•  10
    The philosophy of information quality (edited book)
    Springer International Publishing. 2014.
    This work fulfills the need for a conceptual and technical framework to improve understanding of Information Quality (IQ) and Information Quality standards. The meaning and practical implementation of IQ are addressed, as it is relevant to any field where there is a need to handle data and issues such as accessibility, accuracy, completeness, currency, integrity, reliability, timeliness, usability, the role of metrics and so forth are all a part of Information Quality. In order to support the cr…Read more
  •  569
    Artificial intelligence crime: an interdisciplinary analysis of foreseeable threats and solutions
    with Thomas C. King, Nikita Aggarwal, and Mariarosaria Taddeo
    Science and Engineering Ethics 26 (1): 89-120. 2020.
    Artificial intelligence research and regulation seek to balance the benefits of innovation against any potential harms and disruption. However, one unintended consequence of the recent surge in AI research is the potential re-orientation of AI technologies to facilitate criminal acts, term in this article AI-Crime. AIC is theoretically feasible thanks to published experiments in automating fraud targeted at social media users, as well as demonstrations of AI-driven manipulation of simulated mark…Read more
  •  2318
    The ethics of algorithms: mapping the debate
    with Brent Mittelstadt, Patrick Allo, Mariarosaria Taddeo, and Sandra Wachter
    Big Data and Society 3 (2). 2016.
    In information societies, operations, decisions and choices previously left to humans are increasingly delegated to algorithms, which may advise, if not decide, about how data should be interpreted and what actions should be taken as a result. More and more often, algorithms mediate social processes, business transactions, governmental decisions, and how we perceive, understand, and interact among ourselves and with the environment. Gaps between the design and operation of algorithms and our und…Read more
  •  880
    What is a philosophical question?
    Metaphilosophy 44 (3): 195-221. 2013.
    There are many ways of understanding the nature of philosophical questions. One may consider their morphology, semantics, relevance, or scope. This article introduces a different approach, based on the kind of informational resources required to answer them. The result is a definition of philosophical questions as questions whose answers are in principle open to informed, rational, and honest disagreement, ultimate but not absolute, closed under further questioning, possibly constrained by empir…Read more
  •  25
    Why we need e-nvironmentalism
    The Philosophers' Magazine 45 12-13. 2009.
  •  348
    The tragedy of the digital commons
    Ethics and Information Technology 6 (2): 73-81. 2004.
    In the paper it is argued that bridging the digital divide may cause a new ethical and social dilemma. Using Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons, we show that an improper opening and enlargement of the digital environment (Infosphere) is likely to produce a Tragedy of the Digital Commons (TDC). In the course of the analysis, we explain why Adar and Huberman's previous use of Hardin's Tragedy to interpret certain recent phenomena in the Infosphere (especially peer-to-peer communication) may not be en…Read more
  •  3
    What is information quality?
    The Philosophers' Magazine 61 24-25. 2013.
  •  516
    What the near future of artificial intelligence could be
    Philosophy and Technology 32 (1): 1-15. 2019.
    In this article, I shall argue that AI’s likely developments and possible challenges are best understood if we interpret AI not as a marriage between some biological-like intelligence and engineered artefacts, but as a divorce between agency and intelligence, that is, the ability to solve problems successfully and the necessity of being intelligent in doing so. I shall then look at five developments: (1) the growing shift from logic to statistics, (2) the progressive adaptation of the environmen…Read more
  •  191
    How to do philosophy informationally
    with Gian Maria Greco, Gianluca Paronitti, and Matteo Turilli
    Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3782. 2005.
    In this paper we introduce three methods to approach philosophical problems informationally: Minimalism, the Method of Abstraction and Constructionism. Minimalism considers the specifications of the starting problems and systems that are tractable for a philosophical analysis. The Method of Abstraction describes the process of making explicit the level of abstraction at which a system is observed and investigated. Constructionism provides a series of principles that the investigation of the prob…Read more
  •  410
    The paper develops some of the conclusions, reached in Floridi (2007), concerning the future developments of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their impact on our lives. The two main theses supported in that article were that, as the information society develops, the threshold between online and offline is becoming increasingly blurred, and that once there won't be any significant difference, we shall gradually re-conceptualise ourselves not as cyborgs but rather as inforgs, …Read more
  •  26
    What is the Philosophy of Information?
    Metaphilosophy 33 (1‐2): 123-145. 2002.
    Computational and information‐theoretic research in philosophy has become increasingly fertile and pervasive, giving rise to a wealth of interesting results. In consequence, a new and vitally important field has emerged, the philosophy of information (PI). This essay is the first attempt to analyse the nature of PI systematically. PI is defined as the philosophical field concerned with the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics…Read more
  •  154
    What is the philosophy of information?
    In James Moor & Terrell Ward Bynum (eds.), Metaphilosophy, Blackwell. pp. 123-145. 2002.
  •  24
    Why has the verbal dominated over the visual?
    The Philosophers' Magazine 35 19-19. 2006.
  •  54
  •  324
    What a maker’s knowledge could be
    Synthese 195 (1): 465-481. 2018.
    Three classic distinctions specify that truths can be necessary versus contingent,analytic versus synthetic, and a priori versus a posteriori. The philosopher reading this article knows very well both how useful and ordinary such distinctions are in our conceptual work and that they have been subject to many and detailed debates, especially the last two. In the following pages, I do not wish to discuss how far they may be tenable. I shall assume that, if they are reasonable and non problematic i…Read more
  •  112
    The search for small patterns in big data
    The Philosophers' Magazine 59 (59): 17-18. 2012.
  •  51
    Time travel offers a whole new vista, or vice-versa..
    The Philosophers' Magazine 37 (37): 18-18. 2007.
  •  171
    The renaissance of epistemology: 1914–1945
    In Thomas Baldwin (ed.), The Cambridge History of Philosophy, 1870-1945, Cambridge University Press. 2003.
    The renaissance of epistemology between the two world wars forms a bridge between early modern and contemporary philosophy of knowledge. This paper traces the resurgence of interest in epistemology at the turn of the century, as a reaction against the nineteenth-century development of Neo-Kantian and Neo-Hegelian idealism, through the interwar renaissance of epistemology, prompted by major advances in mathematics, logic, and physics, and its ultimate transformation from a theory of ideas and jud…Read more
  •  586
    The philosophy of information as a conceptual framework
    Knowledge, Technology & Policy 23 (1-2): 1-31. 2010.
    The article contains the replies to the collection of contributions discussing my research on the philosophy of information
  •  21
    The aim of the thesis is to defend the hypothesis that an anti- Aristotelian interpretation of the genesis of the process of knowing provides an interesting and fruitful means to understand the human never-ending search for knowledge and to answer doubts concerning the reliability of human knowledge of external reality. Such statement requires an explanation
  •  23
    Information and communication technology occupies a central place in the modern world, with society becoming increasingly dependent on it every day. It is therefore unsurprising that it has become a growing subject area in contemporary philosophy, which relies heavily on informational concepts. _The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Information_ is an outstanding reference source to the key topics and debates in this exciting subject and is the first collection of its kind. Comprising over thi…Read more
  •  176
    The rediscovery and posthumous influence of scepticism
    In Richard Arnot Home Bett (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Scepticism, Cambridge University Press. pp. 267. 2010.
    The history of the transmission, recovery and posthumous influence of ancient scepticism is a fascinating chapter in the history of ideas. An extraordinary collection of philosophical texts and some of the most challenging arguments ever devised were first lost, then only partly recovered philologically, and finally rediscovered conceptually, leaving Cicero and Sextus Empiricus as the main champions of Academic and Pyrrhonian scepticism respectively. This chapter outlines what we know about this…Read more
  •  49
    The philosophy of information
    The Philosophers' Magazine 50 42-43. 2010.
  •  32
    The perils of the swap shop
    The Philosophers' Magazine 42. 2008.
  •  528
    The philosophy of information: ten years later
    Metaphilosophy 41 (3). 2010.
    : This article provides replies to, and comments on, the contributions to the special issue on the philosophy of information. It seeks to highlight con‐vergences and points of potential agreement, while offering clarifications and further details. It also answers some criticisms and replies to some objections articulated in the special issue.
  •  397
    The philosophy of information
    Oxford University Press. 2011.
    Luciano Floridi presents a book that will set the agenda for the philosophy of information. PI is the philosophical field concerned with the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics, utilisation, and sciences, and the elaboration and application of information-theoretic and computational methodologies to philosophical problems. This book lays down, for the first time, the conceptual foundations for this new area of research. It d…Read more
  •  525
    The ontological interpretation of informational privacy
    Ethics and Information Technology 7 (4). 2005.
    The paper outlines a new interpretation of informational privacy and of its moral value. The main theses defended are: (a) informational privacy is a function of the ontological friction in the infosphere, that is, of the forces that oppose the information flow within the space of information; (b) digital ICTs (information and communication technologies) affect the ontological friction by changing the nature of the infosphere (re-ontologization); (c) digital ICTs can therefore both decrease and …Read more
  •  222
    The new ethical responsibilities of internet service providers
    Philosophy and Technology 24 (4): 369-370. 2011.
    The exponential developments of internet services and resources have brought enormous benefits, but also enormous moral and ethical challenges. This paper introduces the contributions from a research workshop, tasked with defining new ethical responsibilities for Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
  •  106
    The new grey power
    Philosophy and Technology 28 (3): 329-332. 2015.
    Grey power may be characterised as the ability to control events and people’s behaviour by influencing the influencers, behind the scenes. Grey power exists in every type of society and the two change together, as concauses, via a complex interchange of economic, technological and societal factors. This paper discusses the emergence of éminences grises in the modern digital age and the pressing need to gain a better understanding of their likely nature and development. The article concludes that…Read more
  •  35
    The illogical use of logic
    The Philosophers' Magazine 47 18-19. 2009.