Introduction to Technology and Ethics Class

Hello, and welcome to the Technology and Ethics class. I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Science, teaching both in the software engineering and information technology fields. During my career, I’ve worked with new and emerging technologies regularly, including search, virtual reality, privacy, and now artificial technology. I’ve even worked with new technologies, which have…

Keys to Arguing Ethics

There are several approaches to ethics that can help people be in a better position to make a sound ethical decision. Three common approaches to ethics include virtue ethics, consequentialist ethics, and deontological or duty-based ethics. We’re going to focus on Consequential ethics, i.e. is the end result good, and duty-based ethics, i.e. is this action right? Consequentialism Consequentialism…

Concepts on the Difference in Legal vs Ethical Issues

The difference between ethical and legal is that legal concerns are based on formal, enforceable rules, while ethical concerns involve moral principles that may not have legal consequences3. Legal issues are those that are defined by law, while ethical issues are those that are based on personal values2. Something can be legal but not ethical5,…