Phil 327 – Ethics in the Information Age -- Spring, 2010
Metropolitan Sate University
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 |
January 15 |
Introduction |
none |
Cases
for Discussion
|
January 22 |
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; |
January 29 |
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 Feb 19) |
February 5 |
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 |
February 12 |
Professional/Business
ethics 1: responsibilities, standards, codes |
Quinn,
Chapter 8, through p. 408 |
Response to reading; Discussion Project:Applying the Software Engineering Code of Ethics |
February 19 |
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 whistleblowingSummary
of Jackall's book "Moral Mazes" (pdf) by Damian Grace,
University of New South Wales
|
Response
to reading; First paper due; |
February 26 |
Computer
Reliability |
Quinn,
Chapter 7 |
Response
to reading; Discussion
project on software warranties
|
March 5 |
Spam,
Pornography, Free Speech, Censorship
|
Quinn,
Chapter 3
|
Response
to reading;
|
March 12 |
Spring Break - No class | ||
March 19 |
Privacy
1 |
Quinn,
Chapter 5, through p. 243; MSNBC article
on privacy law |
Response
to reading; |
March 26 |
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 |
April 2 |
Intellectual
Property 1 |
Quinn,
Chapter 4 |
Response
to reading; Second paper due; Discussion
project on Copyright
|
April 9 |
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 |
April 16 |
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 |
April 23 |
Access
and Equity; course evaluations |
Quinn, Chapter 9 |
Response to reading; |
April 30 |
No
meeting - email papers |
None |
Third paper due
|