Lesson 1: Introduction to IT Ethics

Morality

______ refers to social conventions about right and wrong that are so widely shared they become the basis for an established consensus. However, individual view of what is moral may vary by age, cultural group, ethnic background, religion, life experiences, education and gender. 

Attitude

______is "a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols" (Hogg & Vaughan).

Attitudes

______ are shaped by the interaction of situations, experiences and values.  All attitudes are learned, and our attitudes vary based on our experiences and learning environment.  One way in which our attitudes are formed is through social learning, which involves the influences of family, peers, colleagues, and institutions.

Affective

_______ component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”.

Behavioral

______ component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”.

Cognitive

_______ component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.

Values

_____which came from the Latin root “valere” means to be “strong and vigorous”.  To be “valere” is to have vigor, the power to do a specific thing which gives rise to an urgent demand to have it or to realize it.

valere

Values which came from the Latin root “____” means to be “strong and vigorous”.  To be “valere” is to have vigor, the power to do a specific thing which gives rise to an urgent demand to have it or to realize it.

strong and vigorous

Values which came from the Latin root “valere” means to be “______”.  To be “valere” is to have vigor, the power to do a specific thing which gives rise to an urgent demand to have it or to realize it.

Values

_____- are the enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence.  Values are more difficult to change or alter than are attitudes, although attitudes are based on values. 

Milton Rokeach

_______- defines values as having to do with modes of conduct and end of existence.

Rokeach

  _______ divides values into instrumental and terminal values.

Terminal values

________ are values that are likely to maintain a high priority throughout one’s life.  These often are goals that you want to accomplish during your lifetime

Instrumental values

_______ are based on the actions and attitudes you have.  According to Milton Rokeach, instrumental values reflect the ways you prefer to behave.

Ethics

_____ comes from the Greek word ethos, meaning character.  The Greece believed that developing character would lead one not only to knowing the right thing to do, but to actually doing the right things or living the right way of life.

Ethics

*  Books define it as the theory of right conduct or the Philosophy of Morals

Ethics

*  Social implications of ethics, defining it as the standard of character set

    by a particular society of men

Ethics

*  Evaluation of moral judgment, defining it as the study of moral judgments

Ethical Behavior

_______, this refers to behavior that is accepted as morally “good” and “right” as opposed to “bad” and “wrong”

Organizational Ethics

________, these are moral principles that define right or wrong behavior in organization.

Harold Titus

According to ______-, a well-known professor of Philosophy, we need to study ethics for four reasons:

information technology

We use _______ to solve human and social problems through societal solutions such as medical diagnosis, computer-assisted instruction, government program planning, environmental quality control, and law enforcement.

Golden Rule

1.______ – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

                                “Treat others as you would like to be treated.”

Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative

2._______ – if an action is not right for everyone to take, it is not right for anyone. Kant´s categorical imperative states that you should act in such a way that you can will that your act should be a universal law”

Descartes’rule of change

3.  ______ (also called slippery slope)– if an action cannot be taken repeatedly, it is not right to take at all.

Utilitarian principle

4.  _________ – take the action that achieves the higher or greater value. Take the action that achieves the most good. Put a value on outcomes and strive to achieve the best results.

Risk Aversion principle

5.  ____ (also known the greatest good/least harm) – take the action that produces the least harm or the least potential cost. When choosing between actions, select the one that achieves the greatest good for the greatest number and that causes the least harm

No free lunch rule

6.  _______ – if something someone else has created is useful to you, it has value, and you should assume the creator wants compensation for his work.

Professional Code of conduct

________ is guidelines that outline the professional obligations and responsibilities of members to their employers, to the public, and to society as a whole. It promulgated by associations of professionals to regulate themselves in the general interest of society.

Responsibility

_______ is a key element of ethical action. Responsibility means that you accept the potential costs, duties, and obligations for the decisions you make.

Accountability

_______ is a feature of systems and social institutions. It means that mechanisms are in place to determine who took responsible action, who is responsible.

Liability

________ is a feature of political systems in which a body of laws is in place that permits individuals to recover the damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations.

Due process

________ is a related feature of law-governed societies and is a process in which laws are known and understood and there is an ability to appeal to higher authorities to ensure that the laws are applied correctly.

Ethical choices

______  are decisions made by individuals who are responsible for the consequence of their actions.