z

Professional
Ethics and
Responsibility
z
What is Professional Ethics

 A professional is an expert in a field

 Professional ethics includes relationships with and

responsibilities toward people

 Many professions have a code of ethics that professionals are

expected to abide by
z
Types of Professional Ethics

 Legal ethics

 Medical Ethics

 Teaching Ethics
z
Ethical Theories
Each moral theory holds a specific approach in how to handle life’s decisions.

 Utilitarianism -Utilitarianism is a moral theory that implements fair choices in an effort

to ensure the least amount of harm is done to all parties involved.

 Denotology - Deontology focuses on the consequences of your actions and believes that
when faced with life choices, you should operate according to responsibility and
obligations.

 Virtue- Virtue is very distinct from other ethic theories in that it looks at a person’s
individual character, not necessarily his actions.

 Relativism - Relativism is a theory that deems your moral obligations and beliefs to be
based on the individual environment.
z
Code Of Ethics

 Example
z

 Professional Code of Ethics - Several professions have a code of

ethics that exists independent of any particular employment

 Personal Code of Ethics - Individual codes of ethics can originate from

religion, secular philosophy or rules of social behavior derived from
upbringing and experience.
z
Ethical Guidelines for Computer
Professionals

 ACM(Association for Computer Machinery) Code of Conduct

 Professional Code of Ethics different from general ethics

 Used by young staffs to handle difficult ethical situation

z

The codes emphasize on ethical values and cover many aspects of

professional behavior
• Respect Confidentiality

• Honest and Fair

• Maintain Professional competence

• Respects and protection of personal privacy

• Understand relevant law

• Avoid harming others

• Respect property rights

z
Additional Guidelines

 Understand what success means

 Include users in design and testing phase to provide safe and useful
system

 Do a Thorough careful job when planning and scheduling a project

and writing bids or contract

 Design for real user

 Do not assume the existing software is safe or correct

 Be open and honest about capabilities safety and limitation of

software