Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

COMPUTER ETHICS

Specialty Definition: COMPUTER ETHICS

Domain	Definition
Computing	Computer ethics Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. Computer ethics can be grounded in one of four basic world-views: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, or Existentialism. Idealists believe that reality is basically ideas and that ethics therefore involves conforming to ideals. Realists believe that reality is basically nature and that ethics therefore involves acting according to what is natural. Pragmatists believe that reality is not fixed but is in process and that ethics therefore is practical (that is, concerned with what will produce socially-desired results). Existentialists believe reality is self-defined and that ethics therefore is individual (that is, concerned only with one's own conscience). Idealism and Realism can be considered ABSOLUTIST worldviews because they are based on something fixed (that is, ideas or nature, respectively). Pragmatism and Existentialism can be considered RELATIVIST worldviews because they are based or something relational (that is, society or the individual, respectively). Thus ethical judgments will vary, depending on the judge's world-view. Some examples: First consider theft. Suppose a university's computer is used for sending an e-mail message to a friend or for conducting a full-blown private business (billing, payroll, inventory, etc.). The absolutist would say that both activities are unethical (while recognising a difference in the amount of wrong being done). A relativist might say that the latter activities were wrong because they tied up too much memory and slowed down the machine, but the e-mail message wasn't wrong because it had no significant effect on operations. Next consider privacy. An instructor uses her account to acquire the cumulative grade point average of a student who is in a class which she instructs. She obtained the password for this restricted information from someone in the Records Office who erroneously thought that she was the student's advisor. The absolutist would probably say that the instructor acted wrongly, since the only person who is entitled to this information is the student and his or her advisor. The relativist would probably ask why the instructor wanted the information. If she replied that she wanted it to be sure that her grading of the student was consistent with the student's overall academic performance record, the relativist might agree that such use was acceptable. Finally, consider power. At a particular university, if a professor wants a computer account, all she or he need do is request one but a student must obtain faculty sponsorship in order to receive an account. An absolutist (because of a proclivity for hierarchical thinking) might not have a problem with this divergence in procedure. A relativist, on the other hand, might question what makes the two situations essentially different (e.g. are faculty assumed to have more need for computers than students? Are students more likely to cause problems than faculty? Is this a hold-over from the days of "in loco parentis"?). "Philosophical Bases of Computer Ethics", Professor Robert N. Barger (http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/metaethics.html). Usenet newsgroups: news:bit.listserv.ethics-l, news:alt.soc.ethics. (1995-10-25). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Crosswords: COMPUTER ETHICS

Specialty definitions using "COMPUTER ETHICS": computer crime. (references)

Commercial Usage: COMPUTER ETHICS

Domain	Title
Books	Case Studies in Information and Computer Ethics (reference) Computer Ethics (3rd Edition) (reference) Computer Ethics, Second Edition: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in Computing (reference) Internet & Computer Ethics for Kids: (and Parents & Teachers Who Haven't Got a Clue.) (reference) Morality and Machines: Perspectives on Computer Ethics (Jones and Bartlett Series in Philosophy) (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Frequency of Internet Keywords: COMPUTER ETHICS

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day
computer ethics	164
commandment computer ethics ten	7
computer ethics article	6
computer ethics institute	5
code of computer ethics	4
computer ethics history	4
computer ethics teaching	3
child computer ethics	3
10 commandment computer ethics	2
computer ethics pop	2
computer ethics kid	2
computer ethics issue	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Anagrams: COMPUTER ETHICS

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "c-c-e-e-h-i-m-o-p-r-s-t-t-u"
	-3 letters: computerise, computerist, ectothermic, hemipterous, mouthpieces.
	-4 letters: cutcheries, ectotherms, eutrophies, mouthpiece, outpitches, periosteum, pirouettes, prosthetic, recomputes, reoccupies, spirochete, stepmother.
	-5 letters: chertiest, chromites, comethers, computers, copesetic, costumier, cotrustee, courtship, couthiest, crotchets, croupiest, ectotherm, euphemist, eutectics, eutrophic, hemipters, hermetist, heterotic, imposture, mouthiest, occupiers, outprices, outscheme, peristome, pirouette, pitchouts, potteries, pouchiest, prosecute, prothetic, proustite, recompute, retouches, rheumiest.
	Words containing the letters "c-c-e-e-h-i-m-o-p-r-s-t-t-u"
	+3 letters: chemotherapeutics.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Alternative Orthography: COMPUTER ETHICS

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

43 4F 4D 50 55 54 45 52 45 54 48 49 43 53

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01000011 01001111 01001101 01010000 01010101 01010100 01000101 01010010 00100000 01000101 01010100 01001000 01001001 01000011 01010011

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#67 &#79 &#77 &#80 &#85 &#84 &#69 &#82 &#32 &#69 &#84 &#72 &#73 &#67 &#83

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0043 004F 004D 0050 0055 0054 0045 0052 0045 0054 0048 0049 0043 0053

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

37494750555439522395442433753

INDEX

1. Crosswords
2. Usage: Commercial
3. Expressions: Internet
4. Anagrams

5. Orthography
6. Bibliography

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.