Chapter-4

Section 4.2: Bullet Text Study Guide

Ethics in an Information Society

Ethical decisions draw on the concepts of:

Responsibility: Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations of one's decisions accountability
Accountability: A feature of systems and social institutions, accountability means that mechanisms are in place to determine who took responsible action and who is responsible for an action
Liability: Refers to the existence of laws that permit individuals to recover the damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations
Due process: Requires that laws are known and understood by all, and that individuals can appeal to higher authorities to ensure laws were properly applied

A five-step process can help analyze ethical issues: (1) Identifying the facts, (2) Defining the conflict or dilemma and identifying the values involved, (3) Identifying the stakeholders, (4) Identifying options that can be taken, and (5) Identifying potential consequences of actions.

Six traditional principles can be used to help forming an ethical decision:

1. The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

2. Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative: If an action is not right for everyone to take, it is not right for anyone.

3. Descartes' rule of change: If an action cannot be taken repeatedly, it should not be taken at any time.

4. The Utilitarian Principle: Take the action that achieves the higher or greater value.

5. The Risk Aversion Principle: Take the action that produces the least harm or least cost.

6. The ethical "no free lunch" rule: All tangible objects are assumed owned by someone else unless specifically declared otherwise.

Groups of professionals, such as the AMA, take on special rights and obligations because of their claims to knowledge and wisdom. Professional codes of conduct are promulgated by associations of professionals to take responsibility for the partial regulation of their professions.

Ethical dilemmas are created when one set of interests is pitted against another, for example when the rights of a company to prevent its workforce from wasting company resources are pitted against the rights of employees to privacy.