Midterm Review October 3 rd , 2018 Ethics What is ethics? A branch - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Midterm Review

October 3rd, 2018

CS4001: Computing, Society and Professionalism

Sauvik Das | Assistant Professor

Ethics

What is ethics?

“A branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.” - Anonymous Wikipedia contributors

Difference between legal and ethical

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Laws formalize what people can and cannot do in society, while ethics are moral standards that govern what people should or should not do

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In some instances, legal regulations prohibit people from carrying out certain tasks, such as administering life-saving support, that would generally be considered morally permissible actions.

Relativism

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Morality is not a universal law, like gravity; it is not something that can be

• bserved and measured, so rational people cannot discover or try to

understand it

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Subjective: We each create our own morality. Ethical debates are pointless, because there is no “universal truth”

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Cultural: Individual societies and cultures can decide for themselves what’s ’right’ and ‘wrong’ and other societies and cultures should stay out of it.

Utilitarianism

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Also called “consequentialism”

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Principle of Utility (Greatest Happiness Principle)

u "An act is right (or wrong) to the extent that it increases (or decreases) the total

happiness of all affected parties."

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The intention behind an act does not matter – only its consequences.

Act Utilitarianism: The algorithm

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For each human act, calculate its utility:

u Sum benefits over all parties that benefit. u Sum costs over all parties that incur costs. u If total benefit > total cost, the act is “good”. Else, it’s “bad”.

Rule Utilitarianism

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Adopt moral rules which, if followed by everyone, will lead to the greatest happiness

u E.g., “Promises should be kept”, “Parents should take care of their children”,

“Murder is not allowed under any circumstances”, etc.

Deontology

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Dictionary definition: “the theory or study of moral obligation”

u Normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on rules u From Greek root “deont” -> That which is binding

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Morality is based on reason

u An act is right iff it conforms to the relevant moral obligation; and it is wrong iff it

violates the relevant moral obligation.

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Unlike utilitarianism: the consequences of an action are irrelevant to moral evaluation

Kantianism

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Based on the writing of philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804)

u People should be guided by universal moral laws. Must be based on reason.

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The only thing that is good without qualification is good will.

u Morality derived from this starting premise.

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A person has good will only if the motive of his or her action is based on moral

• bligation, derived from universally valid norms.

The Categorical Imperative

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The Categorical Imperative in Kantianism is moral law that every moral agent recognizes whenever accepting an act as morally obligatory.

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Two (equivalent) formulations of the Kantian Categorical Imperative.

Categorical Imperative: Formulation One

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

u In layman’s terms: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

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Remember: Kant’s argument is not based on consequences. He argues that breaking the categorical imperative is illogical / against reason.

Categorical Imperative: Formulation Two

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

u In layman’s terms: Treat others how you wish to be treated.

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Two formulations are thought to be equivalent to each other.

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“Inherent” value of human beings vs. “instrumental” value of objects

Perfect vs imperfect duties

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To help resolve conflicts between some rules, Kant made a distinction between “perfect” and “imperfect” duties.

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Perfect duties must be followed always.

u “Thou shall nots,” (e.g., no stealing, no lying) u No exceptions

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Imperfect duties must be followed only if they do not conflict with perfect duties.

u Helping others u Cultivating your skills

Social contract theory

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Moral rules are “simply the rules that are necessary if we are to gain the benefits of social living.”

u Basic idea: Everyone agrees to give up some liberties (e.g., obey property rights) in

• rder to reap the benefits of a civilized society

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We need two things:

u A set of moral rules to govern relations among citizens u A government capable of enforcing them

Rawl’s principles of justice

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Each person may claim a “fully adequate” number of basic rights and liberties so long as these claims are consistent with everyone else having a claim to the same rights and liberties.

u Examples: freedom of thought and speech, freedom of association, the right to be

safe from harm, and the right to own property,

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Any social and economic inequalities must satisfy two conditions:

u They are associated with positions in society that everyone has a fair and equal

• pportunity to assume

u They are ”to be of the greatest benefit to the least-advantaged members of

society” (difference principle)

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

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Egocentric understanding of fairness based on individual need

u Stage 1: Obedience & Punishment orientation u Stage 2: Self-interest orientation

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Shared concept of fairness based in societal agreement

u Stage 3: Interpersonal accord and conformity u Stage 4: Authority and social-order maintenance

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Free-standing logic of equality and reciprocity

u Stage 5: Social contract orientation u Stage 6: Universal ethical principles

Gilligan reading

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Gilligan argued that Kohlberg’s theory is overly “androcentric”

u Initially developed using only male participants

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Believed that Kohlberg’s stages over emphasized justice. Developed an alternative “ethic of care” -- shift from “what is just” to “how to respond?”

u Persons have varying degrees of dependence and interdependence on one another. u Those particularly vulnerable to one’s choices deserve extra consideration u Necessary to attend to contextual details of situations in order to safeguard and promote

actual specific interests of affected parties.

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Proposed an alternative set of stages for women:

u L1: Orientation to individual survival u L2: Goodness as self-sacrifice u L3: Morality of non-violence

Stakeholder analysis

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Make a list of all the stakeholders involved.

u Try to balance the positive and negative impact on people

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Not a formal ethical framework, just a useful way of looking at things

Virtue ethics

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One of the oldest normative ethical theories that has recently regained popularity.

u Roots in Plato and Aristotle

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Aristotle believed that the only way to fulfill one’s potential, and achieve happiness, is to acquire virtues (one cannot be born with virtues).

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Anyone who attempts to be virtuous because they want their own happiness has missed the point. Virtue is its own reward.

Applying Virtue Ethics

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Ask yourself, what would a virtuous person do in this situation?

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The virtuous agent is motivated by emotion or inclination, not by rational choice.

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"The fully virtuous do what they should without a struggle against contrary desires; the continent have to control a desire or temptation to do

• therwise."

Applying Virtue Ethics

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Phronesis, or practical wisdom:

u Practical wisdom is the knowledge or understanding that enables its possessor to

“do the right thing”

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The practically wise agent has the capacity to recognize some features of a situation as more important than others.

u Personally disadvantageous nature of a certain action competes in importance with

honesty or benevolence or justice

Ethics

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Learn not only the basics of the ethical frameworks, but their advantages, disadvantages and how they differ (e.g., specifically in their application, in their rationale, etc.)

Arguments

Elements of an Argument

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An argument states a claim and supports it with reasons and evidence from sources.

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When you make an argument, you become its proponent.

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Counterarguments stand in opposition to your argument / claim. They are arguments that try to explain why your argument is wrong. The person making the counterargument is your opponent.

Classical Arguments

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Patterned after persuasive speeches of ancient Greek and Roman orators.

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Structure:

u Introduction u Presentation of writer’s position u Summary of opposing views u Response to opposing views u Conclusion

The rhetorical triangle

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Logos: appeal from logic

u E.g., Kantian categorical imperative and universalizing lying

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Ethos: appeal from character, authority, credibility

u E.g., “I have a Ph.D. in computer security, so you should trust me on topics related

to that”

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Pathos: appeal from emotion, audience’s sympathy

u E.g., Charity donation commercials

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Kairos: appeal from opportunity / timing

Issue questions and information questions

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Issue questions are the origin or arguments: Can usually be reasonably answered in multiple different ways.

u Is CS4001 an interesting and useful class?

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Information questions generally have one factual answer.

u How many students are registered in CS4001 this semester?

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To tell the difference: Can a simple gathering of facts answer it?

Pseudo-arguments

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Rational arguments require two things:

u Reasonable participants u Shared assumptions that can serve as a starting point

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Lacking either of these, arguments devolve into “pseudo-arguments”

Enthymeme

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An enthymeme is a claim supported by reasons.

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Claims answer an issue question

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Reasons are claims used to support other claims

u ‘because’ clauses make the relationship clear

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“After school jobs are bad for teenagers because they take away study time”

Toulmin system

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Claim, reason, warrant, grounds, backing

Claim After-school jobs are good for teenagers Reason Because they teach responsibility and time management Warrant Learning responsibility and time management is good Grounds Evidence that teenagers with after-school jobs are more responsible and have better time management Backing Evidence that more responsible teenagers with better time management skills have better outcomes

What is evidence?

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All the verifiable information a writer might use as support for their argument.

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Part of the “grounds” and “backing” of an argument in support of reasons and warrant.

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Many different types of evidence…

Types of Evidence

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Examples from personal experience or knowledge

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Personal observation or field research

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Interviews, questionnaires & surveys

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Data from reading and extant research

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Testimony

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Statistical data

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Hypothetical examples, cases and scenarios

Persuasive Use of Evidence

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Apply the STAR Criteria (by Richard Fulkerson)

u Sufficiency: Is there enough evidence? u Typicality: Is the chosen evidence representative and typical? u Accuracy: Is the evidence accurate and up to date? u Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the claim?

Many strategies for framing evidence

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Controlling the space given to supporting versus contrary evidence

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Emphasizing a detailed story vs. presenting lots of facts and statistics

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Provide contextual and interpretive comments when presenting data

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Putting contrary evidence in subordinate positions

u “Although mosh pit accidents are rare, when they do occur…” u “Although there have been cases of bad mosh pit accidents, they are very rare”

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Changing labels and names that guide the reader’s response to data

u “mosh pit” vs festival seating

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Using images to guide the reader’s response to data

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Openly address your underlying values in your framing

Sources

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Use sources your audience can trust

u Take into account, for example, the political leanings of the source u Level of review to have something published

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Very different review process for different publications

u Journalism u Book chapters u Refereed journal articles u Conference papers

u Refereed u Non-refereed

Other things to review

Therac-25

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6 known accidents involving massive overdoses causing serious injury and

• death. What happened?

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Some lessons:

u Focusing on particular software bugs is not the way to make a safe system u Too much trust in “perfect” software (removed hardware interlocks) u Take numeric “safety” assessments with a grain of salt u Design for the worst case u Make the most usable option the safest option u Power of user groups to cause change when companies drag their feet

What is privacy?

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Controlling and being aware of who has access to what information about ”you”

u You is some combination of your activities, thoughts, interests, etc.

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Key difficulty of privacy is that what is private is totally individual and contextual.

u Sex life, for example: some people boast about it, other people can’t imagine

speaking about it.

u But even people who boast about it probably don’t want it to be totally public.

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“Zone of inaccessibility”

Balance

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At a societal level, need to balance individual desire for privacy against the “good of society”

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Factors to be balanced:

u Safeguarding personal and group privacy, in order to protect individuality and

freedom against unjustified intrusions by authorities.

u Collecting relevant, personal information for rational decision making in social,

commercial and governmental life.

u Conducting the constitutionally limited government surveillance of people and

activities necessary to protect public order and safety.

Free market vs consumer protection view

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Free market: it’s your choice how much info to give away

u Privacy as a negative right

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Consumer protection: People don’t understand implications, consumers can’t negotiate terms with a business

u Privacy as a positive right

Governments and Privacy

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Government policy has a significant impact on individual privacy

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Government must balance competing desires:

u Desire to be left alone and free from surveillance u Desire for safety and security

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Different governments balance these desires separately.

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2007 study by Privacy International found eight countries that were rated as being ‘endemic surveillance societies’

u China, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, UK, Taiwan, Thailand and U.S.A.

Solove’s taxonomy of privacy

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Information collection: Activities that gather personal information

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Information processing: Activities that store, manipulate, and use personal information that has been collected

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Information dissemination: Activities that spread personal information

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Invasion: Activities that intrude upon a person’s daily life, interrupt someone’s solitude, or interfere with decision-making

1984 is not the right metaphor

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Neal Stephenson talk at Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference. Big Brother Domination Systems One threat Many threats All-encompassing Has edges Abstract Concrete Centralized Networked Irredeemable Redeemable

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Interesting things happen at the edges (e.g., the government vs Apple in the San Bernardino case)

Whistleblowing

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A whistle blower makes an unauthorized disclosure of information about a harmful situation after attempts to report the concerns through authorized

• rganizational channels have been ignored.

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Examples:

u Actions / products of employer that can harm the public u Fraudulent use of tax dollars

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Are whistleblowers heroes or traitors?

Implications of Internet Technologies

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Many internet technologies were developed without taking social expectations into account

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New technologies sometimes cause new social situations to emerge

Censorship and the Internet

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The Internet makes censorship harder:

u Many to many communications u Fast changing / dynamic u Very large u Global u Hard to distinguish between different people (e.g., children vs. adults)

Anonymity

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The Internet has made anonymous communication much easier

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Pros:

u Can be important to empower minority opinions u Encourage sharing of stigmatized experiences / actions u Useful for people in support groups, whistleblowers, political dissidents etc.

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Cons:

u Libel u Harassment u Fraud u Terrorism

Pseudonymity

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Pseudonyms are identifiable handles that are not associated with “real” identity

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Pseudonyms aren’t anonymous – can get some of the benefits of anonymity without affording all of the abuses

The Internet accelerates the propagation of information

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Doesn’t care if that information is verified or not

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Herb Simon:

u Information used to be a scarce resource. Now it’s attention

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Can’t trust everything you read at face value.

u Check sources – InfoWars very different than Nature

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Easy to share, easy to deceive