Module 1 : Philosophy and Ethics

Dr Ram Paul Hathwal

Assistant Professor,
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
ASET, AUUP, Noida

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 Topics to be covered

• Introduction to philosophy; definition, nature and scope, concept, branches

• Origin of Ethics

• Ethics: definition, moral philosophy, nature of moral judgments and

reactions.

• Benefit of Ethics

• Freedom in ethical discourse

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 Introduction of Philosophy

• “Philosophy takes our heads out of the clouds, enlarging our views of
ourselves and our knowledge of the world, allowing us to break out of
prejudices and harmful habits that we have held since we were too young or
too naïve to know better”

• “Philosophy puts our lives and our beliefs in perspective, by enabling us to

see afresh the ways in which we view the world, to see what we assume,
what we infer, and what we know for certain”.

• “Philosophy allows us to appreciate other views of the world. It encourages

us to see the consequences of our views and sometimes their hopeless
inconsistencies.”

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 Introduction of Ethics

• “Ethics comes from the Latin term “ethos” which means customs, habitual
conduct, usages and character. ”

• “Ethics is related to morals, moral systems, and to human conduct. ”.

• “As a branch of philosophy, it systematically examines and studies such

concepts as “right” and “wrong.” Ethics deals with what we should and
should not do, what acts are “good” and “wrong.

• It examines such concepts and constructs as responsibility and rights.

• As the basis for ethics, morality is a set or system of rules, principles, or

values (cultural, professional, religious, et cetera) that prescribe behavior
and how we evaluate those behaviors

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 Ethical Presupposes

• That peoples are:

-- Free.
--They want to do what is right.
--- And they can make conscious, thoughtful and reflective decisions.

• Types of Ethical thinking: 

--Descriptive: reports the “facts” “doesn’t get us too far in resolving ethical
dilemmas.
--Normative: concerned with questions of good/bad, right and wrong; allows us to
make moral judgments.
--Prescriptive: We make assertions based on consideration of morality; concerned
with what OUGHT to be the case; such assertions must not be random, it must
involve a system of rules and values; prescriptive statements are generalizable.
•

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 Ethical Theories

• Consequentiality-based Theory (Mill):

-- Utilitarian (Beneficial)
-- Act-utilitarian
-- Rule-utilitarian 

•  Consequentiality-based (Kant):
  --Rule deontology
--Act deontology

• ACT (Focus on primacy of Individual actions) versus RULE (Focus on the

primacy of general rules)

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 Ethical Theories Continued..
• Rights-based

• Natural rights (Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness)

• Legal rights

• Positive versus negative rights:

“Rights considered negative rights may include civil and political rights such as
freedom of speech, private property, freedom from violent crime, freedom of
worship, habeas corpus, a fair trial, freedom from slavery and the right to bear
arms.”

“Rights considered positive rights may include other civil and political rights such
as police protection of person and property and the right to counsel, as well as
economic, social and cultural rights such as public education, health care, social
security, and a minimum standard of living.” 

•  Character Based (AKA, virtue ethics): don’t ask what can I DO but what kind of
person can I BE?
•
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Four type of Ethical Theory (H.Tavani)

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 Computer/ Information Ethics

•  “Computer and information ethics”, in the broadest sense of this phrase,

can be understood as that branch of applied ethics which studies and
analyzes such social and ethical impacts of ICT.

• CE as a “field” dates to the 1940s with the work of Norbert Wiener, followed
by Maner, Moor, Johnson,

• IE, more recently coined in the 1980s by Rafael Capurro in German and
Robert Hauptman in St Cloud

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 Computer/ Information Security
Ethics Model

Computer and Information Security Ethics – General Model

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 Morals/Ethics

•  Customs, habits, behavior

• Ethics is the study of morality.

• So-we are studying the customs, habits of ICT and all that it entails.

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 Conduct

• “Directives—micro level

• Social policies—macro level

• Professional—codes

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 Moral Systems (By Gert)

• Fundamental purpose is to prevent or alleviate harm or suffering

• Public

• Informal

• Rationality (all moral agents—so, who does this exclude? Are robots
rationale, for example?)

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 Gert’s Ten Moral Rules

• Do not kill.

• Do not cause pain.

•  Do not disable

• Do not deprive of freedom

• Do not deprive of pleasure

• Do not deceive

• Keep your promises

• Do not cheat

• Obey the law

• Do your duty. 
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 Arguing about Ethics and IT

• Should the organization have the right to monitor your email?

• Is online gaming a social ill?

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 Structure of Ethical Theories

•  An essential feature of theory in general is that it guides us in our

investigations.

• In science, theory provides us with some general principles and structures

to analyze our data.

• The purpose of ethical theory, like scientific theory, is to provide us with a

framework for analyzing moral issues.

• Ideally, a good theory should be coherent, consistent, comprehensive, and

systematic.

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 Ethical Decision Making
•  Define the situation, recognize your bias, feelings, responsibilities Identify
stakeholders Look to extant codes of ethics/organizational/institutional
policies

• Ensure your competence in evaluating/responding to the situation.

• Consider the boundaries of your actions or inactions.

• Evaluate alternatives to your decisions

• Evaluate who will be affected by your decisions?

• Will you be confident in disclosing your decision?

• Will your public statement/decision match your organizational

mission/personality?

• Consider the cumulative result of this decision, as it will affect subsequent

decisions. Think precedent.
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 Question of Concern
 

• Does the emergence of digital media significantly alter how we are to think
about our ethical responsibilities towards one another? How or why not?

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Thank You

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