Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
computing are different from other fields, at least in degree if not in kind. This makes computer ethics
an extraordinarily important discipline for all of us.
How has information technology affected the field of ethics in the past two decades?
Twenty years ago, I had to search newspapers and magazines to find stories on computer/information
ethics. Such stories were uncommon. Now many such stories appear daily. They are so common that
the fact that computing is involved is unremarkable. Stories about body parts being sold on eBay or
identity theft over the Internet or spam legislation all presuppose computing, but computing has so
permeated our culture that it is not something uncommon, but something almost everybody uses. In
a sense, much of ethics has become computer ethics!
Why do you believe it is helpful to view computer ethics issues in terms of policies?
When we act ethically, we are acting such that anyone in a similar situation would be allowed to do
the same kind of action. I am not allowed to have my own set of ethical policies that allow me to do
things that others in a relevantly similar situation cannot do. Ethical policies are public policies. An
act utilitarian, by contrast, would consider each situation individually. On this view, cheating would
not only be justified but required if the individual doing the cheating benefited and others were not
harmed because they did not know about it. This seems to me to be a paradigm of unethical behavior,
and hence I advocate a public policy approach. If cheating is allowed for some, then everyone should
be allowed to cheat in similar situations.
Rather than using “policies” I could use “rules.” But ethical rules are sometimes regarded as binding
without exceptions. A system of exceptionless rules will never work as an ethical theory, for rules can
conflict and sometimes exceptions must be made because of extraordinary consequences. One might
be justified in lying to save a life, for example. I prefer using the word “policy” because I want to suggest
modification may be necessary in cases of conflict or in extraordinary circumstances. Notice that the
policies involving exceptions must themselves be treated as public policy. If it is justifiable for someone
to lie to save a life, it will be justified for others to lie to save a life in similar circumstances.
Please explain the process of resolving an ethical issue using your theory of just conse-
quentialism.
The view is somewhat like rule utilitarianism and somewhat like Kantian ethics but differs crucially
from both of them. Rule utilitarians wish to maximize the good but typically without concern for jus-
tice. Just consequentialism does not require maximization of the good, which is in general unknowable,
and does not sanction unjust policies simply because they have good consequences. Kant's theory re-
quires us to act only on those maxims that we can will to be a universal law. But Kant's theory does not
allow for exceptions. Kant thought one ought never lie. Moreover, the typical Kantian test question of
what would happen if everyone did a certain kind of action is not the right question, for this test rules
out far too much, for example, becoming a computer programmer (what if everyone were to become a
computer programmer?). For just consequentialism, the test question is what would happen if every-
one were
allowed
to do a certain kind of action. We need to consider both the consequences and the
justice of our public policies.
In ethics we are concerned about rights and duties, and consequences of actions. Just consequentialism
is a mixed system in that it is part deontological and part consequential. Rights and duties can be
challenged if they are unfair or cause significant harm, but usually are properly taken as normative
guides. One's rights as a citizen and one's duties as a parent are examples. In evaluating consequences
we need to consider values that all people share, because we want to develop a policy that we can
impartially publicly advocate. Everyone in similar circumstances should be allowed to follow it. At
