Cisb 412 lecture 2

CISB 412 Social and Professional Issues

Understanding Ethics

Reference• Materials used in this presentation are extracted mainly from

the following texts, unless stated otherwise.

Michael J. Quinn “Ethics for the Information Age”, 3rd edition. Pearson 2009

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this lesson you should be able to:– Define ethics – Describe and compare the frameworks that can be

used for moral decisions

Key Terms

• Society – A large group of people who live together in an organized

way, making decisions about how to do things and sharing the work that needs to be done

• Morality – society’s rules of conduct, what people ought / ought not

to do in various situations.– a personal or social set of standards for good or bad

behaviour and character, or the quality of being right, honest or acceptable. Applies to personal character and behavior Cambridge Dictionary Online

Cambridge Dictionary Online

Defining Ethics• Greek ethos which means character. • Philosophical study of morality, examine into people’s moral

believe and behaviour• A system of accepted beliefs which control behaviour, based

on moral. It stresses on idealistic standards of right and wrong.

• The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession.

• Ethics tries to answer questions like: What actions are good? What actions are evil?

American Heritage Dictionary

Wikipedia

Cambridge Dictionary Online

Why study ethics?

• A subject in almost all disciplines of studies– How you should conduct yourself in a way that does not

cause harm to people while on duty• New problems accompany new technologies• “Common wisdom” not always adequate

- what if common sense does not make any sense?

How do they compare?Between ethics and moral

– Moral is the good or bad of a behaviour / believes– Ethics examine the behaviour to decide whether it is good or bad

Between ethics and etiquetteBusiness ethics is a code or a set of standards that a business adheres to. This code essentially states what is considered ethical, and what is considered unethical in terms of how the business is conducted in relation to what is best for human beings, the community, the environment, and so on. Business etiquette, on the other hand, is essentially conducting business affairs in a polite manner. It can be compared, in some ways, to dinner table etiquette.

Between being unethical and being illegal Illegal is against the law. Unethical acts might be against the law, but not always.

Unethical is also subjective (sometimes a matter of opinion) whereas illegal is objective (it either is, or it isn't). Most things that are illegal are also considered unethical. For example: Prostitution is illegal (and unethical). A married man going to a strip club is unethical but not illegal.

Seven Ethical Theories• Frameworks for moral decision making - Insight that

provides the foundation to decide the rights and the wrongs of an action

• The way we decide if an action is ethical or unethical

• We will look at what they are and how/when they are applicable/unapplicable

1. Subjective Relativism

2. Cultural Relativism

3. Divine Command

Theory4. Kantianism

7. Social Contract Theory

5. Act utilitarianism

6. Rule Utilitarianism

Seven Ethical Theories

– No universal moral norms of right and wrong– Each person decides right and wrong for

him/herself– “ What’s right for you may not be right for me”



Scenario :• An administrator for the employees leave system in an organization

decides to ‘add’ one extra day into the total annual leave of his colleague. He decides to do so because his colleague was ‘forced’ to work during the weekend.

• For: Well meaning, not all rules are ’fairly’ applicable; it is not fair to ‘take’ employees rest day away without compensation hence quietly adding the day is not a problem.

• Against: How can we be sure there are no ulterior motives? Hard to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable reason.



– Case for • Well meaning, intelligent people can have totally

opposite opinion (agree to disagree?)– Case against

• Hard to draw the line• Makes no moral distinction between the actions of

different people– NOT a workable ethical theory



• The meaning of right and wrong rests with a society’s actual moral guidelines, one society may say an action as ‘right’, and another ‘wrong’

• Vary from place to place and time to time



Examples:• The act of human sacrifice in order to stop drought. A tribe decides to

sacrifice a human to appease the rain god• Exotic Animal Eating—this tends to disgust most people. In some Asian

countries, people do enjoy feasting on exotic animal. – A cultural relativist would have no problem with this, even if their own

culture would consider this to be cruelty to animals and therefore immoral. This is ethically relative because exotic animal eating in Asian countries has no impact on the person in the US who believes it is immoral.

• Take children out after the sleeping time – will be frowned upon in the Western country, here in Malaysia it is perfectly ok.



• Case for– Different social contexts demand different moral

guidelines• Case against

— Because two societies do have different moral views doesn’t mean they ought to have different views

— No explanation how to determine the moral guidelines of a particular society

— No ground for reconciliation between cultures in conflict• NOT a workable ethical theory



• Good actions are those aligned with the will of God• Do as per instructed in the Holy books, so should refer to the

books• Case for– We owe obedience to our Creator, the all knowing and all

good– The ultimate authority• Case against– Many holy books, some teachings disagree with each other– Unrealistic to assume multicultural society to adopt religion

based morality– Based on obedience, not reason

3. Divine Command Theory


• People’s actions ought to be guided by moral laws and these laws must be based on reason

• Reason should cultivate desire to do right thing• Focus in on what ought to be done/do the right thing -

dutifulness• A dutiful person feels compelled to act in a certain way out

of respect for some moral rule.

4. Kantianism


What makes a moral rule appropriate?

4. Kantianism

Categorical Imperative (1Categorical Imperative (1stst Formulation) Formulation) Categorical Imperative (2Categorical Imperative (2ndnd Formulation) Formulation)

Act only from moral rules that you can at the Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral lawssame time will to be universal moral laws

i.e. universalizing the moral rule, if it self-i.e. universalizing the moral rule, if it self-destructs when we try to make it universal, destructs when we try to make it universal, then it is wrongthen it is wrong

Act so that you always treat yourself and Act so that you always treat yourself and other people as ends in themselves and other people as ends in themselves and never only as means to an endnever only as means to an end

i.e. It is wrong for one person to “use” i.e. It is wrong for one person to “use” anotheranother

Seven Ethical Theories4. Kantianism

Categorical Imperative (1st Formulation)

Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral laws

i.e. universalizing the moral rule, if it self-destructs when we try to make it universal, then it is wrong

Pearson Education Inc

Seven Ethical Theories4. Kantianism

Categorical Imperative (2nd Formulation)

Act so that you always treat yourself and other people as ends in themselves and never only as means to an end

i.e. It is wrong for one person to “use” another

Pearson Education Inc


• Case for– Rational– Produces universal moral guidelines– Treats all persons as moral equals– Workable ethical theory

• Case against– Sometimes no rule adequately characterizes an action,

there is no way to resolve a conflict between rules.– E.g. Mother stealing food to save her hungry children.

What is the moral rule applicable here? Saving starving children or stealing?

4. Kantianism


• Principle of Utility/Great Happiness Principle

“An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it increases

(or decreases) the total happiness of the affected parties”• The value of the consequences of the particular act that

counts when determining whether the act is right - measures the consequences of a SINGLE ACT

• An action is good if it benefits someone, vice versa• Also called consequentialist as the focus is on the

consequences of an action

5. Utilitarianism -Act Utilitarianism


Highway Routing Scenario• State may replace a

curvy stretch of highway

• New highway segment 1 mile shorter

• 150 houses would have to be removed

• Some wildlife habitat would be destroyed


EvaluationCosts

$20 million to compensate homeowners$10 million to construct new highwayLost wildlife habitat worth $1 million

Benefits$39 million savings in automobile driving costs

ConclusionBenefits exceed costsBuilding highway a good action


• Case for– Focuses on happiness– Down-to-earth (practical)– Comprehensive

• Case against– it seems to be too permissive, capable of justifying any crime, and

even making it morally obligatory, if only the value of the particular consequences of the particular act is great enough

– act-utilitarianism seems better in theory than in practice, since we hardly ever have the time and the knowledge to predict the consequences of an act, assess their value, and make comparisons with possible alternative acts


www.utilitarianism.com


• Alternative to act utilitarianism• Ought to adopt moral values which, if followed by everyone

will lead to the greatest increase in total happiness• Instead of looking at the consequences of a particular act,

rule-utilitarianism determines the rightness of an act by a different method.

6. Utilitarianism - Rule Utilitarianism


1. The rule of conduct is established. This is done by finding the value of the consequences of following a particular rule.

2. Measures the consequences of the act repeated over and over again through time as if it were to be followed as a RULE whenever similar circumstances arise


www.utilitarianism.com


• Proposed rule of conduct: If I can write a helpful worm that removes a harmful worm from infected computers and shields them from future attacks, I should do so

• Who would benefit?– People who do not keep their systems updated

• Who would be harmed?– People who use networks, network become congested– People who’s computers are invaded by buggy anti-worms– System administrators, more work

• Conclusion: Harm outweighs benefits. Releasing anti-worm is wrong.



• Act utilitarianism applies Principle of Utility to individual actions• Rule utilitarianism applies Principle of Utility to moral rules

Example of rule utilitarianism: Not killing people will, as a rule, prevent the most sadness. Opening and holding doors for people will, as a rule, make people happy and appreciative.Examples of act utilitarianism are specific actions: Not killing a specific person will prevent sadness for that person's family. Opening the door for the lady carrying a box will make her happy.




• Morality consists in the set of rules governing how people are to treat one another, that rational people will agree to accept for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others follow those rules as well.

• Persons’ moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live.

• In order to make this work society needs to also provide the system to enforce the rules



Close correspondence between rights and duties• If you have the rights to live, then others have the duties not

to kill you• If you have a right to free health care when you are ill, then

others have the duty to make sure you receive it



• A negative right – duty to guarantee that you will be left alone to exercise your rights. E.g. Freedom to observe religion practice

• A positive right – obligates other to do something on your behalf. E.g. Rights to free education. Government, teachers, admins must facilitate this right

• Absolute right – guaranteed without exception. (negative rights is considered absolute rights)

• Limited right – may be restricted based on circumstances, positive right is considered limited right)



• Case for• Framed in language of rights• Provides clear analysis of certain citizen/government

problems• Workable ethical theory

• Case against– Conflicting rights problem– May unjustly treat people who cannot uphold contract


Questions?

Latest Updates

• You are to attend the “IT Industry – Up Close and Personal” session this Friday 21st Oct, from 2:30-5:00 PM @ DK1– Compulsory attendance – a small entry on this session is

to be added into your blog as part as your assignment

• The new submission plan for your assessment is as follows:

1. Assignment Part 1 - Monday week 7, by 5 PM

2. Assignment Part 2 + Additional task for the session with IT Professionals, by Monday week 9, by 5 PM

Cisb 412 lecture 2

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