Political Theory of the Digital Age

Mathias Risse is the Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs, and Philosophy at Harvard University. He is the author of On Global Justice (2012), On Justice (2020), and Global Political Philosophy (2020), as well as the co-author of On Trade Justice (2019) and Holding Together: The Hijacking of Rights in America and How to Reclaim Them For Everyone (2022).

• 1. Introduction: digital lifeworlds in human history; 2. Learning from the Amish: political philosophy as philosophy of technology in the digital century; 3. Artificial intelligence and the past, present, and future of democracy; 4. Truth will not set you free: is there a right to it anyway? Elaborating on the work public reason does in life 2.0; 5. Knowing and being known: investigating epistemic entitlements in digital lifeworlds; 6. Beyond porn and discreditation: epistemic promises and perils of deepfake technology; 7. The fourth generation of human rights: epistemic rights in life 2.0 and life 3.0; 8. On surveillance capitalism, instrumentarian power, and social physics: securing the enlightenment for digital lifeworlds; 9. Data as social facts: distributive justice meets big data; 10. God, Golem, and gadget worshippers: meaning of life in the digital age; 11. Moral status and political membership: toward a political theory for life 3.0; Epilogue.

'Human beings are unprepared for the consequences of artificial intelligence and big data analysis - consequences for human rights, democratic government, public spheres, distributive justice, individual dignity, pursuit of meaningful human lives, and the moral status of potentially self-guided artificial intelligence itself. Drawing on a range of political theories and welcome common sense, Mathias Risse briskly frames the agenda to prepare for a world of 'deepfakes,' surveillance capitalism, and machines that alter human lives while operating without human supervision. Especially helpful in challenging assumptions such as that those who gather our data also own it, this book points the way toward preserving both individual and social lives of meaning and deliberate choices.' Martha Minow, Harvard Law School