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Ethical Issues in Computer Science

CSCI 328, Fall 2013Session 5

Analogical Reasoning

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Rights and DutiesRights are often related to deontological theories.

Each individual has a right to be treated as an end.Negative rights:

Require restraint by others.Example?

Positive rights:Others have a duty to do something to or for the right holder.Example?

These are more controversial than negative rights.

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Deriving RightsCan we derive rights from other theories?

Utilitarians argue for proprietary rights to software. Why?

Legal rights: Created by laws.Name some legal rights.

Moral and Natural (Human) rights: Independent of laws.Name some moral rights.

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Social Contract TheoryThe social contract (between individuals or between individuals

and government) is hypothesized to explain and justify the obligations that humans have to one another.

Rational humans agree (form a contract) to join forces with others and give up some of their natural freedom in exchange for the benefits of cooperation.

(To avoid living in a state of insecurity or uncertainty).

How do we decide what rules are fair?

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Rawlsian Justice

John Rawls introduced his "Theory of Justice" in 1971.

•Individuals are self-interested, so it's hard to arrive at a just system.•Imagine individuals behind a "veil of ignorance".

What is this?

•These individuals must agree on a set of rules that they will abide by while they are behind the veil of ignorance.•Rawls argues that the rules will be just.

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Virtue Ethics

This idea goes back to Plato and Aristotle.What makes a good person?

Possibilities:

•There is no general agreement on the list (or ranking) of virtues.•Virtue Ethics addresses moral character (as opposed to actions and decision making).•It can be useful to consider virtue ethics when discussing Professional Ethics.

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Why Use Analogies?

•Analogies are a useful way to examine ethical issues.

•Analogies allow us to consider a situation similar to the technological one, but without the technology.

•The analogy allows us to draw on "accepted morality" that has been determined in other, more familiar cases.

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Does Technology Make a Difference?

•Asking whether the absence of technology makes a moral difference can yield information whether the answer is yes or no.

•If the answer is no, then the analogy may allow us to see the situation is more clearly.

•If the answer is yes, then we need to look more carefully at the situation in which technology plays a part.

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Example: HackersSituation: A hacker breaks into a computer system, looks at some files and makes copies of some files.

Analogy: A person breaks into a locked office and steals files from a filing cabinet.

Similarities:

Differences:

Moral equivalence?

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Dangers of Analogies

Analogies may seem so compelling that we fail to see important differences that may make them morally not equivalent to the IT situation.

Example: Some hackers release computer viruses to expose security holes and alert computer owners.

Analogy (Spafford, 1992): This is like setting fire to a shopping mall to show the flaws in the fire protection system.Similarities:

Differences:

Moral equivalence?