Unit 7: Technology Ethics and Society

1. Unit 7:Technology Ethics and Society Tech 198 From notes by Dr. Seth P. Bates Aviation and Technology Department

2. Vocabulary of Ethics • Ethics, Morals, Mores • Ethics ~ The study of standards of conduct and moral judgment; moral philosophy; a treatise on this study; the system or code of morals of a particular person, religion, group, profession, etc. Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

3. Vocabulary • Morals ~ Law based on general observation of people, on analogy, etc., rather than on what is demonstrable. • Mores~ Accepted modes or manners of behavior within a society or culture Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

4. Why we need ethics for technology • As a framework for making decisions about the implementation of technologies. • Current examples of questions with ethical implications Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

5. Manners and ethics • Ethics deal with questions of right and wrong • Manners are at a lower level. This does not meant that they are unimportant, simply that they relate to less profound issues. • Manners have been referred to as “the grease that keeps society turning freely”. Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

6. Ethics ~ Frameworks of Thought Three main threads of thought: • value- or goal-based theories (consequentialist if only forward-looking); • duty-based theories ("deontological"); • emphasizes the virtues, or moral character (virtue ethics) Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

7. Ethics ~ Frameworks of Thought • Deontological theories hold that certain acts or practices are inherently wrong • In moral philosophy, deontologyis the view that morality either forbids or permits actions. E.g., a deontological moral theory might hold that lying is wrong, even if it produces good consequences. • Deontological theories, from the Greek word deon, or duty, emphasize foundational duties or obligations. This is a kind of purest view of ethics, somewhat independent of the realities of life. Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

8. Ethics ~ Frameworks of Thought • Consequentialists - base arguments on expected consequences • An act is said to be 'right' in consequentialism 'if and only if it causally produces, or is intended to produce, at least as great a future balance of good over evil as any available alternative'. Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

9. Ethics ~ Frameworks of Thought • Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism with the greatest happiness as sole principle. • Argument: Utilitarianism has no way to guarantee that the distribution of goods among persons will be an equal or proportional one (proportionate to their needs and/or merits, for instance). • Therefore, if an equal or proportional distribution is a good thing in itself, utilitarianism fails. Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

10. Virtue Ethics • Virtue ethics emphasizes the virtues, or moral character • This is in contrast to the approach which emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism). Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

11. Clarifying thinking about ethical issues ~ a methodology for analysis • Identify affected parties (all of them) • understanding their interests • Identify potential effects • Identify and clarify ethical concepts, precepts, and principles [expected norms of acceptable behavior ~ mores] • Identify your guiding principles (framework) Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society

12. To discuss Class group discussion The contextual framework of ethics: • examine / discuss specific concepts or acts which have been viewed different ways at different times in human history. Tech198: Technology, Ethics, and Society