With these words Professor Yvonne Thorhauer opened the first accadis symposium “Face to Interface – Chances and Risks of Internet Moral” on 7 June 2016. Numerous conference participants attended the experts’ lectures as well as the closing panel discussion about current developments in digital communication.
Research, academic and in-field experts gave insights into the interplay of business, world wide web and ethics. The conference took place within the framework of the accadis research focus Social Media and was organised in cooperation with the Ethikverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V. The lectures dealt with the features and development of digital communication. Due to the virtual room’s moral neutrality, said accadis’ Head of Research, Professor Yvonne Thorhauer, society is obliged to implement and ensure a digital moral. Conference presenter Dr. Irina Kummert, President of the Ethikverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft, had a similar opinion and in her opening words inquired if – as in the medical field – the digital world requires an oath binding individuals to act ethically. The need is given as for a fact every individual’s behaviour in social media, fora and chats has an influence on how digital communication will develop in the future. Professor Dr. Rafael Capurro, inter alia founder and Chair of the International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE) at the Digital Ethics Institute at the Hochschule der Medien, Stuttgart, subsequently emphasized that the digital world is not everything. “Life does not mean being ‘onlive’.” Though the individual develops new character traits because of his or her involvement in digital dialogue, the individual’s personality is influenced far more by real-world areas of communication and habitat. Professor Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Grün, Vice President of the Ethikverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V., pleaded for a more utilitarian behaviour in the world wide web. “We should do good, because it is useful and not because we have always done so. There is a kind of ethics that does not surmise the existence of fixed values, but orients itself on the question of what results will evolve from one’s own behaviour.”
The conference closed with a panel discussion in which the experts answered questions raised by the moderator and the audience. “We are very pleased with the conference”, Professor Yvonne Thorhauer summed up the event. “The audience can take a lot of thought-provoking impulses back home.” The success of the conference shows there is a need for high-quality and interdisciplinary dialogue about digital developments and a global ethical level of reflection. accadis Hochschule Bad Homburg will do its share in contributing to the dialogue: Additional conferences are planned in future.
The lecturers and lectures at a glance
- Dr. Irina Kummert
President of the Ethikverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V.
Welcome address and moderator - Prof. Dr. Yvonne Thorhauer
Head of Research and Senate Member accadis Hochschule
About Virtual Rooms - Prof. Dr. Rafael Capurro
Founder and Chair of the International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE), Institute for Digital Ethics, Hochschule der Medien, Stuttgart; Africa Network for Information Ethics (ANIE), i. a.
Communication in the Digital Age - Prof. Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Grün
Vice President of the Ethikverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V., Philosophisches Kolleg für Führungskräfte and Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität
The Open Society of the World Wide Web - Dr. Tobias Knobloch
Project Manager Open Data & Privacy of the Stiftung neue Verantwortung
Universal Datafication and the Boundaries of Digital Moral - Thomas Forwe
Ethikverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V.
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