Computer Ethics (computer + ethics)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Heuristic Methods for Computer Ethics

METAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2002
Walter Maner
The domain of "procedural ethics" is the set of reflective and deliberative methods that maximize the reliability of moral judgment. While no general algorithmic method exists that will guarantee the validity of ethical deliberation, non-algorithmic "heuristic" methods can guide and inform the process, making it significantly more robust and dependable. This essay examines various representative heuristic procedures commonly recommended for use in applied ethics, maps them into a uniform set of twelve stages, identifies common faults, then shows how the resulting stage-by-stage decision-making model could be adapted for general use and for use in computer ethics. [source]


Computer ethics and consumer ethics: the impact of the internet on consumers' ethical decision-making process

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 5 2007
Andreas Chatzidakis
Despite the maturity of the literatures that consider ethical consumer behaviour and the role of the internet, very little work seems to have been undertaken to bring these two themes together. This is unfortunate because the internet is increasingly pervasive and is used at some stage in a significant number of consumer activities. Our primary purpose is to bring together key insights and themes from research into both ethical consumer behaviour and the internet to highlight further research opportunities. In particular, we seek to demonstrate how the ethical consumerism and consumer ethics literatures together can provide a rich foundation to study ethical and moral dimensions of online consumer behaviour. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Heuristic Methods for Computer Ethics

METAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2002
Walter Maner
The domain of "procedural ethics" is the set of reflective and deliberative methods that maximize the reliability of moral judgment. While no general algorithmic method exists that will guarantee the validity of ethical deliberation, non-algorithmic "heuristic" methods can guide and inform the process, making it significantly more robust and dependable. This essay examines various representative heuristic procedures commonly recommended for use in applied ethics, maps them into a uniform set of twelve stages, identifies common faults, then shows how the resulting stage-by-stage decision-making model could be adapted for general use and for use in computer ethics. [source]


PRIVACY, THE INDIVIDUAL AND GENETIC INFORMATION: A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE

BIOETHICS, Issue 7 2009
SORAJ HONGLADAROM
ABSTRACT Bioinformatics is a new field of study whose ethical implications involve a combination of bioethics, computer ethics and information ethics. This paper is an attempt to view some of these implications from the perspective of Buddhism. Privacy is a central concern in both computer/information ethics and bioethics, and with information technology being increasingly utilized to process biological and genetic data, the issue has become even more pronounced. Traditionally, privacy presupposes the individual self but as Buddhism does away with the ultimate conception of an individual self, it has to find a way to analyse and justify privacy that does not presuppose such a self. It does this through a pragmatic conception that does not depend on a positing of the substantial self, which is then found to be unnecessary for an effective protection of privacy. As it may be possible one day to link genetic data to individuals, the Buddhist conception perhaps offers a more flexible approach, as what is considered to be integral to an individual person is not fixed in objectivity but depends on convention. [source]