Prepared for the CmpSc181 Course
Prof. Milagros B. Barruga (Faculty in-charge)
 Define law in general and explain its nature.
 Discuss the four most traditional concepts of law
 Apply the basic principles of law to computer ethics.
governs society, regardless whether you
accept it or not
maybe written, unwritten, formal or informal,
rigid or flexible
 The New Constitution of the Philippines – written,
formal and rigid
 Tradition and belief – unwritten, informal, and flexible
 an ordering principle or rule that people must obey or
conform to (relative)
 pertains to norms that regulate and control actions
 any regulation, precept, and measure or precedent that
governs any human concern, act or conduct, contract or
transaction and proceedings, inclusive of their effects
 does not lose its validity by a mere violation or even by
repetitive transgression, only when amended or repealed that
it becomes unenforceable and ineffective
a rule of consecution, or an order of sequence,
that people cannot counter without detrimental
consequences (absolute)
pertains to any systematic arrangement or
sequencing or consecutive progression
indicating uniformity of a given set of
occurrences
1. DIVINE LAW
 pertains to the entire system of faultlessness and perfection that God has
initiated to govern the whole of creation, both living and non-living
 encompasses the dogmas of religious faith that gives emphasis on the
reparation of sins and salvation, life, death and life after death, etc.
 embodied in religious doctrines and writings of different sects and religious
denominations
 Holy Bible, Koran, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and other religious doctrines
 absolute
 the mere intent of violating it would be tantamount to transgressing it
 the unwritten law permeating and governing nature as a rational
harmony and orderly pattern of different things and events without
which the latter would be reduced to chaos and disarray
 it disregards the existence of God as the Supreme Being, who
according to divine law, initiated the faultless sequencing of things
and event.
 Absolute
 Plato: Natural law is a discipline that every human being must observe and adhere to so that
he individual and common good may be realized or attained
 Precepts of natural law: righteousness, justice, equity and fairness
 Epictetus: Natural law refers not only to the extrinsic order of things but also to the inherent
nature of men as rational beings
 Men by nature have the capacity for goodness, righteousness, justice and equity
 concerned with precepts of good and virtuous conduct but
definitely not religious
 has ethics as its foundation:
 consists of moral norms that ascertain and dictate what sort of
behavior or conduct may or may not be expressed;
 or what sort of acts may or may not be performed within a
particular community
 the realm of generally recognized and desirable ethical
norms and principles that control and rule human conduct
 “law of nature”
 Like natural law, it is also relates with ordering sequences and
uniformities of distinct things and occurrences that are relied
upon as being constant and regular
 Natural occurrences and phenomena are constant and regular,
and can thus be depended upon as physical law
 Main characteristics:
 Regular – once it becomes operative, its efficacy remains
constant and unbreakable
 Imperativeness – it is permanent and unchangeable
 Source: Albacea, Eliezer A., Ma. Theresa T. Payongayong, Arlyn V. Pinpin. 2003.
IS201, Computer Ethics, Manual. UP Open University