Digital Political Ethics F. Budi Hardiman: A Hermeneutics of Digital Lifestyle Based on Wu Wei, Mesotes, Stoicism, and Communitarianism

Abstract

The digital revolution has profoundly transformed the ways in which human beings think, communicate, and act. Amid the rapid and boundless flow of information, humanity faces an ethical crisis characterized by the loss of reflection, empathy, and social responsi­bi­li­ty. Indonesian philosopher F. Budi Hardiman responds to this situation by developing a framework of digital political ethics that aims to guide humans to remain free and responsible subjects amidst technological dominance. He proposes four ethical orientations: digital wu wei, digital mesotes, digital stoicism, and digital communitarianism. This article provides a hermeneutical analysis of Hardiman's thought, comparing it with the ethical traditions from Eastern philosophy (Laozi), Greek classics (Aristotle and the Stoics), and modern thinkers such as Emmanuel Levinas, Charles Taylor, and Byung-Chul Han. The study reveals that these four orientations shape not merely individual virtues but also a humanistic digital lifestyle that emphasizes calmness, balan­ce, inner resilience, and corporeal solidarity. The article further situates these ideas in the socio-political context of Indonesia, where digital spaces have become arenas for the formation of new public morality.