Phil 327 – Ethics in the Information Age --Fall, 2010
Metropolitan Sate University
First Paper assignment (Updated for Fall, 2010)
Second Paper Assignment (Updated for Fall, 2010)
Third paper assignment (Updated for Fall, 2010)
Paper writing guides:
Tentative schedule of topics and readings
(The schedule of writing assignments is firm, but I am updating assignments and Discussion Projects as we go, so check for most recent versions):
|
Date |
Topic |
|
Writing
assignments/ Discussion Projects |
August 27 |
Introduction |
none |
Cases
for Discussion
|
September 3 |
Overview:
Personal, Professional, and Social Issues in Information Technology |
Quinn,
Chapter 1; Benkler, Wealth of
Networks, Introduction (online here - HTML formatted for easy reading - or here - PDF formated for saving paper when printing);
The Case of the Killer Robot (online here)
|
Response to reading; |
September 10 |
Ethical
Theories 1: Relativism, Religion, Kant |
Quinn,
Chapter 2 through p. 74; Excerpts
from Kant (with notes); "The
Truth in Ethical Relativism" by Hugh LaFollette |
Response to reading;; Discussion Project: Applying Kant ; Instructions for first paper (due Oct. 1) |
September 17 |
Ethical
Theories 2: Utilitarianism, Social Contract theory |
Quinn,
Chapter 2, the rest; "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" by Peter Singer; Prisoners'
Dilemma: Game
and Explanation: "We
are all Prisoners" and "An
Ethic Based on Prisoners' Dilemma" by Jonathan Blumen
|
Response
to reading;; Discussion Project: Applying
Utilitarianism |
September 24 |
Professional/Business
ethics 1: responsibilities, standards, codes |
Quinn,
Chapter 8, through p. 422
|
Response to reading; Discussion Project:Applying the Software Engineering Code of Ethics |
October 1 |
Professional/Business
ethics 2: whistleblowing, loyalty |
Quinn,
Chapter 8, the rest; also "Encouraging
Internal Whistleblowing in Organizations" by Lilanthi Ravishankar
; "Illusions of whistleblower protection" by Brian Martin, University of
Wolongong; Brian Martin's summary of Robert Jackall's discussion of whistleblowing; Summary
of Jackall's book "Moral Mazes" (pdf) by Damian Grace,
University of New South Wales
|
Response
to reading; First paper due (instructions here; |
October 8 |
Computer
Reliability |
Quinn,
Chapter 7 |
Response
to reading; Discussion
project on software warranties
|
October 15 |
Spam,
Pornography, Free Speech, Censorship
|
Quinn,
Chapter 3
|
Response
to reading;
|
October 22 |
Privacy
1
|
Quinn,
Chapter 5, through p. 249; MSNBC article
on privacy law
|
Response
to reading;
|
October 29 |
Privacy
2
|
Quinn,
Chapter 5, the rest; plus whatever you have time for from the articles
listed on this page
|
Response
to reading; Discussion
project on Surveillance
|
November 5 |
Intellectual
Property 1
|
Read this first: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html; then Quinn,
Chapter 4
|
Response
to reading; Second paper due; Discussion
project on Copyright
|
November 12 |
Intellectual
Property 2
|
Benkler, Wealth of Networks, Introduction
to Chapter 2 (pp. 35-41); Chapter
3 (pp. 59-90); last
section of Chapter 5 (pp. 161-175)
|
Response to reading |
November 19 |
The
Internet and Democracy
|
Benkler, Wealth of Networks, Chapter
7 - html
here, pdf
here (Chapter 6 is optional); "The
Daily We" by Cass Sunstein; "Bloggers
and Parties: Can the Netroots Reshape Democracy" by Henry Farrell
|
Response
to reading
|
November 26 |
Thanksgiving break -- no class | ||
December 3 |
Access and Equity |
Quinn, Chapter 9 |
Response to reading; |
December 10 |
Wrap up |
None |
Third paper due
|