Ethical Analysis

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Doing an Ethical Analysis

IS 350

Original Slides from Dr. Linda Plotnick

Based on Dr. Morgan C. Benton’s Slides and Reynolds, George “Ethics in Information Technology” Thomson 2003

With modifications/ notes from Prof. Egan and Prof. Bieber 2012

Why Do Ethical Analysis?

As a Professional you will be faced with ethical decisions
Professionals carry special rights and responsibilities
Professionals have the power to do things that other people can’t
Professionals enter into a social contract with the rest of Society

More on this in Module 3 on Professionalism

Eleven Steps to do an
Ethical Analysis

Who is the moral agent?

What thing(s) of value is at stake?

Who are the (major) stakeholders?

What are the main courses of action?

What are the probable consequences of each action on each set of stakeholders?

How does Kantian theory apply?

How do Utilitarian theories apply?

How does Social Contract theory apply?

How do Virtue Ethics apply?

What do Professional codes of ethics indicate?

Finally, what concrete action do you recommend?

Who is the Moral Agent

The person or persons ultimately responsible for choosing a concrete action, and who will bear the blame or responsibility for that action
An agent is someone or something capable of making decisions
Moral implies:
The ability to tell “right” from “wrong”
Responsibility/culpability for one’s action
May be an individual or a group
or organizational decision makers, or lawmakers

What are the Stakes?

Something of value always is at risk
Tangible items:
Money
Property
Life/health

Intangible items:
Privacy
Freedom/liberty
Time
Comfort/
peace of mind

Who Stands to Gain and Lose?

Stakeholders are the people or groups who stand to get or lose something of value
Almost always includes the moral agent
Stakeholders may or may not have any influence on the decision made by the moral agent
Be realistic: beware of “the general public” or “everyone in the world”

What To Do? - Options

Most every ethical dilemma boils down to between 2 and 4 possible options
Warning: given enough time you can dream up 100s of ‘flavors’ of action
You don’t have lots of time
Keep it simple—only analyze the most obvious courses of action
In this step: DO NOT discuss possible outcomes at all

Matrix of Outcomes

#stakeholders x #options = #outcomes
Lots of stakeholders combined with lots of options makes for impossibly complex and lengthy analysis
Predicting the future is uncertain
Focus on the most probable outcomes
Strive for balance
Realistic list of stakeholders
Realistic list of courses of action

Apply Ethical Objectivist Theories

Apply, individually, each workable ethical theory:
Kantianism I, II
Rule Utilitarianism
Act Utilitarianism
Social Contract Theory
Virtue Ethics

Be Aware of the Difficulties with Each Theory

Kantianism
No exceptions
Conflicts between rules cannot be resolved

Utilitarianism
Short term vs. long term consequences
Predictability/probability of outcomes
Difficulty of quantifying “happiness”
Ignores our sense of “duty”
Rule Utilitarianism – possibly unjust distribution

Be Aware of the Difficulties with Each Theory

Social Contract Theory
Conflicting rights problem
May unjustly treat people who cannot uphold contract
Nobody actually signed a contract
How to characterize actions– can be multiple ways

Virtue Ethics
Disagreement on which character traits are virtuous (necessary for human flourishing)
Applying to people with different levels of maturity

Professional Codes of Ethics

When you join the ACM or IEEE you implicitly agree to be bound by their rules.

Referring to Codes of Ethics

Written rules of one’s profession
Clear guidelines for behavior
Authority/Legitimacy based upon:
Broad, participatory development by members of the field, especially ‘elders’
Longevity—standing the ‘test of time’
Clear statement of concern for the well-being of society—i.e. difficult to contradict
Downsides:
Not generally legally binding
Do not provide airtight legal protection

You MUST Do Something!

At the end of the day, you have to make a choice
Sometimes it’s easy: all of the objective theories you use, and codes of ethics frequently agree
If things “work out okay” no one will question why you made the choice you did
BUT, if things go badly, you need to be able to defend your choice
Following the process outlined here can help minimize the consequences of a poor choice

Conclusion

Bad choices hurt people
Indifference to pain is not professional
Sometimes causing harm is inevitable
The most difficult choices involve deciding who to hurt more
Choices generally get harder the higher up you go in an organization
Lack of direct personal consequences is NOT an excuse for unethical behavior