Emerging Ethical Issues of Life in Virtual WorldsCall for chapters
Scholarly articles on emerging issues of life in virtual worlds such as Second Life are solicited. Work that connects streams of ethics research and theory to virtual worlds as they are and to what they are developing into is particularly sought. Among the virtual world issues explicitly invited are: privacy, monitoring and eavesdropping, the fear of being exploited, the loss of identity, ethical impacts of aesthetic decisions, values and ethics manifested in the social processes and their relevance for activities such as design there, professional ethics, standards of integrity given identity issues and practices, malevolence and altruism, legal and ethical doctrines of confidential and privileged information, ethics for students and instructors, ethical development stages and issues, vandalism, harassment and crime, how ethics and values are inscribed in the discourse and practices of social groups, and how they can change and emerge in the midst of pragmatic concerns, such as collective tasks.
Proposals of any length are welcome, though the more detailed and clear the easier it will be for us to have it properly reviewed. Also, include your full contact information, institution affiliation and position. Please include information on your related publications and other work.
Schedule. Proposals due August 15, 2008. Notification of acceptance/rejection decision after review process, September 1, 2008. First drafts of chapters due, January 15, 2009. Revised final drafts due, March 15, 2009. Publication, June 15, 2009 (Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC).
Editors: Charles Wankel, St. John's University, New York, and Shaun Malleck, University of California, Irvine. Send all correspondence to both wankelc@stjohns.edu and skmalleck@gmail.com . Include in the subject field VW ETHICS.