Computer ethics beyond mere compliance
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-10-2014-0043 |
| Pages | 176-189 |
| Date | 10 August 2015 |
| Published date | 10 August 2015 |
| Author | Richard Volkman |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance |
Computer ethics beyond mere
compliance
Richard Volkman
Department of Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University,
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The paper aims to examine the nature of computer ethics as a eld of study in light of 20
years of Ethicomp, arguing that computer ethics beyond mere compliance will have to be pluralistic and
sensitive to the starting places of various audiences.
Design/methodology/approach – The essay offers a philosophical rather than empirical analysis,
but the ideal of open inquiry is observed to be manifest in the practice of Ethicomp.
Findings – If computer ethics is to constitute a real engagement with industry and society that
cultivates a genuine sensitivity to ethical concerns in the creation, development and implementation of
technologies, a genuine sensitivity that stands in marked contrast to ethics as “mere compliance”, then
computer ethics will have to persist in issuing an open invitation to inquiry.
Originality/value – The celebration of 20 years of Ethicomp is an occasion to reect on who we are
and what we mean to be doing. Inclusive of previous accounts (e.g. Moor and Gotterbarn), while going
beyond them, an inquiry-based conception of computer ethics makes room for all the various
dimensions of computer ethics.
Keywords Philosophy, Computer ethics, Collaboration, Information ethics, Community evolution,
Teaching innovations
Paper type Conceptual paper
1. Introduction
One reason to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and regular holidays is to punctuate
our histories by periods of reection that reafrm the importance of what we care about
and the trajectory of the story it inscribes. Graduations, weddings and retirements are
likewise opportunities to reexamine core values and projects, but our celebrations of
change and transition more explicitly acknowledge the perils and opportunities of a
future that may not resemble the past. All this is as true of the stories of institutions as
of individuals. Terry Bynum and Simon Rogerson, having co-founded the Ethicomp
conference series two decades ago, are now handing over stewardship of this institution
to a new generation of students, scholars and practitioners. Our celebration of 20 years
of Ethicomp thus invites us to ask: Who have we been, and what shall we become? This
means we need to ask again, in light of everything we have learned over the past two
decades: What is computer ethics? How does one do computer ethics? What are the
hopes and fears that inform our path forward?
Such questions were plainly lurking behind Rogerson’s (2014) provocative plenary
address to kick-off Ethicomp 2014. Having long championed the relevance of
professional practice in the science and industry of computing, it came as no surprise
that Rogerson would reafrm his view that computer ethics ought to make some
tangible, practical difference in the way computing artifacts are designed, developed
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
JICES
13,3/4
176
Received 7 October 2014
Revised 24 January 2015
Accepted 3 March 2015
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.13 No. 3/4, 2015
pp.176-189
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-10-2014-0043
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