates problems with
trust between student and professor. There is so much information on the internet that anyone
can call the information their own. He is emphasizing the point that although the internet is
useful, it can negatively affect virtues such as trust between a student and professor. The essay
by James H. Moor also uses virtues to explain his point about cyborgs. He uses the virtue
fairness in his essay. He gives the example of how in some ways turning people into cyborgs can
be helpful in cases such as implanting chips in patients with disabilities to increase their quality
of life. It also talks about how cyborgs could be negative as in putting a champion chess player
chip in a person making them unbeatable. The use of virtues as a part of the authors’ arguments
helps in emphasizing the point that is being pushed.
Works Cited
Cavalier, Robert J.. The Impact Of The Internet On Our Moral Lives. Albany: State Univ of New
York Pr, 2005.