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Chapter 4: Professional Ethics, Codes of Conduct and Moral Responsibility

Page history last edited by Abram John Limpin 15 years, 1 month ago
  1. What is professional ethics?
    • The chapter stated that professional ethics is defined as  a field wherein "professionals applied the concept of ethics concerned with moral issues that affect computer professionals." 
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  2.  Who is a computer professional?
    • As defined in the chapter, computer professional is "anyone employed in the computer, information technology (IT), or information/communications fields - from software and hardware engineers, to specialists such as a support personnel, network administrators, and computer repair technicians.
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  3. Do computer professionals have special responsibilities that ordinary computer users do not have? If so, what are some of those special       responsibilities?
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  4. Why is it useful to limit our discussion of moral issues affecting computer professionals to issues affecting software engineers and engineering teams, computer science instructors, and IT support professionals, as opposed to professionals such as lawyers and accountants who also use computers and who may work for computer corporations?
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  5. How do Gotterbarn, Miller, and Rogerson propose that we define the profession of software engineering? Who is included in a software engineering team?
    • According to them, "A computer professional could be defined in a way that would exclude professionals in the fields of communications and library science, yet still include professionals whose computer-specific job descriptions extend beyond software engineering per se. In a software engineering team, they can be thought of those people who contribute direct participation o the analysis, specification, design, development process. These people believe that because of software engineers and their teams are responsible for developing safety-critical systems, they have significant opportunities to do good or cause harm, enable others to do good or cause harm, and influence others to do good or cause harm." Gotterbarn "suggest that the role and responsibilities involved in the development of safety-critical systems is a different factor."
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  6. What are professional codes of ethics and what are the functions that this code serves?
    • Professional codes are designed to motivate members in an organization to behave according to moral ethics based on the functions they served. These are codes or guidelines that of which are followed by people practicing computer professionalism
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  7. List some of the benefits of professional code of ethics. Describe some of the criticisms of these codes have.
    • Ben Fairweather believes that "codes of conduct have been influenced by a conception of computer and information ethics that is limited to four traditional areas of concern: privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility."
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  8. Why does John Ladd believe that professional codes of ethics rest on a series of errors that are both intellectual and moral? Describe the arguments that he uses to provide his position.
    • John Ladd believed and criticized ethical codes on slightly diff. grounds, arguing that "these codes rest on a series of confusions that are both intellectual and moral. The role of ethics in general, he argues, is to appraise, criticize, and even defend the principles, rules, and regulations, but not to dictate or punish them."
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  9. Explain Don Gotterbarn’s three-fold distinction: codes of ethics, codes of conduct and codes of practice. Do Gotterbarn’s distinctions help to eliminate any of the criticisms that have been raised against professional codes?
    •  Code of ethics  they serve as a mission statement for the profession and can provide vision and objectives. 
    • Code of conduct addresses profession and professional behavior and attitude
    • Code of practice refers to the operational activities within a profession 
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  10. How does IEEE-CS/ACM Software engineering code of ethics and Professional practice (SECEPP) improve on earlier professional codes?
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  11. Do computer professionals have a presumed, or prima facie, obligation to loyalty to their employers? Explain.
    • Yes, computer professionals have a presumed or prima facie obligation of loyalty to their employers because employees are hired for the benefit of the corporation - employees are nothing without these corporations.
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  12. Describe the arguments by Ronald Duska and John Ladd regarding employee loyalty.

    • Ronald Duska argued that "the notion of loyalty should not be applied since everyone is committed to their self-interest." According to him, "employee has no necessary to be loyal to the corporation since they have no mutual enrichment with each other. Corporations want to imposed loyalty so that it would be for their self-interest."

    • John Ladd argues that "loyalty will just come from employees since it will be having conflicts with the corporate’s self-interest."

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  13. What, exactly, is whistle blowing? According to Michael Martin, what are the three general approaches that have been taken in the analysis of whistle-blowing cases?
    • The expression “blowing the whistle” comes from the effort by individuals to “get the public’s attention”. According to Michael Martin, the three general approaches that have been taken in the analysis of the whistle-blowing cases are:
      • Condemned as an action taken by disloyal trouble makers who rat on their companies and undermine teamwork based on the hierarchy of authority within the corporation.
      • Regarded as a tragedy to be avoided (through it may sometimes be a “necessary evil”)
      • Affirmed unequivocally as an obligation that is paramount in certain circumstances where it overrides all other considerations, whatever the sacrifice involved in meeting it.
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  14. Describe Richard De George’s criteria for determining when one is required to blow the whistle as opposed to when one is permitted to do so. Are De George’s criteria useful in making this distinction? Explain.

    • When one is required to blow the whistle it must be:There are strong evidences that making the information public will in fact prevent the threatened serious harm.

      ·         Employees have documented evidence that would convince a reasonable, impartial observer that his/her view of the situation is correct and the company policy is wrong.

       

      When one is permitted to blow the whistle it must be:

       

      ·         The harm that will be done by the product to the public is serious and considerable

      ·         The engineers have made their concerns known to their superiors

       
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  15. In which ways do Gene James and Kenneth Alpern disagree with De George’s model for whistle-blowing?
    • If whistle-blowing will be affected by most people, then it's a big deal.
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  16. Describe John Ladd’s argument in defense of De George’s position on whistle-blowing.
    • John Ladd consents that "it is acceptable to whistle blow that requires engineers to blow the whistle in non-extra ordinary cases can be undesirable from an ethical point of view because it demands that these individuals be moral heroes."
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  17. Why does Helen Nissenbaum believe that the notion of accountability has been systematically undetermined in the computer age? How does she distinguish between accountability and responsibility?
    • "Accountability is a broader concept than responsibility. Responsibility is only a part of accountability."   
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  18. What does Nissenbaum mean by “the problem of many hands” in a computing context?
    • Accountability.
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  19. Why does Nissenbaum believe that it is important to distinguish between moral accountability and legal liability?
    • Nissenbaurn believe that "it is important to distinguish between moral accountability and legal liability because legal liability and moral accountability is distinct with each other."
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  20. According to Don Gotternbarn, what is required for a model of risk analysis to be adequate in the software development process for safety-critical systems?

    •  According to Don Gotterbarn, he believed that "ethical risk is associated with the entire software development process. He argues that we must consider ethical issues as a risk in developing our programs and not only the risk that we know."

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