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Doing Ethics Technique

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AJIS

vol. 10 no. 2

May 2003

DOING ETHICS: A UNIVERSAL TECHNIQUE IN AN ACCESSIBILITY CONTEXT
Christopher R. Simpson1, Liddy Nevile2, Oliver K. Burmeister3
1

Adjunct Teaching Fellow, School of Information Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, E-mail: csimpson@swin.edu.au;
2

E-mail: Liddy.Nevile@motile.net;

3

Swinburne Computer-Human Interaction Laboratory, School of Information Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, E-mail: oburmeister@it.swin.edu.au;

ABSTRACT
Thinking ethically is difficult without a background in moral philosophy. Asking people to embrace ethics without offering practical explanation of the efficacy of so doing, is a thankless task. A technique that people can follow easily, …show more content…

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AJIS

vol. 10 no. 2

May 2003

The doing ethics technique The technique of analysis depends upon asking questions. It has been found that the order in which the questions are asked is also important. The following questions, in this order, have been found to work best (through trial and error over many semesters). Q1 What is going on? – What are the facts? Q2 What are the issues? Q3 Who is affected? Q4 hence, What are the ethical issues and implications? Q5 What can be done about it? - What options are there? and Q6 Which option is best? – and Why? Benefits An injunction to 'think ethically' about a situation is not helpful. Perhaps if one has a background in moral philosophy this would work, but usually both students and IT professionals require some form of guidance as to how to achieve an appropriate outcome. The technique has proven itself as a means to achieving this, at least for PIIT students. This approach is not dependent on a particular standard, such as the code of ethics of a particular professional society. It is a technique that can be applied in a variety of circumstances, not limited by technological, cultural or religious background. The approach is not limited by one's moral philosophy. One can use this technique effectively and be an objectivist, holding that certain moral truths remain good independently of personal likes and dislikes, or a relativist, holding that truths are relative to the individual

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