Ethics in a Computing Culture Chapter 1 Critical Reasoning and Moral Theory

Ethics Ethics is the study of rational choices. Rational: reasoned, optimized for goal or problem Ethical = Doing the right thing How do we define the right thing? Where we place the value At Rational best. Golden Balls Ethics in a Computing Culture

Morality Tavani describes morality as a: “system of rules for guiding human conduct & the principles for evaluating those rules.” Ethics in a Computing Culture

Case: Borrowing a Password (Scenario 1) Did anyone do anything “wrong”? How do you interpret the word “wrong” in this case? Would it make a difference if there was a university policy again sharing passwords/logins? If a university policy stated that providing passwords to others is prohibited, would the action be wrong? This case did not specify why Josh’s account was disabled. How does this hinder your ability to decide the morality of this case? If they were seniors? Computer experience? Ethics in a Computing Culture

Case: Borrowing a Password (Scenario 2) How would you react if Alice were a software engineer at a software development firm? Did anyone do anything wrong? What if Josh is moving to Beta software? Would this information affect your previous decision? What if Alice’s job has a confidentiality req.? What if Alice had overlooked the confidentiality req.? Would her unawareness keep her action from being considered immoral? What if Alice denies Josh the account use. Did anyone do anything wrong? Ethics in a Computing Culture

Case: Borrowing a Password (scenario 3) Alpha monitored E’ee Alice’s account and saw a file be sent outside the co network. Alice’s boss Carol fires her. Did anyone do anything wrong? How are we defining wrong? Suppose Alpha never told E’ees like Alice their emails were monitored? Does that change whether firing was wrong? What if Carol had been caught doing something similar but was only warned? Is that wrong? Suppose we agree that it was fair to firing is a fair option, what if we know that Josh did not examine any of Alice’s files. Is the firing fair? Ethics in a Computing Culture

Professional Ethics Many professions hold their members to a higher standard of behavior. Computing professionals: http://iccp.org/coe Physicians: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics.page Attorneys: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_table_of_contents.html Teachers: http://www.nea.org/home/30442.htm Social workers: http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/default.asp Law enforcement: http://www.theiacp.org/PoliceServices/ProfessionalAssistance/Ethics/ModelPolicyonStandardsofConduct/tabid/196/Default.aspx Ethics in a Computing Culture

Case: Warning or Ticket? (scenario 1) Dolores ran stop sign. Consider the affected parties, as well as the risks, involved with Dolores’ failure to stop at the stop sign. What should Officer Schmidt do in this situation -warning, citation, or arrest? What if Dolores had been an unknown 18 y o male? What if Schmidt and Dolores had been romatically involved? What if Dolores had been rude to Schmidt? Other info that would help you have a clear opinion? Emphasize that students are not being asked what might happen, but what ought to happen in this situation. Ethics in a Computing Culture

Case: Warning or Ticket? (scenario 2) Dolores ran stop sign and someone was injured. What should Officer Schmidt do in this situation - warning, citation, or arrest? Dolores hit mayor. Does that change the action Schmidt should take? Suppose Dolores had had a warning on this exact behavior last week? Emphasize that students are not being asked what might happen, but what ought to happen in this situation. Ethics in a Computing Culture

Case: Warning or Ticket? No harm, no foul: principle that states it is wrong to punish someone for a simple mistake when no actual harm has been done Ask students to consider if the no harm, no foul principle affects their responses to the “Borrowing a Password” or “Warning or Ticket” scenarios. Suppose Dolores hit a pedestrian; how would that would affect students’ responses? Suppose the pedestrian were the mayor; should this influence Officer Schmidt’s action? Ethics in a Computing Culture

Morality and Ethics Ethics: a set of morally permissible standards for a group Morality: the standards desired by all humans at their rational best. Standards of morality are similar to standards of language: Rules regarding human behavior are complex and have many exceptions. Ethics in a Computing Culture

Moral Theory The basic equation for defining morality: How do I know that X is good? Why is X good? An action might be unethical, yet remain morally permissible. Ethics in a Computing Culture

Moral Theory (continued) Religious ethics: ‘doing the right thing’ usually is achieved by obeying the dictates of one’s religion Divine Command Theory: God, and only God, decrees what is right and what is wrong Disagreement among godly men (Aquinas & Calvin, Luther) Can a person who is not religious act morally? Ethics in a Computing Culture

Moral Theory (continued) Cultural Relativism: there is no valid, rational criterion for determining if the right thing to do exists members of one culture should not judge or be judged by a different culture Cultural Relativism goes beyond tolerance… Ethics in a Computing Culture

Moral Theory (continued) Virtue Theory: concerns the nature of virtue and what it means to have virtue Asks what would a good person do in this situation. P. 14 examine Aristotle's virtues and vices Ideal Man: one who possesses the characteristics of a good person (virtues), including courage, friendliness, and modesty Ideal mean: represent s the half-way point between risk and generosity Ethics in a Computing Culture

Moral Theory (continued) Righteous Indignation: the anger we feel at someone’s undeserved good or bad fortune Dolores deserves to get the ticket because she broke the law, and her behavior endangered others Virtue Ethics: agent-centered as opposed to action-centered Ethics in a Computing Culture

Ethics as a Meta-Norm Weakness of these theories / search for rules with universal validity Lasting and durable value Transcends space and time Intrinsic human goods and the moral choices to realize those goods. These principles work in diverse cultures Cyberethics by Spinello, p. 4 Ethics in a Computing Culture

Ethics Ethical = Doing the right thing How do we define the right thing? Where we place the value Ethics is the study of rational choices. Two dominant theories: Deontological Teleological