MODULE 1 we have adopted a technological device, it can transform

us and how we relate to other people and our

Catalyst for Change environment. Adopting technology can change our
perceptions. New technologies are adopted to solve
Learning Outcomes problems, but they often create problems. 
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:  Milestones in Computing

1. Discuss the development of computers, showing Calculating devices have supported the development of
how they evolved from simple manual calculation commercial enterprises, governments, science, and
aids to complex microprocessors; weapons. The introduction of new technologies had
2. Show how information storage and retrieval impacted the following: 
evolved;
3. Discuss some of the moral issues that have  Aids to manual calculating
arisen from the deployment of information  Mechanical calculators
technology; and  Cash register
4. Describe two centuries of progress in networking  Punched card tabulation
technology, starting with the semaphore telegraph  Precursors of commercial computers
and culminating in the creation of an email system  First commercial computers
connecting over a billion users.
 Programming languages and time-sharing
 Transistor and integrated circuit
In the past two decades, we have witnessed the
emergence of exciting new technologies, including  IBM System/360
smartphones, MP3 players, digital photography, email,  Microprocessor
and the World Wide Web. There is good reason to say  Personal computer
we are living in the Information Age. 
Aids to manual calculating
The two principal catalysts for the Information Age have
been: Fingers and toes are handy calculation aids, but to
manipulate numbers above 20, people need more than
 low-cost computers their own digits. 
 high-speed communication networks
The three important aids  to  manual  calculating are:


1. tablet - Simply having a tablet to write
down the numbers being manipulated is a great
help. In ancient times, erasable clay and wax
tablets served this purpose. By the late Middle
Ages, Europeans often used erasable slates.
Paper tablets became common in the nineteenth
century, and they are still popular today.
Figure 1.1  Samsung Note 10 Plus 2. abacus - is a computing aid in which a
person performs arithmetic operations by sliding
  counters along with rods, wires, or lines.
3. mathematical  tables
Low-cost computers and high-speed communication  Tables of logarithms (17th
networks make possible the products of the Information century) - time savers to anyone doing
Age, such as the Samsung Note 10 Plus. It functions as a complicated math because they allowed
phone, email client, Web browser, camera, video them to multiply two numbers by simply
recorder, digital compass, and more. adding their logarithms
Our relationship with technology is complicated. We
create technology and choose to adopt it. However, once
  JohnNapier and o Blaise Pascal - "Pascal’s calculator"
Johannes Kepler published tables of - built-in 1640, was capable of adding whole
logarithms numbers containing up to six digits
 Income tax tables (today) -  o Gottfried Leibniz - "Step Reckoner" -a
people who compute their income taxes “by handcrafted machine that can add, subtract,
hand” make use of tax tables to determine multiply, and divide whole numbers
how much they owe. o Charles Thomas de Colmar -
"Arithmometer " - the first commercially
However, even with them manual calculating is slow, successful calculator
tedious, and error-prone o Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard -
"Scheutz difference engine" - the world’s first
printing calculator:
a machine capable of calculating mathematical
tables and typesetting the values onto molds.
o William Burroughs - "Burroughs Adding
Machine "-  devised a practical adding machine
 Social Change -> Market for Calculators
o Gilded Age (late 19th century America)
TABLET

o
 Rapid industrialization
 Economic expansion
 Concentration of corporate
power
 Calculator Adoptions -> Social Change
ABACUS o Fierce competition in calculator market


o
 Continuous improvements in
size, speed, ease of use
 Sales increased rapidly
 The adoption of mechanical calculators led
“Deskilling” and feminization of bookkeeping
o People of average ability quite
productive
o Calculators are 6´ faster than adding by
hand
o Wages dropped
o Women replaced men

MATHEMATICAL TABLES

Mechanical Calculators

 The 17th -19th century

 Precursors (Ancestors) of Commercial Computers

A team at the University of Manchester set out to build a

small computer.  The computer successfully executed its
Cash register first program in 1948.

 Store owners of late 1800s faced problems The Small-Scale Experimental Machine was the first
o Keeping accurate sales records for operational, fully electronic computer system that had
department stores both programs and data stored in its memory.
o Preventing embezzlement from clerks
 Response to problems: cash register
o James and John Ritty - designed an
adding machine capable of expressing values in
dollars and cents 
 Created printed, itemized
receipts
 Maintained printed log of
transactions
 Rang bell every time drawer was  
opened First commercial computers

Ferranti Ltd - introduced the world’s first commercial

computer in 1951

 FerrantiMark 1
o a descendant of research computers
constructed at the University of Manchester

Remington-Rand

 Completed UNIVAC in 1951

CASH REGISTER  Delivered to U.S. Bureau of the Census
 Predicted winner of 1952 Pres. Election
Punched card tabulation
IBM (entered the commercial market in 1953)
Herman Hollerith - developed an electromechanical
tabulating machine for punched cards to assist in
 Larger base of customers
summarizing information and in accounting.
 Far superior sales and marketing organization
 Greater investment in research and development
 Dominated mainframe market by mid-1960s
Programming Languages and Time-Sharing  Before System/360
o IBM dominated the mainframe market in
 Assembly language the 1960s
o Symbolic representations of machine o IBM computers were incompatible
instructions o Switch computers ® rewrite programs
o Programs just as long
as machine language programs  System/360 (1964)
 FORTRAN (1957) o Series of 19 computers with varying
o First higher-level language (shorter levels of power
programs) o All computers could run the same
o Designed for scientific applications programs - Compatible
 COBOL (1959) o Upgrade without rewriting programs
o U.S. Department of Defense standard
o Designed for business applications Microprocessor & Personal Computer
 Time-Sharing Systems (In the early 1960s)
o Divide computer time among multiple  Microprocessor: Computer inside a single
users semiconductor chip
o Users connect to a computer via o Invented in 1970 at Intel
terminals o Made personal computers practical
o Cost of ownership spread among more  Example of first PCs
people o Altair 8800 (1975)
o Gave many more people access to o Personal computers become popular
computers  Apple Computer: Apple II
 BASIC (In the early 1960s) o Developments draw businesses to
o Developed at Dartmouth College personal computers
o Simple, easy-to-learn programming  IBM launches IBM PC
language
o Popular language  Milestones in Networking
for teaching programming
 Discoveries in electromagnetism (early 1800s)
Transistor and Integrated Circuit  Telegraph (1844)
o A telegraph is a machine used to
 Transistor transmit messages in the form of electrical
o Replacement for vacuum tube impulses that can be converted into data
o Invented at Bell Labs (1948)
 Semiconductor  Telephone (1876) - invented by Alexander
o Faster Graham Bell
o Cheaper  Typewriter and teletype (1873, 1908) 
o More reliable o Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and
o More energy-efficient Samuel Soule patented the first typewriter
 Integrated Circuit: Semiconductor containing o In late 1873 Remington & Sons
transistors, capacitors, and resistors Company, famous for guns and sewing
o Advantages over parts they replaced machines, produced the first commercial
 Smaller typewriter.
 Faster o In  1908, the typewriter  was  modified 
 More reliable to  print  a message transmitted over a telegraph
line; the inventors called the invention, a teletype
 Less expensive

IBM System/360  Radio (1895)

 Television (1927)
 o Broadcasting video over a wire began in  Newspapers
1884 with the invention of an electromechanical o The first English-language newspaper
television by Paul Nipkow, but the first appeared in Great Britain in the 1600s.
completely electronic television transmission was  Hypertext
made in 1927 by Philo Farnsworth. o In 1965, Ted Nelson coined the
word hypertext, which refers to a linked network
 Remote computing (1940) of nodes containing information.
o In 1940 George Stibitz demonstrated  The links allow readers to visit
remote computing to members of the American the nodes in a nonlinear fashion
Mathematical Society who were meeting at  Graphical User Interface
Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He typed o Douglas Engelbart created a research
numbers into the teletype, which transmitted the lab called the Augmentation Research which
data 250 miles to the calculator in New York City. developed a hypermedia and groupware system
After the calculator had computed the answer, it called NLS (oNLine
transmitted the data back to the teletype, which System) Center.
printed the result.  NLS system was the first to
 ARPANET - Advanced Research Projects employ the practical use of hypertext links,
Agency Network (1969) the mouse, raster-scan video monitors,
o In 1967 ARPA initiated the design and information organized by relevance, screen
construction of the ARPANET windowing, presentation programs, and
o  first wide-area packet-switching network other modern computing concepts. 
with distributed control and the first network to  Engelbart invented several new
implement the TCP/IP protocol suite input devices, including the computer
 Email (1972) mouse.
o In March 1972, Ray Tomlinson - wrote o In 1970 Xerox Palo Alto Research
the first software enabling email messages to be Center (PARC), a new facility dedicated to
sent and received by ARPANET computers. performing research into digital technology
o A few months later, Lawrence Roberts created the Alto, a small minicomputer designed
created the first “killer app” for the network: an to be used by a single person.
email utility that gave individuals the ability to list  The Alto incorporated a
their email messages selectively read them, bitmapped display, a keyboard, and a
reply to them, forward them. mouse.
 Internet (1983) o Apple released Lisa (1983) -the first
o network of networks communicating commercial computer with a GUI, or Graphical
using TCP/IP User Interface
 The price tag was too high, the
 Broadband (2000) processor was too slow, and the Lisa was
 Broadband not commercially successful
o High-speed Internet connection o Apple released the Macintosh (1984), a
o At least 10x faster than a dial-up faster computer with a graphical user interface.
o In May 1990 Microsoft released Windows
connection
o Enhanced by fiber-optic networks 3.0 for IBM PCs
o South Korea is the world leader in  World Wide Web (1990)
o Tim Berners-Lee completed the first Web
broadband networking.3/4 of homes have
broadband connections browser on the NeXT Computer (1990) - called
his browser WorldWideWeb
Milestones in Information Storage and Retrieval o The first widely used Web browser
was Mosaic, developed at the University of
This section focuses on the development of technologies Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
to store and retrieve information. o Today, the most popular web browsers
  People are making greater use of IT in their everyday
o lives. Some of these uses create new issues that need to
 Chrome be resolved.
 Internet Explorer
Let’s look at a few of the questions raised by the growth
 Firefox
of IT.
 Safari
 Search Engines
 Email
o A search engine is a program that
o allows  anyone to send email to anyone
accepts a list of keywords from a user, searches
else with an email address
a database of documents, and returns those
o most email traffic is spam: unsolicited,
documents most closely matching the specified
keywords. bulk, commercial email. Is spam destroying the
o There are two types of Web search value of email?
engines
 Crawler-based search engines,  The World Wide Web has provided an
such as Google and AltaVista, automatically unprecedented opportunity for individuals and
create the database of information about nongovernmental organizations to have their points
Web pages. of view made available to billions.
 In a process similar to o Will the web to be a channel for
Web surfing, programs called spiders democratic ideas?
follow hyperlinks, eventually visiting o Another tool for totalitarian
millions of different Web pages. governments?
 Summary information  Use of credit card to purchase an item
about these pages is collected into o the credit card company now has
massive databases. information
 When you perform a o does the credit card company have a
query, the search engine consults its right to sell my name, address, and phone
database to find the closest matches. number to other companies that may want to sell
 Human-powered search me related products?
engines - The second type of Web search  Computers are now embedded in many devices
engine relies upon humans to build the on which we depend, from traffic signals to
database of information about various Web pacemakers. Software errors have resulted in injury
pages. and even death. When
 People who develop a bugs result in harm to humans, what should the
Web site can submit a summary of their liability be for the people or corporations that
site to the keepers of the search engine. produced the software?
 The advantage of this  When employees use IT devices in their work,
kind of search engine is that humans companies can monitor their actions closely.
can create more accurate summaries of o How does such monitoring affect the
a web page than a spider program. The workplace? Does it create an unacceptable level
disadvantage of this approach is that of stress among employees?
only a small fraction of the web can be  IT is allowing more people than ever to work from
cataloged. home. What are the advantages and disadvantages
of telecommuting?
IT Issues  IT capabilities are leading to changes in the IT
industry.
Information technology (IT) refers to devices used in the
o US-based software companies are doing
creation, storage, manipulation, exchange, and
dissemination of data, including text, sound, and images. more development in countries where salaries
are much lower, such as India, China, and
Vietnam. Will this trend continue? How many
 software jobs in the United States will be lost to of ethical theories, evaluate their pros and
countries where labor is significantly cheaper? cons, and show how to use the more viable
ethical theories to solve moral problems.
Summary: Catalyst for Change
Terms
We are living in the Information Age, an era characterized
A society is an association of people
by ubiquitous computing and communication devices that
organized under a system of rules designed to
have made information much easier to collect, transmit,
advance the good of its members over time.
store, and retrieve. 
Every society has rules of conduct describing
What conclusions can we draw from our study of the
what people ought and ought not to do in
development of computers, communication networks, and
various situations. We call these
information storage and retrieval devices?
rules morality.
First, most innovations represent simply the next step in a
Ethics is the philosophical study of morality, a
long staircase of evolutionary changes. Each inventor, or
rational examination into people’s moral beliefs
team of inventors, relies upon prior work. In many cases,
and behavior.
different inventors come up with the same “original” idea
at the same time.
A second conclusion we can draw from these stories is
that information technology did not begin with the
personal computer and the WorldWideWeb. Many other
inventions, including the telegraph, the telephone, the
mechanical calculator, the radio, and the television, led to
significant social changes when they were adopted. 
Finally, with the rise of new technologies come new
challenges that test our values. Is it right to give your
friends copies of the songs you have purchased? Until
music was distributed in digital form and high-bandwidth
connections to the Internet became everywhere, this
wasn’t a significant issue. 
The use of new technology can have a significant impact
on society, but we need to remember that, as societies
and as individuals, we have a great deal of control over
how we choose to use technology in order to maintain the
values we hold to be fundamentally important.
Forming communities allows us to enjoy better
lives than if we lived in isolation. Communities Source: Ethics for the Information Age (p. 51),
prohibit certain actions and make other actions by M. Quiin, Addison-Wesley. Copyright ©
obligatory. Those who do not conform to these 2015, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.,
prohibitions and obligations can be punished. 
Society is like a town full of people driving cars.
Responsible community members take the Morality is the road network within the town.
needs and desires of other people into account People ought to keep their cars on the roads.
when they make decisions. They recognize Those who choose to “do ethics” are in
that virtually everybody shares the “core balloons floating above the town.
values” of life, happiness, and the ability to
From this perspective, an observer can
accomplish goals.
evaluate individual roads (particular moral
In this chapter, we describe the difference guidelines) as well as the quality of the entire
between morality and ethics, discuss a variety road network (moral system).
The observer can also judge whether individual Relativism is the theory that there are no
drivers are staying on the roads (acting universal moral norms of right and wrong.
morally) or taking shortcuts (acting immorally).
According to this theory, different individuals or
Finally, the observer can propose and evaluate groups of people can have completely opposite
various ways of constructing road networks views of a moral problem, and both can be
(alternative moral systems). right.
While there may, in fact, be a definite answer Two particular kinds of relativism 
regarding the best way to construct and
operate a road network, it may be difficult for 1. subjective relativism
the observers to identify and agree upon this 2. cultural relativism
answer, because each observer has a different
viewpoint. Subjective relativism holds that each person
decides right and wrong for himself or herself.
Overview of Ethical Theories This notion is captured in the popular
The formal study of ethics goes back at least expression, “What’s right for you may not be
2,400 years, to the Greek philosopher right for me.”
Socrates. Socrates did not put any of his *Holds the idea that each individual person
philosophy in writing, but his student Plato did. decides what is right or wrong for themselves
In Plato’s dialogue called the Crito, imprisoned The Case for Subjective Relativism
Socrates uses ethical reasoning to explain why
he ought to face an unjust death penalty rather 1. Well-meaning and intelligent people
than take advantage of an opportunity to flee may have opposite opinions about moral
into exile with his family. issues 
There are many proposed ethical theories and
we're going to examine some of them. In this  For example, the issue of legal abortion
chapter, we consider nine ethical theories - in the United States.  There are a number
nine frameworks for moral decision making. of rational people on each side of the issue.
Subjective realists would base their own
The workable theories will be those that make opinion upon their morality of what they see
it possible for a person to present a to be right or wrong not what society or the
persuasive, logical argument to a diverse government claim to be fair and
audience of skeptical, yet open-minded people. true. Instead, each of us creates his or her
own morality.

2. Ethical debates are disagreeable and

Nine Ethical Theories to be discussed in this pointless.
lesson:
 Going back to the example of abortion,
1. Subject Relativism the debate in the United States has been
2. Cultural Relativism going on for more than 40 years. An
3. Divine Command Theory agreement about whether abortion is right
4. Ethical Egoism or wrong may never be reached.
5. Kantianism
6. Act Utilitarianism The Case against Subjective Relativism
7. Rule Utilitarianism
8. Social Contract Theory 1. With subjective relativism, the line
9. Virtue Ethics between doing what you think is right and
doing what you want to do is not sharply
Subject Relativism drawn.
2. By allowing each person to decide right *If your goal is to persuade others that your
and wrong for himself or herself, subjective solutions to actual moral problems are correct,
relativism makes no moral distinction adopting subjective relativism is self-defeating
between the actions of different people. because it is based on the idea that each
o The fact is that some people person decides for himself or herself what is
have caused millions to suffer, while right and what is wrong.
others have led lives of great service to
humanity. *According to subjective relativism, nobody’s
o a statement of the form, “I can conclusions are any more valid that anyone
else’s, no matter how these conclusions are
decide what’s right for me, as long as
drawn. Therefore, we reject subjective
my actions don’t hurt anyone else,” is
relativism as a workable ethical theory.
inconsistent with subjective relativism.
Cultural Relativism
3. Subjective relativism and tolerance are
two different things. Cultural relativism is the ethical theory that
o Some people may be attracted to the meaning of “right” and “wrong” rests with a
relativism because they believe in society’s actual moral guidelines.
tolerance (open-minded).
o It allows individuals in a pluralistic  A particular action may be right in one
society like the United States to live in society at one time and wrong in other
harmony. society or at another time
o However, tolerance is not the o Ex. (driving with a friend and
same thing as subjective relativism. killing a pedestrian)
Subjective relativism holds that  (90% in Norway, 10% in
individuals decide for themselves what Serbia, 50% in Mexico will not
is right and what is wrong. testify)
o If you are a tolerant person, is it
okay with you if some people decide Case for Cultural Relativism
they want to be intolerant? What if a
person decides that he will only deal 1. Different social contexts demand
fairly with people of his own racial different moral guidelines.
group? o It’s unrealistic to assume that the
o Relativism is based on the idea same set of moral guidelines can be
that there are no universal moral norms, expected to work for all human societies
so a blanket statement about the need in every part of the world for all ages.
for tolerance is incompatible with 2. It is arrogant for one society to judge
subjective relativism. another.
4. We should not give legitimacy to an o We may have more technology
ethical theory that allows people to make than people in other societies, but we
decisions based on something other than are no more intelligent than they are. It
reason. is arrogant for a person living in twenty-
o If individuals decide for first-century Italy to judge the actions of
themselves what is right and what is another person who lived in the Inca
wrong, they can reach their conclusions Empire in the fifteenth century.
by any means they see fit. They may
choose to base their decisions on The Case against Cultural Relativism
something other than logic and reason,
such as the rolling of dice or the turning 1. Just because two societies do have
of tarot cards. This path is contrary to different views about right and wrong
using logic and reason. doesn’t imply that they ought to have
different views.
2. Cultural relativism does not explain how 1. There are many holy books, and some
an individual determines the moral of their teachings disagree with each other.
guidelines of a particular society. 2. It is unrealistic to assume a multicultural
3. Cultural relativism does not explain how society will adopt a religion-based morality.
to determine right from wrong when there 3. Some moral problems are not
are no cultural norms. addressed directly in scripture.
4. Cultural relativism does not do a good 4. It is fallacious to equate “the good” with
job of characterizing actions when moral “God.”
guidelines evolve. o “the good” is something that
5. Cultural relativism provides no exists outside of God and was not
framework for reconciliation between created by God.
cultures in conflict. o  If good means “commanded by
6. The existence of many acceptable God,” then good is unreasonable.
cultural practices does not imply that any o there is an objective standard of
cultural practice would be acceptable. right and wrong separate from God.
7. Societies do, in fact, share certain core That means we can talk about the good
values. without talking about God;
8. Cultural relativism is only indirectly 5. The divine command theory is based on
based on reason. obedience, not reason.
o If good means “willed by God,”
Cultural relativism has significant weaknesses and if religious texts contain everything
as a tool for ethical persuasion. According to we need to know about what God wills,
cultural relativism, the ethical evaluation of a then there is no room left for collecting
moral problem made by a person in one and analyzing facts.
society may be meaningless when applied to
the same moral problem in another society. Ethical Egoism
Cultural relativism suggests there are no
universal moral guidelines. It gives tradition Ethical egoism is the philosophy that each
more weight in ethical evaluations than facts person should focus exclusively on his or her
and reason. For these reasons, cultural self-interest.
relativism is not a powerful tool for constructing
ethical evaluations persuasive to a diverse  In other words, according to ethical
audience, and we consider it no further. egoism, the morally right action for a
person to take in a particular situation is the
Divine Command Theory action that will provide that person with the
maximum long-term benefit.
The divine command theory is based on the
idea that good actions are those aligned with  Ethical egoism does not prohibit acting
the will of God and bad actions are those to help someone else but assisting another
contrary to the will of God. is the right thing to do if and only if it is in
the helper’s own long-term best interest.
2.3.1 The Case for the Divine Command
Theory The Case for Ethical Egoism

1. We owe obedience to our Creator. 1. Ethical egoism is a practical moral

2. God is all-good and all-knowing. philosophy.
3. God is the ultimate authority. 2. It’s better to let other people take care of
o our moral laws should be based themselves.
on God’s directions to us. 3. The community can benefit when
individuals put their well-being first.
2.3.2 The Case against the Divine Command 4. Other moral principles are rooted in the
Theory principle of self-interest.
The Case against Ethical Egoism Act only according to that maxim whereby
you can, at the same time, will that it should
1. An easy moral philosophy may not be become a universal law.
the best moral philosophy.
2. We do, in fact, know a lot about what is *universal law - something that must be done
good for someone else. in similar situations
3. A self-interested focus can lead to *autonomous - acting in accordance with
blatantly immoral behavior. one's moral duty rather than one's desires.
4. Other moral principles are superior to
the principle of self-interest. This version, known as the formula of the
5. People who take the good of others into universal law, tells us to “act only on that
account live happier lives. maxim that you could consistently will to be a
universal law.” The maxim of our action is the
Ethical egoism does not respect the ethical subjective principle that determines our will.
point of view: it does not recognize that in order We act for our own reasons. Different
to reap the benefits of living in a community, intentions might lead to similar actions. When I
individuals must consider the good of other want to make myself a bit more presentable, I
community members. For this reason, we shave and shower. Others might perform the
reject ethical egoism as a workable ethical same action for a different reason. We can
theory. identify different maxims in terms of these
different reasons or intentions. For Kant,
Kantianism intentions matter. He evaluates the moral
status of actions not according to the action
Kantianism is the name given to the ethical itself or according to its consequences, but
theory of the German philosopher Immanuel according to the maxim of the action. The
Kant (1724–1804). moral status of an action is determined by the
Kant believed that people’s actions ought to be actor’s intentions or reasons for acting.
guided by moral laws and that these moral According to the formula of the universal law,
laws were universal. He held that in order to what makes an action morally acceptable is
apply to all rational beings, any supreme that its maxim is universalizable. That is,
principle of morality must itself be based on morally permissible action is action that is
reason. motivated by an intention that we can rationally
Many of the moral laws Kant describes can will that others act on similarly. A morally
also be found in the Bible, Kant’s methodology prohibited action is just one where we can’t
allows these laws to be derived through a rationally will that our maxim is universally
reasoning process. followed. Deception and threat are both
paradigm cases of acting wrongly according to
A Kantian is able to go beyond simply stating Kant. In both cases, our maxim involves
that an action is right or wrong by citing chapter violating the autonomy of another rational
and verse; a Kantian can explain why it is right being and this is something that we, as
or wrong. rationally autonomous beings ourselves, could
not consistently will to be a universal law.
Kant viewed morality not in terms of
hypothetical imperatives, but through what he According to Kant, there is a contradiction
called categorical imperatives. involved in a rational autonomous being willing
that autonomy be universally coercively or
  deceptively violated. This would involve a
Categorical Imperative (First Formulation) rational autonomous being willing the violation
of its own rational autonomy. Acting out of
moral duty is a matter of acting only on maxims
that we can rationally will others act on as well.
The person of good will recognizes the the clerk is serving me voluntarily, or acting
humanity of others by not making any special autonomously for his own reasons.
exception for herself even when her interests
or inclination would be served by doing so. By contrast, we use people merely as a means
to an end if we force them to do our will, or if
*So as a Kantian, before I act, I would ask we deceive them into doing our will.  Threat
myself, what's the general rule that stands and deception are paradigm violations of the
behind the particular action I'm considering? Categorical Imperative. In threatening or
deceiving another person, we disrupt his or her
  autonomy and his or her will. This is what the
Categorical Imperative (Second Categorical Imperative forbids. Respecting
Formulation) persons requires refraining from violating their
autonomy.
Act so that you always treat both yourself and
other people as ends in themselves, and never The Case for Kantianism
only as a means to an end.
1. The Categorical Imperative aligns with
*It is wrong for one person to “use” another. the common moral concern, “What if
Instead, every interaction with other people everybody acted that way?”
must respect them as rational beings. o According to Kantianism, it is
wrong for you to act in a particular way
a means to an end - something that you do if you cannot wish everyone in a similar
because it will help you circumstance to do the same thing.
to achieve something else 2. Kantianism produces universal moral
ends in themselves - A purpose or goal guidelines.
desired for its own sake (rather than to attain o Kantianism aligns with the
something else).  intuition of many people that the same
morality ought to apply to all people for
The second formulation, tells us to treat all of history. These guidelines allow us
individuals as ends in themselves. That is just to make clear moral judgments.
to say that persons should be treated as o For example, one such judgment
beings that have intrinsic value. To say that might be the following: “Sacrificing living
persons have intrinsic value is to say that they human beings to satisfy the gods is
have value independent of their usefulness for wrong.” It is wrong in Europe in the
this or that purpose.  the twenty-first century, and it was
wrong in South America in the fifteenth
The second formulation of CI does not say that
century.
you can never use a person for your own
3. All persons are treated as moral equals.
purposes. But it tells us we should never use a
o A popular belief is that “all people
person merely as a means to your own ends.
are created equal.” Because it holds
What is the difference? We treat people as a
that people in similar situations should
means to our own ends in ways that are not
be treated in similar ways, Kantianism
morally problematic quite often.
provides an ethical framework to
When I go to the post office, I treat the clerk as combat discrimination.
a means to my end of sending a letter. But I do
not treat that person merely as a means to an The Case against Kantianism
end. I pursue my end of sending a letter
through my interaction with the clerk only with 1. Sometimes no single rule fully
the understanding that the clerk is acting characterizes an action.
autonomously in serving me. My interaction 2. Sometimes there is no way to resolve a
with the clerk is morally acceptable so long as conflict between rules.
3. Kantianism allows no exceptions to this problem using the first formulation of the
perfect duties. Categorical Imperative. Carla wants to be able
to get credit for turning in a report she has
*While these objections point out weaknesses purchased. A proposed moral rule might be, “I
with Kantianism, the theory does support moral may claim academic credit for a report written
decision making based on logical reasoning by someone else.” However, if everyone
from facts and commonly held values. It is followed this rule, reports would cease to be
culture neutral and treats all humans as credible indicators of the students’ knowledge,
equals. Hence it meets our criteria for a and professors would not give academic credit
workable ethical theory and we will use it as a for reports. Her proposed moral rule is self-
way of evaluating moral problems. defeating. Therefore, it is wrong for Carla to
purchase a report and turn it in as her own
Evaluating a Scenario Using Kantianism work.
Scenario
Carla is a single mother who is working hard to Commentary
complete her college education while taking Note that the Kantian analysis of the moral
care of her daughter. Carla has a full-time job problem focuses on the will behind the action.
and is taking two evening courses per It asks the question, “What was Carla trying to
semester. If she can pass both courses this do when she submitted under her own name a
semester, she will graduate. She knows her term paper written by someone else?” The
child will benefit if she can spend more time at analysis ignores extenuating circumstances
home. One of her required classes is modern that non-Kantians may cite to justify her action.
European history. In addition to the midterm
and final examinations, the professor assigns Utilitarianism
four lengthy reports, which is far more than the
usual amount of work required for a single The English philosophers Jeremy
class. Students must submit all four reports in Bentham (1748–1832) and John Stuart
order to pass the class. Carla earns an A on Mill (1806–1873) proposed a theory that is in
each of her first three reports. At the end of the sharp contrast to Kantianism.
term, she is required to put in a lot of overtime According to Bentham and Mill, an action is
where she works. She simply does not have good if its benefits exceed its harms, and
time to research and write the final report. action is bad if its harms exceed its benefits.
Carla uses the web to identify a company that
sells term papers. She purchases a report from Their ethical theory, called utilitarianism, is
the company and submits it as her own work. based upon the principle of utility, also called
Was Carla’s action morally justifiable? the Greatest Happiness Principle.
Analysis
Many times it is easier to use the second
formulation of the Categorical Imperative to
analyze a moral problem from a Kantian point Principle of Utility
of view, so that’s
Utility is the tendency of an object to produce
where we begin. By submitting another
happiness or prevent unhappiness for an
person’s work as her own, Carla treated her
individual or a community.
professor as a means to an end. She deceived
her professor with the goal of getting credit for Depending on the circumstances, you may
someone else’s work. It was wrong for Carla to think of “happiness” as an advantage, benefit,
treat the professor as a grade-generating good, or pleasure, and “unhappiness” as a
machine rather than a rational agent with disadvantage, cost, evil, or pain.
whom she could have communicated her
unusual circumstances. We can also look at Principle of Utility (Greatest Happiness
Principle)
 An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it Their ethical theory, called utilitarianism, is
increases (or decreases) the total happiness of based upon the principle of utility, also called
the affected parties. the Greatest Happiness Principle.
*The moral action is the one that produces the
maximum increase in happiness. (If every
possible action results in a decrease in
happiness, then the moral action is the one Principle of Utility
that minimizes the decrease in happiness.)
Utility is the tendency of an object to produce
Note that the morality of an action has nothing happiness or prevent unhappiness for an
to do with the attitude behind the action. individual or a community.
Bentham writes, “There is no such thing as any
Depending on the circumstances, you may
sort of motive that is in itself a bad one. If
think of “happiness” as an advantage, benefit,
[motives] are good or bad, it is only on account
good, or pleasure, and “unhappiness” as a
of their effects”.We call utilitarianism
disadvantage, cost, evil, or pain.
a consequentialist theory because the focus
is on the consequences of an action. Principle of Utility (Greatest Happiness
Principle)
There are two formulations of utilitarianism: act
An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it
utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism.
increases (or decreases) the total happiness of
the affected parties.
Second Semester SY 2020-2021 - Modular *The moral action is the one that produces the
Group 2 maximum increase in happiness. (If every
possible action results in a decrease in
 Home happiness, then the moral action is the one
 Modules that minimizes the decrease in happiness.)
 Assignments
Note that the morality of an action has nothing
 Discussions
to do with the attitude behind the action.
 Quizzes Bentham writes, “There is no such thing as any
 Announcements sort of motive that is in itself a bad one. If
 Syllabus [motives] are good or bad, it is only on account
 Conferences of their effects”.We call utilitarianism
 Assessment of the Effectiveness of a consequentialist theory because the focus
Face-to-Face Tutorial (Pre-pandemic) and is on the consequences of an action.
Online Study Group Tutorial in T.I.P.
 Survey on the the Conduct of Modular There are two formulations of utilitarianism: act
Courses utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism.

Immersive Reader

2.7 Utilitarianism

The English philosophers Jeremy

Bentham (1748–1832) and John Stuart
Mill (1806–1873) proposed a theory that is in
sharp contrast to Kantianism.
According to Bentham and Mill, an action is
good if its benefits exceed its harms, and
action is bad if its harms exceed its benefits.
  Unclear whom to include in calculations
o In the highway example children
in one side might find it difficult to cross
the highway
 Too much work
 Susceptible to the problem of moral luck
o Ex: Sending flowers to a patient
and causing an allergy for him. This
cost him much. Then your act is BAD.

Evaluating a Scenario Using Act Utilitarianism

Scenario
A state is considering replacing a curvy stretch
of highway that passes along the borders of a
large city. Would building the highway be a
good action?
Analysis
To perform the analysis of this problem, we
must determine who is affected and the effects
To understand more about Utilitarianism, of the highway construction on them. Our
please watch this video. analysis is in terms of dollars and cents. For
this reason, we’ll use the terms “benefit” and
“cost” instead of “happiness” and
“unhappiness.” About 150 houses lie on or very
near the proposed path of the new, straighter
Act utilitarianism section of the highway. Using its power of an
eminent domain, the state can condemn these
Act utilitarianism is the ethical theory that an
properties. It would cost the state $20 million to
action is good if its net effect (overall affected
provide fair compensation to the homeowners.
beings) is to produce more happiness than
Constructing the new highway, which is three
unhappiness.
miles long, would cost the taxpayers of the
We are required to promote those acts which state another $10 million. Suppose the
will result in the greatest good for the greatest environmental impact of the new highway in
number of people. The consequences of the terms of lost habitat for morally significant
act of giving money to charity would be animal species is valued at $1 million. Every
considered right in act-utilitarianism, because weekday, 15,000 cars are expected to travel
the money increases the happiness of many on this section of highway, which is one mile
people, rather than just yourself. shorter than the curvy highway it replaces.
Assuming it costs 40 cents per mile to operate
a motor vehicle, construction of the new
highway will save drivers $6,000 per weekday
in operating costs. The highway has an
Case for Act Utilitarianism expected operating lifetime of 25 years. Over a
25-year period, the expected total savings to
 Focuses on happiness drivers will be $39 million. We’ll assume the
 Down-to-earth (practical) highway project will have no positive or
 Comprehensive negative effects on any other people. Since the
 Workable ethical theory overall cost of the new highway is $31 million
and the benefit of the new highway is $39
Case Against Act Utilitarianism
million, building the highway would be a good to
action. spread through the Internet. However, the
purpose of the new worm, named Nachi, was
Commentary benevolent. Since Nachi took advantage of the
Performing the benefit/cost (or same security hole as Blaster, it could not
happiness/unhappiness) calculations is crucial infect computers that were immune to the
to the utilitarian approach, yet it can be Blaster worm. Once Nachi gained access to a
controversial. In our example, we translated computer with the security hole, it located and
everything into dollars and cents. Was that destroyed copies of the Blaster worm. It also
reasonable? Neighborhoods are the site of automatically downloaded from Microsoft a
many important relationships. We did not patch to the operating system software that
assign a value to the harm the proposed would fix the security problem. Finally, it used
highway would do to these neighborhoods. the computer as a launching pad to seek out
There is a good chance that many of the other Windows PCs with the security hole. Was
homeowners would be angry about being the action of the person who released the
forced out of their houses, even if they were Nachi worm morally right or wrong?
paid a fair price for their properties. How do we
put a dollar value on their emotional distress?
On the other hand, we can’t add apples and Analysis
oranges. Translating everything into dollars To analyze this moral problem from a rule
and cents is one way to put everything into utilitarian point of view, we must think of an
common units. appropriate moral rule and determine if its
universal adoption would increase the
happiness of the affected parties. In this case,
an appropriate moral rule might be the
following: “If I can write and release a helpful
Rule Utilitarianism
worm that  improves the security of the
Rule utilitarianism is the ethical theory that computers it infects, I should do so.”
holds that we ought to adopt those moral rules
What would be the benefits if everyone
that, if followed by everyone, lead to the
followed the proposed moral rule? Many
greatest increase in total happiness overall
people do not keep their computers up to date
affected parties. Hence a rule utilitarian applies
with the latest patches to the operating system.
the principle of utility to moral rules, while an
They would benefit from a worm that
act utilitarian applies the principle of utility to
automatically removed their network
individual moral actions.
vulnerabilities.
The rule utilitarian is looking at the
What harm would be caused by the universal
consequences of the action, while the Kantian
adoption of the rule? If everyone followed this
is looking at the will motivating the action.
rule, the appearance of every new harmful
Evaluating a Scenario Using Rule Utilitarianism worm would be followed by the release of
many other worms designed to eradicate the
Scenario harmful worm. Worms make networks less
A worm is a self-contained program that usable by creating a lot of extra network traffic.
spreads through a computer network by taking For example, the Nachi worm disabled
advantage of security holes in the computers networks of Diebold ATM machines at two
connected to the network. In August 2003, the financial institutions. The universal adoption of
Blaster worm infected many computers running the moral rule would reduce the usefulness of
the Windows 2000, Windows NT, and the Internet while the various “helpful” worms
Windows XP operating systems. The Blaster were circulating.
worm caused computers it infected to reboot
every few minutes. Soon another worm was Another negative consequence would be
exploiting the same security hole in Windows potential harm done to computers by the
supposedly helpful worms. Even worms cooperation is possible only when
designed to be benevolent may contain bugs. If people mutually agree to follow certain
many people are releasing worms, there is a guidelines. Hence moral rules are
good chance some of the worms may “simply the rules that are necessary if
accidentally harm data or programs on the we are to gain the benefits of social
computers they infect.  living” 
A third harmful consequence would be the Hobbes argues that everybody living in a
extra work placed on system administrators. civilized society has implicitly agreed to two
When system administrators detect a new things:
worm, it is not
immediately obvious whether the worm is 1. the establishment of such a set of moral
harmful or beneficial. Hence the prudent rules to govern relations among citizens,
response of system administrators is to combat and
every new worm that attacks their computers. If 2. a government capable of enforcing
the proposed moral rule were adopted, more these rules. He calls this arrangement
worms would be released, forcing system the social contract.
administrators to spend more of their time-
fighting worms.

In conclusion, the harms caused by the o Ex: residents of Baghdad after
universal adoption of this moral rule appear to Iraq Invasion – no social contract with
outweigh the benefits. Therefore, the action of the state.
the person who
released the Nachi worm is morally wrong. Jean-Jacques Rousseau - continued the
evolution of social contract theory
Social Contract Theory

“Morality consists in the set of rules, governing o In an ideal society, no one is
how people are to treat one another, that above rules that prevent society from
rational people will agree to accept, for their enacting bad rules
mutual benefit,
on the condition that others follow those rules
as well.” James Rachels’s Definition
  “Morality consists in the set of rules, governing
how people are to treat one another, that
Thomas Hobbes rational people will agree to accept, for their
 mutual benefit, on the condition that others
o he argues that without rules and follow those rules as well.”
a means of enforcing them, people Similar to Kantianism but rules are not to
would not bother to create anything of be universalized, but specific society
value, because nobody could be sure of should agreed upon.
keeping what they created
o Instead, people would be
consumed with taking what they needed
and defending themselves
against the attacks of others. John Rawls’s Principles of Justice
o To avoid this miserable condition,
which Hobbes calls the “state of nature,”  To avoid unequal distribution of wealth
rational people understand that and power:
cooperation is essential. However, o Each person may claim a “fully
adequate” number of basic rights and
 liberties, so long as these claims are
consistent with everyone else having a Evaluating a Scenario Using Social Contract
claim to the same rights and liberties Theory
o Any social and economic
inequalities must Scenario
Bill, the owner of a chain of DVD rental stores
in a major metropolitan area, uses a computer
 Be associated with positions that
to keep track of the DVDs rented by each
everyone has a fair and equal
customer. Using this information, he is able to
opportunity to achieve.
construct profiles of the customers. For
o Ex: People with same
example, a customer who rents a large number
intelligence, talent, …etc, should have of Disney titles is likely to have children. Bill
the right to achieve the same position sells these profiles to mail-order companies.
regardless of their social position. The customers begin receiving many
 Be to the greatest benefit of the least- unsolicited mail-order catalogs. Some of the
advantaged members of society customers are happy to receive these catalogs
(the difference principle) and make use of them to order products.
o Ex: differences in Taxes Others are unhappy at the increase in the
according to income amount of “junk mail” they are receiving. 
Analysis
To analyze this scenario using the social
contract theory, we think about the rights of the
Case for Social Contract Theory rational agents involved. In this case, the
rational agents are Bill, his customers, and the
1. It is framed in the language of rights. mail-order companies. The morality of Bill’s
2. It explains why rational people act out of actions revolves around the question of
self-interest in the absence of a common whether he violated the privacy rights of his
agreement. customers. If someone rents a DVD from one
3. It explains why under certain of Bill’s stores, both the customer and Bill have
circumstances the government may deprive information about the transaction. Are their
some people of some rights. rights to this information equal? If both the
4. It explains why under certain customer and Bill have equal rights to this
circumstances civil disobedience can be information, then you may conclude there is
the morally right decision. nothing wrong with him selling this information
to a mail-order company. On the other hand, if
customers have the right to expect transactions
Case Against Social Contract Theory to be confidential, you may conclude that Bill
was wrong to sell this information without
 No one signed contract gaining the permission of the customer.
 Some actions have multiple
characterizations - Ex: Don’t steal. Virtue Ethics
 Conflicting rights problem
o Ex: Abortion -  the privacy right of Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by
mother, against the fetus’s right to live. Aristotle and other ancient Greeks. It is the
 May unjustly treat people who cannot quest to understand and live a life of moral
uphold contract character.
o Ex: Drug addicts – some This character-based approach to morality
countries put in prisons assumes that we acquire virtue through
practice. By practicing being honest, brave,
just, generous, and so on, a person develops
an honorable and moral character. According
to Aristotle, by honing virtuous habits, people 3. Virtue ethics undermines attempts to
will likely make the right choice when faced hold people responsible for their bad
with ethical challenges. actions.
According to Aristotle, there are two kinds of Summary of Virtue Ethics
virtues
A right action is an action that a virtuous
1. intellectual virtues person, acting in character, would do in the
2. moral virtues same circumstances. A virtuous person is a
o  these are virtues associated with person who possesses
reasoning and truth. and lives out the virtues. The virtues are those
o Moral virtues, often called virtues character traits human beings need in order to
of character by today’s writers, are flourish and be truly happy.
habits or dispositions formed through
the repetition of the relevant virtuous Making a Decision Using Virtue Ethics
actions
Scenario
Note, then, that moral virtue is not simply a Josh is a senior majoring in computer science
disposition to act in a particular way, it is also a at a small university. All of the seniors in
disposition to feel in a particular way. computer science are friends because they
According to Aristotle, you can tell a lot about have taken most of their computer science
someone’s character by observing what courses together. Josh is particularly close to
pleases them and what bothers them. Matt. Josh and Matt are from the same city
about 200 miles from campus, and Matt has
He wrote, “We may even go so far as to state
given Josh rides to and from home a half
that the man who does not enjoy performing
dozen times at the start and end of school
noble actions is not a good man at all. Nobody
holidays. Notably, Matt never asked Josh to
would call a man just who does not enjoy
help pay for the gas on any of these trips, and
acting justly, nor generous who does not enjoy
Josh never offered to do so. When it is time for
generous actions, and so on.”
seniors to choose partners for their capstone
project, no one is surprised when Josh and
Matt end up on the same team. Unfortunately,
The Case for Virtue Ethics Josh and the other teammates soon rue
inviting Matt onto their team. Everyone has
1. In many situations it makes more sense known Matt to be hard-working, trustworthy,
to focus on virtues than on obligations, and reliable, but his father just died in a car
rights, or consequences. accident, and he has lost all interest in school.
2. Personal relationships can be morally To make matters worse, Matt is drinking too
relevant to decision making. much. He doesn’t show up for a lot of the team
3. Virtue ethics recognizes that our moral meetings, and the code he produces doesn’t
decision-making skills develop over time. meet the specifications. Josh and the other
4. There are no irresolvable moral teammates can’t persuade Matt to take the
dilemmas. project more seriously, and since they don’t
5. Virtue ethics recognizes the important have any real control over his behavior, they
role that emotions play in living a moral life. decide it’s easier simply to rewrite Matt’s part
of the system themselves. Matt does contribute
The Case against Virtue Ethics his share of the PowerPoint slides, and during
the oral presentation he stands up and talks
1. Different people may have quite about “his” portion of the code, never
different conceptions of human flourishing. mentioning that it was all rewritten by his
2. Virtue ethics cannot be used to guide teammates.
government policy.
 should have had a conversation with the
Everyone in the class is supposed to send the professor in charge of the senior projects when
professor an email grading the performance of it first became apparent that Matt was not
their teammates. The department prides itself participating fully as a teammate. An early
on graduating students who have proven they intervention could have resulted in a
can work well on software development teams, completely different outcome. After reflecting
and students getting poor or failing on what he should do, Josh concludes he must
performance reviews from all of their be truthful with the professor. However, he will
teammates may be forced to repeat the class. not simply tell the professor that Matt’s
Matt comes to Josh, tells him that he really performance was poor. Josh decides he will
needs to pass this class because he can’t also take responsibility for his role in the fiasco
afford to stay in college any longer, and pleads by providing a full account to the professor of
for a good performance review.What should how his own failure to respond to the situation
Josh do? earlier in the year contributed to the
unsatisfactory outcome.
Decision Comparing Workable Ethical Theories
Josh must decide whether or not to disclose to Comparing Workable Ethical Theories
the professor that Matt did not even come
close to doing his share of the team project, The divine command theory, ethical egoism,
fully aware that a poor or failing performance Kantianism, act utilitarianism, rule
evaluation may prevent Matt from graduating. utilitarianism, social contract theory, and virtue
Josh is an honest person, and he has a hard ethics share the viewpoint that moral good and
time imagining that he could tell the professor moral precepts are objective. In other words,
that Matt did a good job when that is far from morality has an existence outside the human
the truth. However, Josh is also a just person, mind. For this reason, we say these theories
and he feels indebted toward Matt, who has are examples of objectivism.
done him a lot of favors over the past four
years—particularly those free rides to and from
his hometown. Josh also feels compassion
toward Matt, who lost his father. It’s bad
enough to lose a parent, but because of the
sudden nature of his father’s death, Matt didn’t
even have the chance to say goodbye to him.
As he ponders his dilemma, Josh begins to
realize that he finds himself in this difficult spot
because at several points in the past he didn’t
step up and do the right thing. He took
advantage of Matt’s generosity (and gave in to
his own greedy impulses) by taking all those
free rides to and from his hometown. If he had
paid his share of the gas money, he wouldn’t
be feeling so obligated toward Matt. Josh also
knows he wasn’t a very good friend when he
failed to talk with Matt about how he was
feeling about his father’s death and how that
was affecting his performance on the senior
project. Matt’s lack of attention to his
schoolwork was definitely out of character, a
sign that he was suffering a lot. Josh now
understands that he and the other teammates
  

Source: Ethics for the Information Age by M.

Quiin, Addison-Wesley. Copyright © 2015,
2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.,
What distinguishes ethical egoism, Kantianism,
utilitarianism, social contract theory, and virtue
ethics from the divine command theory is the
assumption that ethical decision making is a
rational process by which people can discover
objective moral principles with the use of
logical reasoning based on facts and
commonly held values.
Kantianism, utilitarianism, social contract
theory, and virtue ethics explicitly take other
people into consideration when defining what
makes an action morally correct, which sets
these theories apart from ethical egoism.
Of all the theories we have considered, we
conclude that Kantianism, act utilitarianism,
rule utilitarianism, social contract theory, and
virtue ethics are the most workable.