Morality And Ethics And Computers :: essays research papers fc

Morality and Ethics and Computers     There are some(prenominal) different perspectives to the discussion on moral and ethicaluses of computing machines. In many situations, the morality of a particular use of acomputer is up to the individual to decide. For this reason, absolute lawsabout ethical computer usage is almost, exclusively not entirely, impossible to define.     The unveiling of computers into the workplace has introduced manyquestions as well Should employers make sure the workplace is designed tominimize health risks such as back strain and carpal tunnel syndrome for peoplewho work with computers? Can employers prohibit employees from sending personalmemos by electronic mail to a friend at the other side of the office? Shouldemployers monitor employees work on computers? If so, should employees bewarned beforehand? If warned, does that make the practice okay? According toKenneth Goodman, director of the Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy at theUniversity of Miami, who teaches courses in computer ethics, "Theres hardly abusiness thats not apply computers."1 This makes these questions all the moreimportant for todays society to answer.     There are also many moral and ethical problems dealing with the use ofcomputers in the medical field. In one particular case, a technician trustedwhat he thought a computer was telling him, and administered a deadly dose ofradiation to a hospital patient.2 In cases like these, it is difficult to decidewhos fault it is. It could have been the computer programmers fault, butGoodman asks, "How much responsibility can you place on a machine?"3Many problems also occur when computers are used in education. Shouldcomputers substitute actual teachers in the classroom? In some schools, computersand computer manuals have already started to replace teachers. I would considerthis an unethical use of computers because computers do not have the ability tothink and interact on an interpersonal basis.     Computers "dehumanize human activity"4 by taking away many jobs and reservation many others "boring exercises in pushing the buttons that make thetechnology work." 5     Complete privacy is almost impossible in this computer age. By using acredit card or check cashing card, entering a raffle, or subscribing to amagazine, people provide information about themselves that can be sold tomarketers and distributed to data bases throughout the world. When people usethe world-wide web, the sites they visit and download things from, make a recordthat can be traced back to the person.6 This is not protected, as it is whenbooks are checked out of a library. Therefore, information about someonespersonal preferences and interests can be sold to anyone.