Phil 327 – Ethics in the Information Age -- Fall, 2013
Metropolitan Sate University
Paper Assignments (Note: These are carried over from last year. Check back for updated versions before you write your papers)
First Paper assignment (Updated for Fall 2013)
Paper writing guides:
Office Hours: In my office (312 St. John's Hall, St. Paul Campus) Monday 2:30-5:30, Tuesday 11-3, Wednesday 5-7
Date | Topic | Reading | Writing Due | Handouts |
---|---|---|---|---|
August 26 | Introduction
|
none
|
Cases
for Discussion
|
|
September 2 | Labor Day Holiday | No Class - But why not get started on next week's readings | ||
September 9 | Overview:
Personal, Professional, and Social Issues in Information Technology
|
Quinn, Chapter 1; Benkler, Wealth of
Networks, Introduction http://www.benkler.org/Benkler_Wealth_Of_Networks_Chapter_1.pdf The Case of the Killer Robot (online here) |
Response to Readings | |
September 16 | Ethical
Theories 1: Relativism, Religion, Kant
|
Quinn,
Chapter 2 through p. 75; Excerpts
from Kant (with notes); "The Truth in Ethical Relativism" by Hugh LaFollette
|
Response to Readings | Discussion Project: Applying Kant |
September 23 | 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; (another version of the game)
|
Response to Readings | Discussion Project: Applying
Utilitarianism
|
September 30 | Professional/Business
ethics 1: responsibilities, standards, codes
|
Quinn,
Chapter 9, through p. 427
|
Response to Readings | Discussion Project:Applying the Software Engineering Code of Ethics |
October 7 | 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 Readings; First Paper Due | Discussion Project: Whistleblowing |
October 14 | Computer Security and
Reliability
|
From Quinn, Chapter 7: the first three sections (I.e., 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 - through page 330); From Quinn, Chapter 8: the first four sections and the last two (pp. 355-371 and 381-390); Principles for Fair Commerce in Digital Products (shorter) Principles for Fair Commerce in Digital Products (longer) |
Response to Readings | Discussion
project on software warranties
|
October 21 | Spam, Pornography, Free Speech, Censorship | Quinn, Chapter 3; Brian Leiter on Cyber-Cesspools, cleaner version, explicit version | Response to Readings | Second Paper Assignment |
October 28 | Privacy
1
|
|
Response to Readings |
|
November 4 | Privacy
2
|
Quinn,
Chapter 6; plus whatever you have time for from the articles
listed on this page |
Response to Readings | Discussion project on Surveillance
|
November 11 | Intellectual
Property 1
|
Read this first: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html; then Quinn,
Chapter 4
|
Response to Readings; Second paper due | Larry Lessig's TED talk Discussion project on Copyright
|
November18 | 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 Readings | Film: Revolution OS |
November 25 | 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 Readings | Discussion Project on the Internet and Democracy Benkler Notes |
December 2 | Access and Equity | Quinn, Chapter 10 | Response to Readings | Story of Stuff videos: Stuff in general Electronic stuff |
December 9 | Wrap up | None
|
Third paper due |