Download Session 18

Ethics of Computing
MONT 113G, Spring 2012
Session 18
Ethical reasoning
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Descriptive (Empirical Claims)
Descriptive claims give facts that can be tested or verified.
Examples:
The car is in the driveway.
XX% of the American public favor healthcare reform.
All societies consider some domain of life private.
(This one would be hard to test).
Others?
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Normative (prescriptive) claims
Normative claims state what people should do or what ought
to be the case.
Examples:
Speech on the internet should not be censored.
All societies should keep some domains of life private.
Others?
These cannot be verified by examining societies.
They make a recommendation.
Empirical evidence may be used to analyze and evaluate them.
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Empirical claims alone are not
enough
Normative claims cannot be supported by simply pointing to
the facts about what people do:
Examples:
Throughout history some people have intentionally killed other
people.
Therefore?
it is OK for individuals to kill others when they choose.
Downloading proprietary music is commonly done.
Therefore?
it is OK to download proprietary music.
These are not adequate arguments.
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The Dialectic Method
1. Normative claims are formed into arguments.
(Argument: A claim and a set of reasons to justify the claim).
2. Arguments are examined for:
Consistency
Plausibility
Coherence
Fit with ordinary experience
Fit with empirical information
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Importance of the Dialectic
Method
1. First step is to move from unreflective beliefs and gut
feelings to claims connected to a value that others accept.
Example: "Censorship is wrong."
2. Critical examination of beliefs can lead to change in belief OR
to a stronger and better understood beliefs.
3. Claims should be consistent from one argument to the next.
Example: Views on abortion and capital punishment.
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Example of the Dialectic
Method
Euthanasia.
Claim: Euthanasia is wrong
Reason for claim:
Human life has the highest value.
Test claim in a variety of cases:
Terminally ill? Extreme pain? Very old?
Test claim in different types of cases:
Capital punishment? War?
Modify claim:
E.g. Taking a human life is wrong except in self defense.
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Practical Ethics is like Design
If you give design specifications to several groups of
engineers, each group will come up with a different
design.
There is often more than one good solution.
There are also solutions that a clearly wrong.
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Ethical Relativism
Claim: Ethical beliefs, rules and practices vary from culture to
culture and from time to time.
Empirical support:
•Cultures vary in what they consider right and wrong.
(E.g. polygamy)
•Morals change over time
(e.g. slavery).
•Moral beliefs are influenced by how and by whom one is raised.
Questions:
•Is it possible that universal norms underlie the disparate
rules/practices?
•Is this the way things ought to be?
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Problems with Ethical
Relativism
1. Normative claim: One should act in conformance with one's
society.
• This asserts a universal moral principle (contradiction)
• Many moral heroes (Ghandi, Jesus) considered bad under
this claim.
2. Alternative claim: It is wrong to judge other cultures by the
standards of your own.
• Again asserts a universal principle
• What about a culture that believes in human sacrifice?
3. Ethical relativism does not provide much help in making moral
decisions.
• New technologies create situations people have not faced
before. There are no societal conventions that apply.
• E.g. Human cloning
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Utilitarianism
Utilitarians focus on the consequences of actions.
They seek actions, rules or policies that bring about good
consequences.
Basic Rule: (What is it?)
Everyone ought to act so as to bring about the greatest
amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.
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Intrinsic vs. Instrumental Value
Some things have instrumental value: They are valued
because they lead to something else that is valued for its own
sake.
Example: Money
Other examples?
Some things have intrinsic value: They are valuable in
themselves.
Example: Knowledge
Other examples?
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Happiness has Intrinsic Value
1. Utilitarians focus on maximizing happiness, because
happiness has intrinsic value.
2. Some utilitarians argue that everything else is desired as a
means to happiness.
Example: Why go to college?
3. Therefore, each person should choose actions that bring
about the most happiness.
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Utilitarianism vs. Egoism
Utilitarianism:
•Want to bring about the most happiness for everyone.
•Each person's happiness counts for the same as everyone
else's.
•Ethical choice could make one's self unhappy, if it makes
others happy.
Egoism:
What is Egoism and how does it differ from
Utilitarianism?
•Specifies that one should act to bring about the greatest
amount of good consequences for one's self.
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