Transcript 5. Actions
AIT, Comp. Sci. & Info. Mgmt
AT02.98 Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues in Computing
September Term, 1999
5. Actions
Objectives of these slides:
to describe an ethical theory based on
examining actions themselves
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Overview
1. An Act-Oriented Approach
2. Judging an Action
3. Personal Freedom, Choice and Autonomy
4. Human Behaviour – Other Facits
5. Problems
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
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1. An Act-Oriented Approach
The Universal Declaration also considers the
moral character of an action by examining the
action itself
don’t look at the results/consequences
Sometimes called the deontological approach
dentos = duty
We have a duty to respect people’s rights and
needs when carrying out an action.
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
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2. Judging an Action
This approach was developed by Immanuel Kant.
His initial motivation was that “everything has
either a price or a dignity”
e.g. work skills have a market value, but keeping a
promise cannot be quantified
The utilitarian aim of quantifying pleasure is
doomed due to the presence of ‘dignities’
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
e.g. how do you value your parents?
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Measuring the Immeasurable
An act-oriented yardstick measures the humantity
in an act, not the resulting pleasure, pain,
happiness, or unhappiness.
Doing wrong is seen as violating a fundamental
standard of humanity, people’s universal rights.
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
continued
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Unfortunately, humanity is hard to define; it is
intangible
it requires intuition, insight, judgement
some skeptics deny its existence
Response: many things are intangible
e.g. love, trust
but they exist
Comp. Ethics:
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Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)
Comp. Ethics:
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3. Personal Freedom, Choice & Autonomy
Kant’s basic moral law for judging an action is
called the categorical imperative
a command (imperative) that holds with no exceptions or
qualification (categorically)
Kant has several definitions of it. One of the most
important relates to freedom:
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
“Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in
your own person or in the person of any other, always at
the same time as an end and never simply as a means.”
continued
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If I treat someone as a “means”, then I am using
them for my own ends, not theirs.
I don’t care what they want
I see them as an object/tool that I use to get what I want
I impose my choices on them
Their personal freedom, choice and autonomy are
restricted
Kant’s ethical yardstick measures the humanity of
our acts in terms of the personal freedom, choice
and autonomy of the people affected.
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
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4. Human Behaviour – Other Facits
Many other qualities can be included in the
definition of humanity.
For example, when we deal with with people, we
should treat them with:
Comp. Ethics:
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equality, dignity, fairness
sympathy, sensitivity
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4.1. The Ability to Think
The ability to think is an essential component of
humanity.
Intelligence connects with ethics in two ways.
1) Intelligence + Choice = Morality
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
we are responsible for our actions since we have the
intelligence to choose how to behave.
continued
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2) Intelligence gives us a means (logical
reasoning) to evaluate the ethics of our actions
e.g. discrimination is logically inconsistent
e.g. lying is inconsistent with the truth of an event
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
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4.2. Reason & the Categorical Imperative
The version of the categorical imperative that
depends most closely on the laws of reason is:
Comp. Ethics:
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“Act only according to the maxim whereby you can
at the same time will that it should become a
universal law.”
maxim == policy statement
== principle behind an action
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Examples
I should not steal a book from the library since
what would happen if everyone stole books?
I should not make a false promise to someone
Comp. Ethics:
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it is self-contradictory (due to reason)
if everyone did the same then the very idea of
“promise” would cease to exist
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5. Problems
Universality doesn’t allow for exceptional cases
e.g. in a police state it might be morally okay to lie to
the police
Kant offers no guidance about how to choose
between moral rules
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
e.g. “keep a promise” or “tell the truth”
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Are we Rational?
Kant argues that our acts should be free from
contradictions and inconsistencies when we
consider their universal application.
This approach relies on us being able to rationally
judge our actions.
Comp. Ethics:
Actions/5
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