Phil 327 – Ethics in the Information Age --Fall, 2011
Metropolitan Sate University
Syllabus (Useful for course policies, etc., but use the schedule of assignments below, which has been updated
First Paper assignment (Due September 30 -- Note new due date.)
Second Paper Assignment (Due November 11-- Note new due date.)
Third paper assignment (Updated -- due December 9)
Paper writing guides:
Office Hours: (These have changed since the syllabus was handed out):
Monday, 4:30-7:00 (Mdwy lower level common area)
Tuesday, 3:30-5:30 (Mdwy lower level common area)
Wednesday, 10:00-3:00 (in my office)
And by appointment
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 26 |
Introduction |
none |
Cases
for Discussion
|
September 2 |
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 9 |
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 Sept. 30) |
September 16 |
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 23 |
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 |
September 30 |
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 7 |
Computer
Reliability |
Quinn,
Chapter 7 |
Response
to reading; Discussion
project on software warranties
|
October 14 |
|
I'll be here: Association for Political Theory Conference University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 13-15 October 2011 |
|
October 21 |
Spam, Pornography, Free Speech, Censorship
Privacy
1
|
Quinn,
Chapter 3
|
Response
to reading;
|
October 28 |
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 4 |
Intellectual
Property 1
|
Read this first: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html; then Quinn,
Chapter 4
|
Response
to reading; Discussion
project on Copyright
|
November 11 |
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; Second paper due; Third paper assignment handed out. |
November 18 |
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 25 |
Thanksgiving break -- no class | ||
December 2 |
Access and Equity |
Quinn, Chapter 9 |
Response to reading; |
December 9 |
Wrap up |
None |
Third paper due
|