Fall06
CS 306
Chapter 10 – Professional Ethics
10.1 Ethics
10.1.1 What is “computer Ethics”?
- Technology not an immutable force
- People make decisions about what technologies and products to develop
and how to use them
- People make Laws and set rules and standards
- The scope of the term “computer ethics” varies considerably
- Some considers -> environmental impact of computers
o Impact of computer on employment,
o Sell computers to totalitarian governments
o Use by military
- Computer Ethic narrowly defines as others:
o Medical
o Legal (lawyers)
o Accounting ethics
o Engineering
Example: Copyright etc.
Employee who spends most of his time surfing internet…
Sleep, long lunch, take brides and anything that prohibited by employers
10.1.2 What is Ethics, anyway?
Ethic is the study of what it means to “do the right.”
Have you taken any philosophy classes? Such as Ethics
Ethical theory is based on the assumption that people are rational and make free choices. Neither of
these conditions is always and absolutely true.
People act emotionally and make mistakes.
A person is not making a free choice when someone else is pointing a gun at him.
- People worry about loosing jobs when they make mistakes
- People don’t want to be controlled if there are choices they can make
Ethical rules are rules to follow in our interactions with other people and our actions that affect
people.
Most ethical theories attempt to achieve the same goal:
- to enhance human dignity
- peace
- happiness
- and well-being
Ethical relativism and some types of ethical egoism DO NOT.
There are two books, entitled:
One is Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong
The other is Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
10.1.3 A variety of Ethical Views
Some ethicist (philosophers and others who study ethics) make a distinction between ethical theories that
view certain acts as good or bad because of their consequences.
They call these deontological (or nonconsequencialist) and consequentialist theories respectively.
Page.
1
Fall06
Deontological Theories
One example is: DO NOT LIE
- An act is ethical if it complies with ethical rules and is chosen for that reason.
Immanuel Kant:
One is the principle of universality: We should follow the rules of behavior that we can
universally apply accepted it in our explanation of ethics in section 10.1.2 “do the right thing”.
The biblical instruction, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is another statement of
the same general idea.
Thou shall not kill etc….
1. Deontologist argue that logic or reason determines rules of ethical behavior, that actions are
intrinsically good because the follow from logic.
2. Kant believed that rationality is the standard of what is good. We can reason about what
makes sense and act accordingly, or we can act irrationally, which is EVIL.
“Respect the reason in you,”
3. Kant stated a principle about interacting with other people: One must never treat people as
merely means to ends, but rather as ends in themselves.
“ that is always wrong to lie”
- Will you or Would you lie to protect someone who you love?
- it is wrong for you to lie to protect victim.
“ because of the consequences”
Utilitarianism
- Utilitarianism is the main example of a consequentialist theory. Its guiding principle, as expressed
by John Stuart Mill, is to increase happiness, or “utility.”
- A person’s utility is what satisfies the reason’s needs and values.
Natural Rights
- People make their decision
- People can act freely according to their judgment, without coercive interference by others
- Fundamental rights of other, including the rights to life, liberty, and property
- Respect for these rights implies ethical rules against killing, stealing and deception
No Simple Answers
- We cannot solve ethical problems by applying a formula or an algorithm
- Human behavior and real human situations are complex.
10.1.4 Some important distinction
Right, Wrong , and Okay
-
ethically right and ethically wrong
ethically obligatory, ethically prohibited or
ethically acceptable
Page.
2
Fall06
Negative and Positive Rights, or Liberties and Claim-Rights
Two different kinds of rights:
- Recall that negative rights, liberties, are rights to act without coercive interference
- Claim-right, or positive rights, are rights that impose an obligation on some people to
provide certain things for others.
- Privacy
- Fair use of intellectual property
- Universal access to the Web
Distinguishing Wrong and Harm
Carelessly and needlessly causing harm is wrong, but is important to remember that harm lone is
not a sufficient criterion to determine that an act is unethical.
- Yet there is noyhing wrong with doing honest, productive work
On the other hand, hackers argue that break into computer systems without authorization is not
wrong because they do no harm.
Hacking is a violation of property rights:
- A person has no right to enter your property without your permission, independent of
any harm done.
Separating Goals from Constraints
Distinction between ends and means
- Goals: Working hard, investing wisely and being and interesting and decent person can
achieve these goals
But, ethics tells us what actions are acceptable or unacceptable in our attempts to achieve the goals.
Personal Preference and Ethics
When discussing political or social issues, people frequently argue that their position is right in a
moral or ethical sense or that an opponent’s position is normally wrong or unethical.
People tend to want to be on the “moral high ground” and feel the stigma of accusation that their
view is ethically wrong. Why?
Law and Ethics
What is the connection between law and ethics? Very little.
Is it ethical to prohibit marijuana use by terminally ill people?
10.2 Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professional
Appendix A.
10.2.1 Special Aspect of professional Ethics
First, the professional is an expert in a field, be it computer science or medicine, that most
customers know little about. They advertise!
Page.
3
Fall06
Second, the products of many professional (e.g., bridges, investment advice, surgery protocols, and
computer systems) profoundly affect large number of people.
A computer professional’s work can affect the life, health, finance, freedom, and
future of a client or members of public. A professional can cause great harm
through dishonesty, carelessness, or incompetence.
- Victims!
10.2.2 Professional code, Guidelines, and Responsibilities
Some Guidelines
1. Understand what success means.
2. Include users (such as medical staff, technicians, pilots, office workers) in the design and testing stages
to provide safe and useful systems.
3. Do a thorough, careful job when planning and scheduling a project and when writing bids or contracts.
4. Design for the real users.
5. Don’t assume existing software is safe
6. Be open and honest about capabilities, safety and limitation of software
7. Require a convincing case for safety
10.3.9 Copyright Violation
10.3.10 Hiring Foreign Programmers
Page.
4