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Digital temperance: adapting an ancient virtue for a technological age
1Philosophy Department, Duke University, 201 West Duke Bldg, Box 90743, Durham, NC 27708 USA.
Ethics and Information Technology
|December 5, 2022
Summary
This study reintroduces temperance as a virtue for the digital age, offering a balanced approach to technology use. It combats digital overindulgence and insensibility for greater human flourishing.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy
- Ethics
- Technology Studies
Background:
- Modern technological societies face challenges with excessive screen use and internet addiction.
- Digital technology offers benefits but also presents constant temptations.
- Ancient and medieval philosophy emphasized temperance as a key virtue.
Purpose of the Study:
- To reconstruct the virtue of temperance for the contemporary technological age.
- To adapt classical philosophical accounts of temperance for modern digital contexts.
- To develop a normative framework for 'digital temperance'.
Main Methods:
- Reclaiming and revising Aristotelian and Thomistic accounts of temperance.
- Integrating empirical research on digital technology's value and dangers.
- Constructing a virtue ethics approach to managing digital engagement.
Main Results:
- A critical interpretation of temperance adapted for digital life.
- A proposed virtue of 'digital temperance' balancing deficiency and excess.
- Identification of 'digital insensibility' and 'digital overindulgence' as vices.
Conclusions:
- Digital temperance offers a path to mitigate risks associated with technology.
- This virtue can guide individuals toward healthier engagement with digital tools.
- Cultivating digital temperance promotes human flourishing in a technology-saturated world.
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