CSE312: Legal, Social, and Ethical Issues in Information Systems
Professor I.V. Ramakrishnan
Fall 2014
Project
Ethics: “Do the right thing.”
Submitted by:
Sameer Gupta
Submission Date:
December 29, 2014
Audience:
The main target audiences are students and people who want to have detailed insight information related to general and professional ethics. To understand this report some prior understanding of general ethics and basic knowledge of computer science is needed.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction 4
2 Ethical Views 5
2.1 Deontological theory 5
2.2 Utilitarianism theory 5
2.2.1 Act Utilitarianism 6
2.2.2 Rule Utilitarianism 6
2.3 Natural Rights 6
2.3.1 Negative rights/ Liberties rights 6
2.3.2 Positive rights/
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Deontological theory emphasize that one should follow absolute rules even if that lead to bad consequences. Some of the rules of categorization as defined by Immanuel Kant are as follows:
Principle of Universality: We should always choose the rules that universally apply to everyone instead of choosing a rule that serves only a small group of people.
Rationality is the standard for what is good: This rule states that one should use it’s own reason, rationality and judgment rather than emotions to make the decision. Also the decisions, which are rational, are always good as compared to irrational decisions which often lead to bad actions.
Interacting with other people: This rule states that you should not treat people as mere inanimate tools to be used, perhaps broken, to reach your own goals, but rather to treat people as sentient beings with goals of their own, and to cooperate with them so that each may move closer to his/her own desired
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The ultimate goal of ethical theory is to achieve human dignity, peace, happiness, and well –being. But these goals are somewhat vague and can be interpreted differently in different situations under certain circumstances. So to make the things less complex, we try to define a sphere of freedom in which people can act and make decisions freely without interference from others. So natural rights defines ethical theory as a set of actions that respects fundamental rights of others, including the rights to life, liberty, and property. Natural rights can be categorized in two different
Director and actor Spike Lee presents his "truth" about race relations in his movie Do the Right Thing. The film exhibits the spectacle of black discrimination and racial altercations. Through serious, angry, and loud sounds, Lee stays true to the ethnicity of his characters, all of which reflect their own individualism. Lee uses insulting diction and intense scenes to show how severe racism can lead to violence.
The principle of universalizability is an act that is permissible if it’s maxim is universalizable. It is applied to determining whether or not one’s maxim is morally permissible by first answering two essential questions: What you are about to do?, and, Why you are about to do it?. Maxims are what people cite when explaining to others why they do what they do. Therefore, the P of U is a test for determining if an action is permissible or not permissible. The steps of this test are: first, formulate the maxim, next, clearly state what is intended to be done and why; then, imagine a world in which everyone supports and acts on that maxim, and finally, can the goal of the action be achieved in such a world? These steps are what help determine if a maxim is morally
ated to address the various ethical issues that may arise in the field of software
According to my moral vision, I make my own code of conduct. First, don't judge. I shouldn't judge others’ choices because they have their own rights to choose freely. Second, don't do anything that will violate others’ basic rights. Examples are as covering my cough, not making noise when roommates are sleeping, etc. If I choose to do the opposite, it would make no difference to me, but it would put other people’s rights at stake. Third, others have no saying in my decisions. I expect people to respect my rights and not to control or disturb me. Just as the way I respect them, they should respect me.
Many of our moral decisions are at the heart of a concept of a right. A right is defined as individual entitlements to freedom of choice and well-being. For example, when a person acts a certain way or how others act in certain ways toward others. Rights derived from a legal system which permits or empowers the way people act alone or toward others are defined as legal rights. Legal rights are limited to a particular jurisdiction within the legal system. Moral rights are derived from a system of moral standards independent of a legal system. As such, these rights are based on moral norms and principles that empower human beings to do something or to be entitled to have something done for them. Moral rights are considered universal as all human beings of every nationality possess them to an equal extent. Human rights are justifiable to every human being such as food, clothing, housing and medical care. All rights have the main purpose to enable individuals to choose freely and to protect those choices. Most legal rights protect human beings from committing harm or corruption or receiving the same. The same principles that protect us legally are derived from moral standards. They all together impact how we act and how we act toward others as well as how others act toward us.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) abides by a code of ethic which is to be followed by every member and employee of the association. There are eight outlining rules that create the overall acceptable professional work environment (Computer Ethics). These rules are not only important but should be followed in every learning, professional, or work environment. The first rule is “contribute to society and human well-being.” This rule recognize the respecting different types of people, diversity, backgrounds that are all brought together in a working
Rule-utilitarianism evaluates human behavior based on specific rules that must be applied uniformly in all situations. For example, a rule that states it is unethical to kill another human must be applied in all settings. It is not acceptable to enforce laws on some, while allowing others to break the laws with limited or no consequences.
In Donald Gotterbarn's article, "Informatics and Professional Responsibility," he argues that "although informatics has been undergoing a rapid development, there has been no corresponding development in the concept of responsibility as it applies to computing practitioners" (107). Gotterbarn believes that computer professionals should be perfect and are responsible for any effects caused by their coding. I disagree with Gotterbarn on this matter. In this essay, I will show that Gotterbarn's thoughts and beliefs on professional responsibility in computer ethics are unreasonable and therefore should not be applied.
The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics (App A) was first created in 1992 by the Computer Ethics Institute and presented by Dr. Ramon C. Barquins in his paper “In Pursuit of a ‘Ten Commandments’ of Computer Ethics” as a means to create “a set of standards to guide and instruct people in the ethical use of computers.” (1) Computer ethics is about guidelines related to decisions made by computer designers to help lead their actions and assist in the decisions they make. The technological boom of the past three decades has surpassed traditional ethic beliefs; hence Dr. Barquins need to create the ten most important “commandments” for computer applications. As technology advances, initial focus is on learning the technologies and fine
1. "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." (Ibid., 422)
Rights are the legal, moral and ethical principles that safeguards ones interests and allows freedom. Most theorists do not believe in there being such a thing as moral rights but often argue for the legal rights of nonhuman animals. Moral philosopher Immanuel
Basically the new Golden Rule should be applied in all situations; treat others, as they themselves would like to be treated.
The deontological theory claim that certain actions are naturally right or wrong, good or bad, and without regard for its consequences. The theory was derived from philosopher Immanuel Kant in 18th century. The theory states that social workers should always obey the law regardless of the consequences that would follow. It states that the law is the law. Deontologist state that rules, rights, and the laws are commonly guarded and sacred. The theory states that the end does not automatically justify the means, especially if they require breaking an important rule, right, or law.
Morality is often defined as how an individual thinks about what is right and what is wrong and also think weather if what they are about to do is considered good or bad behaviour. Morality is also often drawn from temptation of the individual and also greed for example if an individual were to find a bag of money on the floor, would that individual take it or bring it to the police. Moralities also sometimes define as the good and bad intentions of an individual and the actions that they plan to do next which would determine if their intentions and decision are good or bad. Also according to Collin (1998), morality is also the moral principle of the individual and the conformity of that individual.
There has been a legitimate distinction between the moral and ethical views behind computer scientists being responsible for the action that they take upon the problems that they can face from the systems that they design. They must be faced with the codes of ethics and the morality issues in order to acknowledge the user about the responsibility that they must encounter in order for the use of technology. In the case of the technological society, the IT technology must include security measures to avoid hacking and to be in line with legislations since it’s an important factor towards moral responsibilities. Several issues have been identified as a result to whether computer scientists perform their job role correctly or not. The failure to not meeting the correct responsibilities of their job could result in computer scientists exposing the perception of moral and ethical principles to the audience and the society incorrectly. The lack of effective analogy forces can discover the publicizing and anticipation with negative views and so shows the immoral aspects. Whereas, other evidence could should morality since it can help the community and society into developing and taking technology positively to a further level.