Thesis
The Importance of Duty in Digital Citizenship through Finnis’s Lens of Practical Reasonableness
Murdoch University
Masters by Research, Murdoch University
2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60867/00000070
Abstract
Despite the progress in conceptualising digital citizenship, the importance of duty as a citizen is arguably lacking. From Finnis’s principle of practical reasonableness, the freedom to associate with others in the online community is essential for individuals to pursue the basic good and flourish in life. That said, this freedom is integrated with the notion of duty. Based on the analysis in this thesis, digital citizenship is an identity based on a shared bond that connects digital citizens to a larger community in both the online and offline worlds. A shared bond is highly dependent on how much emphasis is placed on undertaking a duty to maintain a well-integrated community. For Finnis, the notion of duty does not denote what one owes to another; Instead, it refers to a set of collective actions derived from the requirements of practical reasonableness, which Finnis called the common good. Although geographical borders do not constrain the activities of the online community, this thesis suggests that highlighting the notion of duty as a citizen is an essential component of digital citizenship. Without emphasising the idea of duty in digital citizenship, citizens cannot make sense of the basis for collaboration with others to maintain a flourishing society. This means that citizens will prioritise their own desires and have no common ground to mitigate differences in the diverse courses of action. Hence, digital citizens are subject to the common good, which renders an impartial lens and self-restraint to scaffold digital citizens to make sense of the moral reasons to participate in the common good.
Details
- Title
- The Importance of Duty in Digital Citizenship through Finnis’s Lens of Practical Reasonableness
- Authors/Creators
- Pui Mun Lee
- Contributors
- Chris Dent (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Law and CriminologyMichael Wilson (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Law and Criminology
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Masters by Research
- Publisher
- Murdoch University
- Identifiers
- 991005861092907891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Law and Criminology
- Resource Type
- Thesis
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