Living with the Internet: Ethics in the Noosphere

In this paper we present a holistic alternative to the conventional ground of existent ethical discourse on the Internet. We analyse this discourse and the model of the 'net and netizens from which it is derived, and finding it unsatisfactory, present a discourse of co-operative ethics, based on a model of the Internet as a Noetic Hyper Entity. We then examine the tradition of such entities in Western Philosophy, and decide which of three traditions (the Pre-existent, the Emergent and the Convocational) is suited to our discussion. Finally we make suggestions as to how awareness of this entity can provide incentive to act co-operatively, and concluding that the existent form of Netiquette is the best model for appropriate behaviour on the 'net.