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Ethical Philosophies James L. Johnson September 29, 2008 Question: How to distinguish right from wrong? Possible answers: • I know it when I see it. • Rules of thumb (e.g. "Do no harm.") • Appeal to authority • Ethical philosophies Structures (principles) that facilitate reasoning from a specific act to a judgment as to its morality. Objective Introduce and compare four ethical philosophies 1. Utilitarianism 2. Duty-based 3. Contract-based 4. Character-based (Deontological Ethics) Utilitarianism • Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) • Social utility measured by happiness produced • Greatest good for the greatest number • Granularity of application each act each rule • Utilitarianism emphasizes consequences Duty-based Ethics • Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) • Duty (obligations) among humans never consequences • Categorical Imperative Each human is an end-in-himself never a means to a more distant goal • Granularity of application each act (consider all human agents) each rule (insist on universal binding) • Criticism: how to resolve conflicting moral duties Contract-based Ethics • Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) • Initial state of nature: free, but "... life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." • Reason suggests a contract with a sovereign surrender some absolute freedom receive a system of laws and traditions • Motivation for morality: self-interest neither utilitarianism nor duty-based ethics offers a motivation • Criticism: minimalist ethics Character-based Ethics • Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) • Emphasizes individual virtue (character) • Question is no longer "What should I do?" but, "What should I be?" • Virtuous person seldom encounters acts where deliberation is necessary • Correct habits • Criticism: conflicts among virtues; virtuous person indifferent to consequences? requires strong cultural context Just Consequentialism • Integrates utilitarian and deontological theories • James Moor (1999) • regulate conduct to (a) prevent unnecessary suffering and (b) support societal duties • rules should be impartial -- indifferent as which particular person plays which role (veil of ignorance again) • finally, when choosing among impartial rules, consider just consequences In Computer Science Context 1. Deliberate candidate policies from an impartial viewpoint. Policy is ethical if it (a) causes no unnecessary harm and (b) supports societal duties 2. Rank just policies identified in Step 1 by (a) weighing consequences and (b) clarifying distinctions between facts and principles Summary 1. Utilitarianism (maximize happiness) 2. Duty-based (humans have special obligations) 3. Contract-based (negotiate responsibilities) 4. Character-based (become a virtuous person) 5. Just Consequentialism (blend duty-based core with consideration of just consequences) Some final questions • Who performs the ethical analysis? individual? elected representatives? unelected representatives? • Is democracy utilitarian? What theory justifies minority rights? • Does the categorical imperative extend to positive rights e.g. Do I have a duty to feed my neighbor on a continuing basis? References 1. Tavani, Herman T. Ethics & Technology, Wiley, 2004 2. Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianiam, Bobbs-Merrill, 1965 3. Kant, Immanuel. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, Translation by T. K. Abbott, Longman, 1965 4. Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, Collier Books, 1962 5. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, Translation by M. Oswald Bobbs-Merrill, 1962 6. Moor, James H. "Reason, Relativity, and Responsibility in Computer Ethics, Computers and Society, Vol. 28, No. 1, 1998