09-09-2017, 10:38 AM
Computational ethics is a part of the practical philosophy related to how IT professionals must make decisions regarding professional and social behavior. Margaret Anne Pierce, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computing at the University of Southern Georgia, has categorized ethical decisions related to technology and computer use into three main influences:
1. The personal code of the individual.
2. Any informal code of ethical conduct that exists in the workplace.
3. Exposure to formal codes of ethics.
The concept of computational ethics originated in the 1940s with MIT professor Norbert Wiener. While working on antiaircraft artillery during World War II, Wiener and his fellow engineers developed a communication system between the part of a cannon tracking a warplane, the part that performed calculations to estimate a trajectory, and the party responsible for firing . Wiener called the science of such information feedback systems "cybernetic," and discussed this new field with his related ethical concerns in his 1948 book, Cybernetics. In 1950, Wiener's second book, The Human Use of Humans, delved into the ethical aspects of information technology and laid the foundations of computer ethics.
To understand the foundation of computer ethics, it is important to look at the various schools of ethical theory. Each school of ethics influences a situation in a certain direction and pushes the final result of ethical theory. Relativism is the belief that there are no universal moral standards of good and evil. In the school of relativistic ethical belief, ethicists divide it into three connected but different structures, the subject (moral) and (anthropological) culture. Moral relativism is the idea that each person decides what is right or wrong for them. Anthropological relativism is the concept of right and wrong that is decided by the actual structure of the moral belief of a society. Deontology is the belief that people's actions must be guided by moral laws, and that these moral laws are universal. The origins of deontological ethics are generally attributed to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant and his ideas on the categorical imperative. Kant believed that for any school of ethical thought to apply to all rational beings, they should have a foundation in reason. Kant divided this school into two categorical imperatives. The first categorical imperative declares to act only from moral rules that you can, at the same time, be universal moral laws. The second categorical imperative declares that they always treat both and others as ends in themselves, and never as a means to an end. Utilitarianism is the belief that if an action is good, it benefits someone and an action is bad if it harms someone. This ethical belief can be divided into two different schools, the Utilitarianism of Law and the Utilitarianism of the Rules. Act Utilitarianism is the belief that an action is good if its overall effect is to produce more happiness than unhappiness. Rule Utilitarianism is the belief that we must adopt a moral rule and if followed by all, would lead to a higher level of happiness in general. The social contract is the concept that for a society to arise and maintain order, a set of rules based on morality must be established. The theory of social contract has influenced modern government and is very involved with corporate law. Philosophers like John Rawls, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau helped to create the basis of the social contract. Virtue Ethics is the belief that ethics should be more concerned with the character of the moral agent (virtue), rather than focusing on a set of rules that dictate correct and incorrect actions, as in the cases of deontology and utilitarianism, context, as seen in the ethics of the Social Contract. Although concern for virtue appears in various philosophical traditions, in the West the roots of tradition reside in the work of Plato and Aristotle, and even today the key concepts of tradition derive from ancient Greek philosophy. The conceptual foundations of computer ethics are investigated by information ethics, a branch of philosophical ethics established by Luciano Floridi. The term computer ethics was coined by Walter Maner, a professor at Bowling Green State University. Since the 1990s, the field has begun to integrate into professional development programs in academic settings.
1. The personal code of the individual.
2. Any informal code of ethical conduct that exists in the workplace.
3. Exposure to formal codes of ethics.
The concept of computational ethics originated in the 1940s with MIT professor Norbert Wiener. While working on antiaircraft artillery during World War II, Wiener and his fellow engineers developed a communication system between the part of a cannon tracking a warplane, the part that performed calculations to estimate a trajectory, and the party responsible for firing . Wiener called the science of such information feedback systems "cybernetic," and discussed this new field with his related ethical concerns in his 1948 book, Cybernetics. In 1950, Wiener's second book, The Human Use of Humans, delved into the ethical aspects of information technology and laid the foundations of computer ethics.
To understand the foundation of computer ethics, it is important to look at the various schools of ethical theory. Each school of ethics influences a situation in a certain direction and pushes the final result of ethical theory. Relativism is the belief that there are no universal moral standards of good and evil. In the school of relativistic ethical belief, ethicists divide it into three connected but different structures, the subject (moral) and (anthropological) culture. Moral relativism is the idea that each person decides what is right or wrong for them. Anthropological relativism is the concept of right and wrong that is decided by the actual structure of the moral belief of a society. Deontology is the belief that people's actions must be guided by moral laws, and that these moral laws are universal. The origins of deontological ethics are generally attributed to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant and his ideas on the categorical imperative. Kant believed that for any school of ethical thought to apply to all rational beings, they should have a foundation in reason. Kant divided this school into two categorical imperatives. The first categorical imperative declares to act only from moral rules that you can, at the same time, be universal moral laws. The second categorical imperative declares that they always treat both and others as ends in themselves, and never as a means to an end. Utilitarianism is the belief that if an action is good, it benefits someone and an action is bad if it harms someone. This ethical belief can be divided into two different schools, the Utilitarianism of Law and the Utilitarianism of the Rules. Act Utilitarianism is the belief that an action is good if its overall effect is to produce more happiness than unhappiness. Rule Utilitarianism is the belief that we must adopt a moral rule and if followed by all, would lead to a higher level of happiness in general. The social contract is the concept that for a society to arise and maintain order, a set of rules based on morality must be established. The theory of social contract has influenced modern government and is very involved with corporate law. Philosophers like John Rawls, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau helped to create the basis of the social contract. Virtue Ethics is the belief that ethics should be more concerned with the character of the moral agent (virtue), rather than focusing on a set of rules that dictate correct and incorrect actions, as in the cases of deontology and utilitarianism, context, as seen in the ethics of the Social Contract. Although concern for virtue appears in various philosophical traditions, in the West the roots of tradition reside in the work of Plato and Aristotle, and even today the key concepts of tradition derive from ancient Greek philosophy. The conceptual foundations of computer ethics are investigated by information ethics, a branch of philosophical ethics established by Luciano Floridi. The term computer ethics was coined by Walter Maner, a professor at Bowling Green State University. Since the 1990s, the field has begun to integrate into professional development programs in academic settings.