Computer and information ethics are related fields of practical philosophy which address the proper use of computing and information technology. This entry provides an overview of their history and major topics of interest, including those germane to emerging technological and social developments.
The roots of computer ethics can be traced to the 1940s. It is a direct descendant of cybernetics, an interdisciplinary field of study which emerged during the Second World War. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, several notable scholars pursued cybernetics research, including engineer Vannevar Bush (1890–1974), mathematician John von Neumann (1903–1957), physiologist Arturo Rosenblueth (1900–1970), mathematician Claude E. Shannon (1916–2001), and mathematician Norbert Wiener (1894–1964), who is credited as the field’s founder (Bynum 2008; Hamilton 2017). Wiener’s cybernetic theory originated with his work on the design of a new kind of.
