Ethics Three “random” chats

“knowing doing gap”

Categories of normative sciences

• Logic — things that are true• Aesthetics — things that are

admirable• Ethics — things that are good

Heroic figures in ethics

• Aristotle — definitions• Kant — criteria• Perry — personal

– versus communitarian

• Rawls — operational• Professional — liability• Habermas — dialogue• Küng — empirical

• Various schemes:environmental, feminist, power, etc

William Perry

• Levels of intellectual sophistication

• Ethical development

Dualism 1-3

• 1 Assumption of dualistic structure of world taken for granted, unexamined

• 2 Truth exists, but not all authorities are knowledgeable

• 3 Absolute truth has not been discovered, yet

Multiplicity 4-6

• 4 Knowledge is not secure but is any person’s

• 5 Knowledge is always changing or subject to change

Commitment to realism 6-9

• 6 Knowledge is not something that is external and definite but something that each individual constructs

Initial commitment

• 7 Knowledge is the world view one has constructed from learning and experience, along with the ethical implications of this view

• 8 Knowledge is a creative resolution between uncertainty and the need to act

• 9 Individual must break through to new perspectives and discard those no longer useful

Perry summary

• 9 levels• 1-3 absolute• 4-~6 relative• ~6-9 personal

Professional ethics

• Avoiding legal problems• Privacy, permission

Purpose

• Ends• Means• Rationalisable

– E.g., historical, economic

• Objective/subjective

Ethics v meta-ethics

• Environmental ethics• Sadism• Marxism (ideology & false

consciousness)• Feminism• Hedonism• Virtue ethics• Utilitarianism

continued…

• Deontology• Consequentialism• Situation ethics• Monism v pluralism• Utilitarianism• Virtue ethics

continued…

• Relativism• Absolutism

– Universalism– Realism– Absolutism (Perry position 1!)

• Machiavelli– Private– Public

HCI stances

• Standards IS09471• User’s task• Usability• Cost-effectiveness• Metrics. Empirical• Design• Enjoyment

‘Usability’ as applied ethics

• Kant’s categorical imperative• Reciprocity

– Help lines?– Bug reports?– User participation? (evaluation…)

Kant

• Criterion• Some ‘nice’ principles

– E.g., reciprocity, universalisability

Küng’s 6 rules

• Solving problems: don’t create greater problems

• Burden of proof: demonstrate avoids human or environmental damage

• Common good: e.g., benefits the community, for a period

• Urgency: e.g., survival more important than privacy

…continued

• Ecology: system more important than individuals

• Reversibility: system must be reversible, removable, not cause dependency

Post-marxist critical theory

• One dimensional man (Marcuse)– “I shop therefore I am”

• Atomised (Lyotard)– What is choice/democracy when you

have 500 channels of TV?

What I want

• Operational ethics• Bridge ‘knowing-doing gap’

Justice

• Distributive• Restorative• Punitive• Political

Aristotle’s view

• Doing good for others• Only virtue you can’t fake

Justice by programming

• Fair chocolate bar

John Rawls

• Justice• Veil of ignorance• Creating a just world• Creating a just system

Conclusions

• Ethics v politics• CS is politics• Get involved!

Next lecture — Thursday 2pm

An ethical debate on tags and tagging

Where from?

• Communitarian• Individual• Artificial