May 14, 2020

[The Ecumenical Review] Communication for Life in Cyberspace

Communication for Life in Cyberspace
Young‐cheol Cheon

First published:23 April 2020
 
The Rev. Dr Young-cheol Cheon is general secretary of Korean Diakonia, a Korean ecumenical
NGO, and is an honorary life member of the World Association for Christian Communication.

Cyberspace communication is a key driving force of the neoliberal globalization that has led to worldwide crisis. Despite some positive perspectives, cyberspace communication has played a crucial role in the dominance of global markets by transnational corporations. The ethical foundations of the problematics of cyberspace communication lie in a social Darwinism that leads to ruthless competition based on egoistic morality. This article posits the notion of love as an alternative ethics, drawing on perspectives of Christian love (especially those of US ethicist Paul Ramsey) as unselfish love for others, as well as on East Asian traditions of love (such as Buddhist compassion, Confucian jen, and Korean jung). The article argues that unselfish love offers a perspective to overcome an anthropocentric perspective of communication. In this way, human beings can build a community with all living beings and develop harmonious relationships with them to live together on the earth.



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