Phil 327 – Ethics in the Information Age -- Spring, 2008
Metropolitan Sate University
Extremely tentative schedule of topics and readings (schedule of writing assignments is firm):
This schedule has been revised (on 1/22) to match the schedule I handed out at the first class. The schedule that was on this page previously was all goofed up.
|
Date |
Topic |
|
Writing assignments/ In class Discussion Projects |
|
January 8 |
Introduction |
none |
|
|
January 15 |
Overview: Personal, Professional, and Social Issues in
Information Technology |
Quinn, Chapter 1; Benkler, Wealth of
Networks, Introduction (online here); The Case of the Killer Robot
(online here) |
Response to reading Cases for
Discussion (We'll do this in class -- unless I think of something better
to do.) |
|
January 22 |
Ethical Theories 1: Relativism, Religion, Kant |
Quinn, Chapter 2 through p. 73; Excerpts
from Kant (with notes); "The
Truth in Ethical Relativism" by Hugh LaFollette |
Response to reading; Discussion Project: Applying Kant
(updated 1/22) |
|
January 29 |
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 |
Response to reading; Discussion Project: Applying
Utilitarianism; Mid-term exam questions |
|
February 5 |
Precinct Caucuses -- No class | ||
|
February 12 |
Professional/Business ethics 1: responsibilities,
standards, codes |
Quinn, Chapter 9, through p. 433 |
Response to reading; Discussion project: Applying the Code (follow the
procedure suggested on p. 433-4) |
|
February 19 |
Professional/Business ethics 2: whistleblowing,
loyalty |
Quinn, Chapter 9, 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; |
|
February 26 |
Computer Reliability |
Quinn, Chapter 7 |
Response to reading; Midterm exam due; Discussion project on software warranties |
|
March 4 |
Spring Break -- No class | ||
|
March 11 |
Spam, Pornography, Free Speech, Censorship |
Quinn, Chapter 3 |
Response to reading; |
|
March 18 |
Privacy 1 |
Quinn, Chapter 5, through p. 234; MSNBC article
on privacy law |
Response to reading; Paper topic statement due; |
|
March 25 |
Privacy 2 |
Quinn, Chapter 5, the rest; plus whatever you have time for
from the articles listed on this |
Response to reading; Discussion
project on Surveillance |
|
April 1 |
Intellectual Property 1 |
Quinn, Chapter 4; Links to lots more material on copyright
can be found here |
Response to reading; Discussion
project on Copyright |
|
April 8 |
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 ; Paper drafts due; |
|
April 15 |
|
|
Response to reading |
|
April 22 |
Access and Equity; course evaluations |
Quinn, Chapter 8 -- pressed for time? -- pp.385-397 on
Globalization, the Digital Divide and the Winner-Take-All Society are the top
priority |
Response to reading; Final Exam due |
| April 29 |
No meeting - email papers |
None |
Final version of papers due |