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DESIGNING CONFUCIAN CONSCIENCE INTO SOCIAL NETWORKS
Author(s) -
Wang Tom
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/zygo.12254
Subject(s) - tian , heaven , confucian ethics , the internet , conscience , sociology , structuring , epistemology , philosophy , law , political science , computer science , china , theology , world wide web , art , literature
Several scholars have argued that Internet use might be fundamentally incompatible with Confucian ethics, because the values that are embedded in the Internet might be in conflict with Confucian values. In addition, the design of various social network services (SNS) considers very little of non‐Western values in its engineering. Against this background, this article explores the philosophical question of whether Internet use, particularly social network services, is compatible with the fundamental values and norms of Confucian ethics. In addition, the article discusses the Confucian notion of tian xia (under heaven), and argues that tian xia , as a basic structuring principle of Confucian philosophy, helps to innovate a different social media.