Elma Jagonoy

BSIT 3rd

A volume produced by a Professor who holds a PhD in philosophy and is a Professor

in computer information systems can be characterized as solid in all meanings of
this word. It is a book of impressive dimensions, but it is also a work of impressive
depth and thoughtfulness. Robert Schultz deals with the role of information
technology in the ethical globalized world. In this respect, information technology is
not considered by the author as a part of modern technology as it is not
manipulating and changing the environment, but merely representing and reflecting
it. Therefore, the technology has a huge potential to help in the implementation of
ethical principles and helps to identify new aspects of them within the global
setting. This position alone can generate interest in the book.
The author also maintains that corporations are not ethical entities as they were
created for maximizing profit. For this reason and because they are not human
beings, they should not be allowed to have any say in the issues including any
ethical aspects in environment, justice, intellectual property or similar. They are also
in the position to use information technology in unethical ways.
As for globalization, the author treats it as an extension of human social cooperation
and, therefore, as not bad or good in itself, but including good and bad aspects.
However, it demands the presence of ethically globalized institutions to address the
problems that cannot be solved by dividing them between different countries.
These few examples should prove that the author of the book is not taking any
stereotypically recognizable path in presentation of the ethical problems or
production of straightforward solutions.
The structure of the book logically leads from the chapter on globalized ethical
problems related to information technology solutions to the theories of the
globalized ethics that should help to understand these problems, then to the social
contract for globalized institutions as a means of implementing ethical global
system and to the ultimate questions that have to be asked in such a way that the
answers could be found.
The author has a very wide understanding of information-technology-related
globalization ethical problems: from compliance with privacy issues and human
rights to the use of childrens labour. He introduces and characterizes the role of
contemporary ethically globalized institutions acting on different levels. The
contribution of information technology to globalization is discussed in the third
chapter.

The second part provides a panorama of theoretical approaches to globalized ethics,

such as relativism, theories of justice, and cosmopolitanism. The most important
emphasis is made on the theory of social contract. In that the author pays a tribute
to his teacher John Rawls by extending his original theory to be applicable to the
challenges and problems of the gobalized society.
I must admit that Robert Schultz's book has revitalized my interest in ethical
problems. As I teach courses on digital libraries and information science, I have
inevitably to address the issues of intellectual property and citizens' rights to
information, integrity and privacy, and many others that require ethical
underpinning. It is important to get some refreshing and intellectually stimulating
outlook on the ethical matters. This book provides a profound logical basis for many
of these issues as well as an unorthodox perspective on them.
I would not call the book purely philosophical. The author himself defines its subject
as that of the applied ethics. The title would suggest that in the first place it
addresses the audience of information technology managers and producers, but I
would recommend it to a much wider public dealing with economic, environmental,
political, legal issues of our societies.
Globalization affects us all and we should be aware of the ethical issues and
possibilities to address them. The critical and ethical approach to the processes on
the global level applied by Schultz in this book could be useful for many teachers
concerned with the development of critical thinking in their students. It shows very
clearly that critical thinking has to be inevitably linked to ethical position that in its
turn is very different from morality.
Professor Elena Maceviciute
Vilnius University
16 February, 2010
Maceviciute, E. (2010). Review of: Schultz, Robert A.Information technology and the
ethics of globalization: transnational issues and implications. Hershey, NY:
Information Science Reference, 2009. Information Research,15(1), review no. R365