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Computer Ethics: A Case-based Approach
Computer Ethics: A Case-based Approach teaches students to solve ethical dilemmas in the field of computing, taking a philosophical, rather than a legal, approach to the topic. It first examines the principles of Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, Existentialism, and Philosophical Analysis, explaining how each of them might be adopted as a basis for solving computing dilemmas. The book then presents a worksheet of key questions to be used in solving dilemmas. Twenty-nine cases, drawn from the real-life experiences of computer professionals, are included in the book as a means to let students experiment with solving ethical dilemmas and identify the philosophical underpinnings of the solutions.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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April 12, 2020
The 2008 edition I read -it´s not clear to me that there is a more recent updated edition- has not aged at all well.
The first five chapters are an extremely poor introduction to the history of computing and ethics, a shallow sketch of how computers can aid contribute to human development and an incredibly confusing account of “philosophical belief systems”, ending up with an account of some of the ideas of James Moor’s theory of the ethics of computers which fail to do them much justice. He insists on providing a sort of crib sheet of the metaphysics, epistemology, axiology and even aesthetics of the philosophical systems he covers: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, and Existentialism. If you decide to recommend this book to your students, I strongly urge you to have them skip these chapters. There are far better introductions in Computer Ethics books on the basic ethical theories they should be introduced to.
Fortunately I stubbornly refused to give up on this book, and from chapter six on, things improve. Chapter 6, The Ethical Decision-Making Process, provides a framework with which to analyze ethical issues in engineering. The eight steps to this process framework are:
Chapter 7 introduces Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, but does does not apply the theory in the rest of the book. Thus the chapter appears to cover the theory because it is “required”, but what it is required for, remains a mystery.
Chapter 8 is a brief and eminently forgettable introduction to why computing can be considered a profession. Chapter 9 includes the full text of two Codes of Ethics and Professional Practice, the 1992 ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) code and the 1999 ACM-IEEE Computer Society code for Software Engineering. The 1992 code has been superseded by the 2018 code of ethics. The chapter does not describe, explain or apply either of these two very important codes: disappointingly, they are simply listed and left hanging there.
Chapter 10, Computer Ethics and International Development purports to be about the “digital divide”, but as in Chapter 9, this important topic is given short shrift, boiling it down to listing the 2002 and 2005 World Summit on Information Society’s declarations. Another missed opportunity.
Having just read Wender Wallach and Colin Allen’s Moral machines: Teaching robots right from wrong (2008), Barger’s chapter on Robotics and Ethics is extremely disappointing and shallow. Again Barger seems to rely more on quoting Euron’s Roadmap project than on describing or analyzing the topic.
The best part of Barger’s book are the last eight chapters which compile a number of cases on computer ethics and thus provide the “case-based” aspect of the book’s subtitle. These cases are grouped into chapters on theft and piracy, privacy, and power. The groupings very debatable and some of the cases have really dated badly and not only seem anachronistic but positively naive. However there are enough interesting and still valid cases to make this part of the book, the closest to four star quality. The cases are meant as exercises for students to grapple with using the decision-making process covered in chapter six.
So in sort, I would strongly urge you not to use this work as a textbook in 2020, but you can profitably use the proposed process framework as a starting point, enrich it with the use of professional Ethics Codes and still, if you proceed carefully, glean cases from the last chapters to find profitable exercises in Computer Ethics.
The first five chapters are an extremely poor introduction to the history of computing and ethics, a shallow sketch of how computers can aid contribute to human development and an incredibly confusing account of “philosophical belief systems”, ending up with an account of some of the ideas of James Moor’s theory of the ethics of computers which fail to do them much justice. He insists on providing a sort of crib sheet of the metaphysics, epistemology, axiology and even aesthetics of the philosophical systems he covers: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, and Existentialism. If you decide to recommend this book to your students, I strongly urge you to have them skip these chapters. There are far better introductions in Computer Ethics books on the basic ethical theories they should be introduced to.
Fortunately I stubbornly refused to give up on this book, and from chapter six on, things improve. Chapter 6, The Ethical Decision-Making Process, provides a framework with which to analyze ethical issues in engineering. The eight steps to this process framework are:
1. Describe the ethical issues .The framework obviously encourages the student to analyze a problem from several ethical perspectives: Kantian (4), Utilitarian (6), Aristotelian (3). Step 8 may help a student understand what perspective he or she tends to lean most towards, or when one perspective is more useful than other. However, as a process framework it is conspicuously lacking in reflexive evaluation , since it does not encourage discussing the case with others or evaluating the success of the proposed “solution” if put into practice. The example application of the framework (section 6.3 A Sample Solution...) is a little too simplistic for my taste as it fails to cover several important ethical issues and stakeholders, notably the network administrators, the student Honors Council, the “tribesmen”, the tribemen’s country, the student community and the University itself.
2. Identify the stakeholders and what each of them would like to see as an outcome.
3. Propose three possible solutions to the case (two extremes and a compromise) and propose one of them as the definitive soluction.
4. A) Would you be willing for everyone to be permitted to use the solution you chose? Explain. B) Does this solution treat people as ends rather than means only?
5. A) Is this solution in accord with what is natural (e.g. in accord with human nature, the environment or the inherent purpose of anything else involved in the case?). Explain. B) Is this solution balanced between an approach that might be excessive on the one hand and deficient on the other?
6. Would there be a majority agreement that this solution is the most efficient means to the end? Explain. B) Will it produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people? Explain.
7. A) Is this solution the one you feel most committed to in your own conscience, regardless of whether it benefits you personally? Explain. B) Do you choose this solution in an autonomous manner, as the final arbiter of the good, free from the influence of others? Explain.
8. Which philosophy do you feel was most influential in your solution to this case? Why?
Chapter 7 introduces Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, but does does not apply the theory in the rest of the book. Thus the chapter appears to cover the theory because it is “required”, but what it is required for, remains a mystery.
Chapter 8 is a brief and eminently forgettable introduction to why computing can be considered a profession. Chapter 9 includes the full text of two Codes of Ethics and Professional Practice, the 1992 ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) code and the 1999 ACM-IEEE Computer Society code for Software Engineering. The 1992 code has been superseded by the 2018 code of ethics. The chapter does not describe, explain or apply either of these two very important codes: disappointingly, they are simply listed and left hanging there.
Chapter 10, Computer Ethics and International Development purports to be about the “digital divide”, but as in Chapter 9, this important topic is given short shrift, boiling it down to listing the 2002 and 2005 World Summit on Information Society’s declarations. Another missed opportunity.
Having just read Wender Wallach and Colin Allen’s Moral machines: Teaching robots right from wrong (2008), Barger’s chapter on Robotics and Ethics is extremely disappointing and shallow. Again Barger seems to rely more on quoting Euron’s Roadmap project than on describing or analyzing the topic.
The best part of Barger’s book are the last eight chapters which compile a number of cases on computer ethics and thus provide the “case-based” aspect of the book’s subtitle. These cases are grouped into chapters on theft and piracy, privacy, and power. The groupings very debatable and some of the cases have really dated badly and not only seem anachronistic but positively naive. However there are enough interesting and still valid cases to make this part of the book, the closest to four star quality. The cases are meant as exercises for students to grapple with using the decision-making process covered in chapter six.
So in sort, I would strongly urge you not to use this work as a textbook in 2020, but you can profitably use the proposed process framework as a starting point, enrich it with the use of professional Ethics Codes and still, if you proceed carefully, glean cases from the last chapters to find profitable exercises in Computer Ethics.
March 21, 2017
Very good book for teaching a CS ethics course.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews