Download 2. IntroEthics

AIT, Comp. Sci. & Info. Mgmt
AT02.98 Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues in Computing
September Term, 1999
2. Introduction to Ethics
Objectives of these slides:

What ethics is, what it isn’t, and ethical
relativism
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Overview
1. What is Ethics?
2. The Ethical Method
3. What Ethics Isn’t
4. Ethical Relativism
5. More Details
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1. What is Ethics?
 “I lied about the exam being next week – it’s
now. Close your books.”

what’s your reaction?
 Ethics is about investigating and evaluating
actions. Which actions are right, which wrong?
 Ethics == morality
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Ten Hard Ethical Questions
 1. Are there any differences between moral laws
and society’s laws. If there are, why is this?
 2. What are human beings really like: selfish and
greedy or generous and kind?
 3. Are there good ways of teaching children to
behave morally?
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 4. Does anyone have the right to tell anyone else
what good and evil are?
 5. Are there certain kinds of acts (e.g. torturing
children) that are always wrong? If so, what are
they?
 6. What do you think is the best answer to the
question, “Why should I be a good person?”
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 7. Is ethics a special kind of knowledge? If so,
what sort of knowledge is it and how do we get
hold of it?
 8. Is morality about obeying a set of rules or is it
about thinking about consequences?
 9. When people say “I know that murder is
wrong”, do they know it is wrong or just believe
it very strongly?
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 10. Are some people “better” at morality than
others, or is everyone equally capable of being
good?
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2. The Ethical Method
 Ethics uses reason, logic, concepts, rational
explanation and public discussion to analyse
problems and (try to) find answers.
 The aim of an ethical argument is to get someone
else to freely agree with you for good reasons
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 Ethics demands that you present an argument that
shows your analysis and explains your points of
view:

what counts most is what you think
 Explanations must be public so that they can be
debated and understood by others.
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Ethics as a Process
 An ethical investigation is an ongoing process:



formulate an argument (with attached reasons)
critically examine the argument and any
counter-arguments
reformulate the argument
 This process is sometimes called a “dialectic”.
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 The examination moves back and forth between
cases (examples) and principles/theories.
 No conclusion may be reached but negative and
positive knowledge is discovered:
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what arguments are inadequate
development of common frameworks for discussion
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Descriptive and Normative
 Descriptive statements are factual

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
e.g. 90% of Americans like baseball
they can be checked by observation
sometimes called empirical statements
 Ethics is a normative science
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it is concerned with the norms (standards) of human
conduct (behaviour)
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 Ethics is sometimes called prescriptive
since it talks about what people ought to do.
 It is not possible to answer prescriptive
questions by using facts (descriptive
statements) alone
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e.g. what facts “prove” the truth of
“people ought not to murder”?
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3. What Ethics Isn’t
3.1. Ethics and Emotions
3.2. Ethics and Authority
3.3. Ethics and the Individual
3.4. Ethics and the Law
3.5. Ethics and Religion
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3.1. Ethics and Emotions
 Ethics is about what you think, not feel.
 Thinking statements are very different from
feeling statements

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they give reasons for an opinion
they answer why
 Feelings can change suddenly for no reason
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not suitable as the foundation of an argument
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 Sincerity (or any strong emotion) has nothing to
do with the correctness of an argument.
 Emotions have a small role as a guide when
searching for reasons.
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3.2. Ethics and Authority
 Ethics is only concerned with rational argument.
 Ethics ignores:
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the authority of tradition
the personal authority of the speaker
 Authoritarian arguments are often really just
threats or bribery.
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3.3. Ethics and the Individual
 “What counts most is what you think”

but only if you are rational
 A speaker’s use of personal superiority and/or
authority invalidates their argument.
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3.4. Ethics and the Law
 Ethics and the law (legal rules) are different.
 Laws change over time, and can be contradictory
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e.g. apartheid
e.g. censorship and freedom of speech
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3.5. Ethics and Religion
 Religion is useful as a context for moral
statements.
 But religion must be excluded from ethical
arguments because:
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religion is spiritual; ethics is intellectual
religion often relies on authority or faith
what religion is accepted by everyone so it can be used
as part of an argument?
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4. Ethical Relativism
 Examples:
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“What is right for you may not be right for me.”
“I can decide what is right for me, but you have to
decide for yourself.”
 Ethical relativism has two components:
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the negative: “there are no universal moral rules”
the positive: “right and wrong is relative to the society
in which the person lives”
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Supporting Evidence
 1. Cultures vary over what they consider is right
and wrong.
 2. Moral rules change over time.
 3. Moral ideas develop in people as they grow
and learn.
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Response
 The diversity of moral rules does not prove there
are no universal moral rules.
 The diversity may be superficial.
 Some people’s moral rules may simply be
incorrect.
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 There do seem to be some universals:
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never intentionally harm another person
respect peoples’ rights (e.g to freedom, privacy)
 Ethical relativists contradict themselves since their
ideas imply that everyone follows the moral rules
of their society
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a universal rule!
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 Ethical relativists usual intention is that we should
not judge others by our standards. We should
respect other people’s right to choose their own
rules

another universal!
 Ethical relativism is a very poor ethical theory
since it cannot be used to justify any moral beliefs
except by reference to society.
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Absolutists
 Absolutists argue that there are basic universal
rules

e.g. “murder is wrong”
 Sometimes called universalists or realists.
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5. More Details
 Books on ethics:

Right and Wrong: A Brief Guide to Understanding Ethics
Thomas I. White
Prentice Hall, 1992

Ethics for Beginners
Dave Robinson and Chris Garratt
Icon Books, 1996
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 Chapter 2 of:
Computer Ethics
Deborah G. Johnson
Prentice Hall, 2nd ed., 1994
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