This is philosophy bites with me David Edmonds and me Nigel War Burton.

Philosophy bites is available at www

philosophy bites.com.

Congratulations. That you're listening to this suggests you on the right side of the

digital divide. It's a commonplace that cyberspace, the internet, is transforming our

lives in a multitude of material ways.

But are there also implications for philosophy?

Some say that the way in which millions of people are creating alternative identities for themselves

in virtual worlds like Second Life is an indication that there are.

Italian-born Luchiano Floridi is an influential thinker in the philosophy of technology and what he calls the

Infosphere.

Luchiano Floridae, welcome to Philosophy Bites.

Hello, hi.

The topic we're going to focus on is the fourth revolution.

Well, what is the fourth revolution and what were the other three?

Well, the fourth revolution comes after three major transformations in our self-understanding caused by three scientific

revolutions. The first revolution was by Copernicus, who by showing that the Earth was

not at the center of the universe also changed our self-understanding

as more marginal in the universe. The second revolution was caused by Darwin at a time

when people thought that at least they were at the center of the animal

kingdom but after Darwin we also were pushed inside the whole context of animal

life in general. At that point there was a third possible trench for human beings

...