AUTHOR
Andy Bissett

ABSTRACT

Science fiction writing has commonly been used as a vehicle to discuss alternative worlds, and to comment critically on the present one. It is also a natural genre in which to explore ethical dilemmas posed by scientific and technical developments, either proximate or imagined [Introna, 2003]. Of especial significance is that these popular ethical discourses often reach very large audiences.

Science fiction writing from its very inception has tended toward moral comments and ethical proposals. Arguably, Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is embryonic science fiction, and it certainly makes a moving commentary upon the human condition and scientific aspiration that grips readers with its power after almost two intervening centuries of scientific and technological progress [Volkman, 2001]. More recently, the first fictive yet systematic ethical proposals for a future technology were probably Isaac Asimov’s famous ‘Laws of Robotics’, set out in 1940 and subsequently explored in numerous short stories [Clarke, 1993].

The imaginative and humorous work of the American writer Kurt Vonnegut has often been categorised as science fiction, and indeed he himself presents the reader with an absurdist alter ego, the ‘old science fiction writer’ Kilgore Trout, who features prominently in Vonnegut’s fictive writings. Within these works, Trout functions as a kind of a holy fool, a repository, a sounding board, for bizarre ideas and improbable science fiction stories that Vonnegut appears not want directly attributed to himself. The eccentric and sociophobic Trout thus acts as a foil for the main course of a Vonnegut story, his picaresque and accident-strewn life and his writings illustrating and complementing, or at least providing a comic diversion from, Vonnegut’s ostensible plot. Trout is extremely prolific – his short story writing is a compulsion – and this device enables a continual stream of compressed and half-sketched ideas and storylines to decorate and counterpoint Vonnegut’s main story in a highly economical way.

Kurt Vonnegut’s fiction and non-fiction writing frequently comments on and criticises science and technology from an ethical standpoint. The issues that he addresses range from ecology, to mental health and the pharmaceutical industry, to computing, through to nuclear weapons and exotica such as space travel. The corpus of his work, across some sixteen novels and two memoirs, quizzically and critically touches upon death, illness, war, nationalism, creation, joke telling, kinship, and child rearing. The tone varies from forthright folksiness, reminiscent of Garrison Keillor (1987), to crazy and apparently haphazard fantasy. The overall effect is as if a being from another galaxy had observed the Earth for long enough to become partially socialised in the mores of the American mid-West, and sympathetic to the human plight. Yet whilst usually comic in tone, the effect is frequently serious in intent.

All of this would be so much literary criticism and entertainment were it not for the fact that, like Asimov or Shelley, Vonnegut’s writing is read and enjoyed by many millions of people. It is compelling therefore to explore what kinds of ethical ideas he obliquely and playfully introduces to the reader’s mind, throughout the body of his work.

For an example, a typical Troutian plot, outlined in ‘Timequake’ [1997], concerns the activities of Merlin, the magician at Camelot, the court of legendary King Arthur. Trout envisages that Merlin uses his magic to furnish the Knights of the Round Table with ‘Thompson submachine guns and drums of .45-caliber dumdums’. Beyond the strange and arresting image of knights in armour toting Capone-style firearms, there is a typically saturnine purpose at work in Trout’s (and Vonnegut’s) story. Sir Galahad, that most virtuous of all the knights, in acquainting himself with this new ‘virtue compelling technology’ holes the Holy Grail and ‘makes a Swiss cheese’ of Queen Guinevere [1997, xiii]. Behind the startlingly surreal yet logical premise is, of course, the Icarus legend, with its warning for humanity of the dangers of new technology.

Vonnegut explicitly addresses computer technology in the same novel. Whilst asserting that the mission of the artist is to ‘make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit’ [1997, 1], he obliquely comments on the sometimes uncreative results of computer technology by having his character Zoltan Pepper, a famous composer, remark of the music composing program ‘Wolfgang’ that, courtesy of micro-technology, people were now having their heads handed to them with tweezers instead of on platters. Elsewhere in the same book Vonnegut comments on the fatuous results that can be obtained from a program intended to do the work of a human architect.

Using his non-fiction writings, but more especially his fictional work, and that of Kilgore Trout, this paper explores the nature of the ethics that these works explicitly and implicitly convey, and attempts to identify common themes.

REFERENCES

Clarke, R. (1993) Asimov’s laws of robotics, IEEE Computer, 12 (December 1993). 53-61, and 27, 1 (January 1994). 57-66.

Introna, L. (2003) The ‘measure of man’ and the ethics of machines, in F. Grodzinsky, R. Spinello, H. Tavani (eds) Proceedings Computer Ethics – Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE’03), Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Boston MA (USA), June 2003. 77-86.

Keillor, G. (1987) Lake Wobegon Days, London: Faber and Faber.

Volkman, R. (2001) Playing God: technological hubris in philosophy and literature, in T. Ward Bynum, H. Krawczyk, S. Rogerson, S. Szejko, B. Wiszniewski (eds) Proceedings ETHICOMP 2001, Technical University of Gdansk, June 2001. Vol. 1, ISBN 83-7278-141-4. 350-361.

Vonnegut, K. (1997) Timequake, London: Jonathan Cape.

AUTHOR

Kanika T. Bhal and Nivedita Debnath

ABSTRACT

Information technology has given tremendous power of speed, access and permanence on one hand, on the other it has also raised ethical issues of piracy, privacy, accuracy, security and the like (Mason, 1986) identified four issues of. Software piracy or illegal copying of the software is widespread and costs software manufacturers billions of dollars annually. The dynamics of piracy and the profile of software pirates need to be studied to be able to handle the issue of software piracy.

Our study looks at some of the existing theories in the context of software piracy. In line with Johnson’s (1994) assertion, the issues of software piracy are not treated as unique enough to be a species but are a genus where the existing theories in other relevant domains can be applied to software piracy.

Our dependent constructs are perceived ethicality of a situation involving software piracy and likelihood of indulging in an act of software piracy. Though, perceived ethicality is a cognitive process, likelihood of action is a behavioral one. Specifically, we look at Indian personality construct (Gunas), and subjective norms (peer pressure and supervisor pressure) as possible predictors of perceived ethicality and likelihood of unethical act.

Gopal & Sanders (1998) in a cross-cultural study of the software professionals stressed upon the need to identify issues relevant to specific cultures. In line with this recommendation, our study first explores the individual personality construct rooted in the Indian philosophy; called Gunas, as a predictor of perceived ethicality and likelihood of unethical act vis a vis software piracy. The ancient Indian philosophy, embodied in a scripture called The Gita, is rich in prescriptions for daily life and ethical principles. In chapter XIV, verse 5, it is stated that the three modes (gunas) goodness (sattva), passion (rajas) and dullness (tamas) are born of nature and tie down a man to the material world. Gunas in The Gita are mainly used for ethical analysis, hence the terms goodness (for sattva), passion (for rajas) and dullness (for tamas) are used (Radhakrishnan, 1948). It is for this reason that we explore the concept of gunas while exploring the ethical issues involved in software piracy. The gunas are the three tendencies that reflect human character. Further in verses 6, 7 & 8 of Chapter XIV it is explained that goodness (sattva) being pure causes illumination and health; passion (rajas) causes desire, craving and attachments whereas dullness (tamas) causes indolence, ignorance negligence and sleep. Further, the manifestations of these concepts are dealt with in details in chapter XVII and XVIII of The Gita. The manifestations are in terms of lifestyle, nature of charity, austerity, sacrifice, use of intellect and sources of happiness. In some broad senses the gunas may have some parallel with Kohlberg’s (1976) stages of moral development. Sattva is enlightenment, which is beyond the sixth stage of moral development where the focus is on universal ethical principles orientation. Rajas is related to passion where the cognitive frameworks may be present but the ego is predominant and it may force one to indulge in unethical acts for the achievement of some immediate goals. Finally, tamas is described as one that not only acts unethically but also perceives the unethical as ethical (dharma as adharma). Thus, in line with this understanding the following hypotheses are proposed.

H1 (a):People high on goodness (Sattva) will perceive software piracy as unethical and they are not likely to indulge in unethical act.

H1 (b): People high on passion (Rajas) will perceive software piracy as ethical but, they are likely to indulge in piracy.

H1 (c): People high on Dullness (Tamas) will not perceive software piracy as unethical and are also likely to indulge in piracy.

Besides looking at these personality orientations, our study also looks at some other external factors. The Theory of Reasoned Action (Sheppard, Hartwick & Warshaw, 1998) identifies that individuals use subjective norms while making decisions involving ethical issues. Subjective norms, amongst other things, refer to the individual’s perception of the pressures from the social environment like friends, peers and authority. The loyal agent theory (Michales, 1995) too posits that as a loyal agent of his or her employer, the employee has a duty to serve his or her employer in whatever way. In line with these theories, our paper looks at the second construct of peer pressure and supervisor pressure as predictors of likelihood of indulging in an act of software piracy. The supervisor pressure is more for behavioral compliance however; peer pressure is likely to impact the thinking of the people too. In line with this, the following hypotheses are proposed.

H2 (a): Peer pressure is likely to impact both the perceived ethicality as well as the likelihood of software piracy.

H2 (b): Supervisor pressure is more likely to influence the likelihood of software piracy instead of perceived ethicality.

The paper will first discuss the theoretical bases and then test the hypotheses through a scenario and questionnaire based research, using psychometrically sound tools on a sample of software professionals in India. The implications of the study will be discussed both for the researchers as well as the practitioners.

REFERENCES

Gopal, R. & Sanders G. (1998). International software piracy: Analysis of key issues and impacts. Information Systems Research, 9, 380-397.

Johnson, D.G. (1994). Computer ethics, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kohlberg L. (1976). Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive-development approach, in Lickona, T. (ed.) Moral Development and Behavior: Theory Research and Social Issues. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Mason, R.O (1986). Four ethical issues of information age. MIS Quarterly, 10, 5-12.

Michales, A.C. (1995). A Pragmatic Approach to Business Ethics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Radhakrishnan, S. (1948). The Bhagvadgita. Great Britain: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

Sheppard, B.H., Hartwick, J., & Warshaw, P.R. (1988). The theory of reasoned action: A meta-analysis of past research with recommendations for modification and future research. Journal of Consumer Research, 15, 325-343.

AUTHOR

Herzl Baruch

ABSTRACT

The question of utilizing knowledge undergoes a change in Popper’s thought. It starts with the notion that utilizing knowledge must be grounded on scientific theory alone (The Open Society and its Enemies, The Poverty of Historicism). It ends with the notion that utilizing knowledge can also be grounded on practical theory (Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem).

In his books The Open Society and The Poverty of Historicism, Popper contends that exercising a scientific theory is permissible, provided that when it is refuted, it is possible to go back to the previous traditional policy. The new policy, which is based on a scientific theory that has withstood the test of refutation, is called “piecemeal social engineering” (The Open Society, vol.1, 162-163; The Poverty of Historicism, 58-59). It is reformist and cautious, unlike the comprehensive and revolutionary social engineering, as historicism maintains. To the historicist, “real sociological laws are historical laws” and it leads him to the idea of ‘large-scale forecasts’ or to the kind of prediction Popper calls ‘prophecy’ (The Poverty of Historicism, 42-43). Popper precludes the feasibility of wide scale social engineering. Opposed to prophecy “are predictions of the second kind which we can describe as technological predictions since predictions of this kind form a basis of engineering” (ibid., 43). Therefore, ” The characteristic approach of the piecemeal engineer is this. Even though he may perhaps cherish some ideals which concern society ‘as a whole’ – its general welfare, perhaps, he does not believe in the method of re-designing it as a whole. Whatever his ends, he tries to achieve them by small adjustments and re-adjustments which can be continually improved upon” (ibid., 66).

If the criticism of historicism allows the conclusion that only a refutable social theory can form a basis for piecemeal social engineering, then in Conjectures and Refutations Popper claims that a social theory can only establish “technological warnings”. Technological warnings are guidelines as to what is not to be done. Here he presents “the view that the task of the theoretical social sciences is to discover the unintended consequences of our actions” and this “brings these sciences very close to experimental natural sciences” (Conjectures and Refutations, 342-343). One of the examples that he uses in order to explicate a technological warning is the following: “You cannot, without increasing productivity, raise the real income of the working population” (ibid., 343). The common ground for both piecemeal social engineering and technological warnings is scientific theory, whether it is successful in withstanding the refutation tests (as in leading theories in natural sciences) or if “its hypotheses are promising” (as in the liberal economic theory in social sciences). But since it not the task of the theoretical social theories to guide us as to what is to be done, whose task is it? It will be suggested that social piecemeal engineering could be based either on a refutable theory from the natural sciences or on a practical theory (as will be explained bellow).

While in his earlier books, it seemed that piecemeal social engineering and technological warnings could be grounded on scientific theory alone, in Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem Popper suggests that social planning, not necessarily only social engineering, can be based upon “practical” theory as well. What the practical and scientific fields have in common in terms of advancement in knowledge is that the starting point for both is a state of problem (P1). Then a tentative theory (TT) to the solution for the problem is offered, followed by putting this theory to the test in the form of trial and error elimination (EE). Finally, a new problem arises, which has to be dealt with (P2) (Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem, 10-11). The example he uses in order to explicate how practical knowledge advances and utilized is this: “Henry Ford’s original problem was: how can we provide transport for the vast spaces of the United States? This was his P1. He proposed a theory: by building a cheap motorcar. This led through various trials and errors to a new problem: how can we provide the roads and parking places needed for our cars? The original problem P1 was the problem of transport. The new problem P2 is the traffic problem – a problem of frustration” (ibid., 11). It will be claimed that this scheme for the advancement and utilization of knowledge should also be applied to ordinary citizens.

In this essay, I shall attempt to answer the following questions: (a) How is the utilization of scientific based knowledge and practical based knowledge issue to be settled? (b) What are the implications of the knowledge utilization question for different levels of refutation tests and error elimination that Popper adopts? And (c) what is the connection between utilizing knowledge and the existing traditional institutional policy?

REFERENCES

Popper, K. R., The Poverty of Historicism, Routledge, 1957.

Popper, K. R., The Open Society and Its Enemies, V. 1, Routledge, 1966.

Popper, K. R., Conjectures and Refutations, Routledge, 1972.

Popper, K. R., Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem, Routledge, 1994.

AUTHOR

José Luis Gómez Barroso

ABSTRACT

It is clear that protection of personal data and privacy, as part of the defence of inalienable rights, is a cornerstone of the democracies and that, above specific legal details, its regulation has to stem from an unalterable nucleus.

Nevertheless, accepting the above, the system of guarantees granted can and must give way to situations in which the protection of another legal right prevails: this is typically the case with public or national security. Generically, this principle seems easily admissible. However, in its practical application, the range of possible cases covers situations in which it is not, by any means, easy to decide which of the conflicting rights must be imposed.

No one doubts that communications networks based on information technology form a critical part of economic relationships and therefore, even if they are not already so, of social relations. If an increasing number of lawful activities use the networks, it is obvious that unlawful ones will do so too. The more common their use, the greater the potential they provide for carrying out criminal acts, either directly or through aiding traditional criminal behaviours.

When the network itself is the vehicle of the act, we are facing a ‘cyber-delinquency’, which covers a wide variety of activities such as exchange of or trafficking in prohibited materials (especially child pornography and documents with racist content), various computer frauds, assaults against confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information systems themselves or offences against intellectual and commercial property. When the network is merely an instrument of communication or source of information, it simplifies, facilitates and assists the committing of any offence.

In the first case, there is logically increased concern given the rate at which new threats arise. But sensitivity has grown especially in the second case following the terrorist attacks in the United States in September 2001, causing the strengthening of a current of opinion that reconsiders the flexibility of the limits established on data protection. The first result can be found in the new European Directive on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector. According article 15 Member States may adopt legislative measures to restrict the scope of the rights and obligations, inter alia, providing for the retention of data for a certain time period.

It is our opinion that under no circumstances should this article have reached the final draft. Whatever situation is claimed, a democratic society must not allow general surveillance or massive data storage. The principle of purpose cannot be violated: all information is always gathered with a concrete and legitimate intention.

This paper analyses the definition process of the new framework and the current situation in European countries (whether mandatory systematic retention of traffic data is required and the impact of this legislation).

In the second part, the very long list of practical difficulties to be overcome is analysed:

• It is not clear what data would need to be kept, what is basic for network security, to undertake an investigation or to prevent fraud.
• It is also difficult to determine what should be the period required before erasure of the data.
• The economic cost of the storage, management and recovery of the data could be astronomical. These costs would also rise as broadband access becomes generalised, with each user generating ever more data and communications between devices becoming customary.
• The alternative possibility of storage in large, publicly financed central equipment seems, at very least, worrying.
• There is also an evident risk that the data may be improperly used by the organisation itself.
• Similarly, they would be a preferred target for outside attackers. Custody responsibility needs suitable additional investment in security, possibly beyond the scope of small companies.
• In some transborder communications, the efficiency of the system may be limited without transnational commitments.
  • Many companies have parts of their systems decentralised, using intermediaries and even fictitious head offices. These practices, intimately integrated within the technological infrastructure (therefore, not always voluntary), are difficult to handle a way that respects national legal variations.
  • The existing instruments for international cooperation in matters of criminal law, such as mutual legal assistance, may not be appropriate or sufficient.
• At present, there are procedural problems. Difficulty in identification means information obtained from the network is highly questionable as evidence.
• For the development of the information society, it is not very positive for citizens to perceive that one of the threats to their individual rights comes from a government gradually resorting to surveillance technology and the invasion of privacy, even though the intention is to promote public security.

AUTHOR

Porfirio Barroso and Gloria Melara

ABSTRACT

The introduction of computer ethics in the computer science and engineering curriculum has generated many questions such as what (topics) to teach? When in the curriculum? How? Who? Investigating the status of computer ethics in the curriculum will illuminate some of the proposed questions. This study aims to examine the status of teaching Computer Ethics in the computer sciences and engineering sciences at California, USA. The research focuses on WHAT (topics, lessons, themes, questions) are teaching nowadays 2003 on the classroom at the state of California USA and other countries, and are of greatest interest to instructors. HOW is taught? What (kinds of pedagogical techniques) are most often used in the classroom? The question items surveyed first general questions such as What are the pedagogical techniques that you consider are the most important in order to teach Computer Ethics? And specific questions such as selecting pedagogical techniques that the instructor used in his/her class. The research originated in the state of California, USA and has been expanded through Australia United State of America, India, Canada, China, Hong Kong, South Africa and various European Union countries, from Spain to Finland, from Switzerland till United Kingdom.

The study was conducted through surveys that were sent out to various university professors in the fields of computer sciences and computer engineering. Different methods were used on collecting the surveys. First the survey was requested by E-Mail, then, by telephone and finally visiting the universities and departments of state of California. The survey questions address the professor’s backgrounds related to his/her education, the curriculums of their departments in terms of general requirements, and more specific items relating to ethics and how it is taught at their respective departments of Computer Science and Engineering in Computing. The key items address what general ethics topics from the accreditation and when these topics are tough in the curriculum as well as what pedagogical techniques are used in the classroom, in terms of their perceived usefulness and their frequency of use

Respondents reported using the following pedagogical techniques most frequently:

Case Studies: 74.6 %, Lectures by instructor: 74.6 %, Student written papers: 67.6 %, Small group discussion: 66.2 %, In-depth study of a few selected issues: 64.8 %, Evaluation of classroom participation: 57.7 %, Clippings: 53.5 %, Examinations: 49.3 % PowerPoint presentations: 49.3 %, Student presentations on topics they choose: 43.7 %, Overhead transparencies: 38 %. These are the most important for the professors. The less important for the instructor are: Internships in Ethics 2.8 %, Photographs 9.9 %, Students reports on interview with professionals 11.3 %, Samples surveys of local media outlets 11.3 %, Novel or plays 11.3 %, Slides 12.3 %, Audio Tapes 12.7 %, Simulation games 14.1 %, Video Tapes 21.1 %, Web use in classes 22.5 %.

The preliminary results of this study show that 53.5 % of undergraduate students and 15.5 % of graduate students are required to study ethics during their course of study. In addition, respondents were asked to rank key topics of ethics on a scale of 0-10, with) indicating the issue was “not important” and 10 indicated the issue was “very important.” Key topics in ethics were reported to be as follows: Protection of privacy of personal data (8.54 %), Duty to protect privacy of individual (8.44 %), Accuracy and quality of work (8.42 %), Responsibility to report and correct errors (8.31 %), Honesty and truth-telling in computer work (8.19 %), Author’s rights, copyright, plagiarism, or piracy of hardware and software (8.13 %), Professional responsibilities of computer professionals (8.11%), Duty to protect secrets and privileged data 7.95 %, Conflicts of interest 7.94 %, Professional dignity, honesty, probity of the programmer 7.74.%. These are the ten topics with higher percentage in the survey answers. The ten with less percentage or the ten last are: Duty to promote field or computer science 5.31 %, Loyalty of the programmer to his/her company 5.96 %, Bribery, corruption 6.42 %, Hackers’ Code of Ethics and Hacker Ethics 6.43 %, Use of computer to promote violence, terrorism, crime 6.47 %, Concern for national security and government secrets by computer professionals 6.6 %, Environmental impact of computers 6.65 %, Pornography, obscenity, and pederasty and pedophilia, through computers 6.69 %, Academic background and permanent training of experts in computing 6.73%.

Final questions. When we asked if the professors or instructors thought undergraduate computer students should be required to take an ethics course, 67.6 % said yes, while 12.7% responded no. When we asked if they thought graduate computer students should be required to take an ethics course, 57.7% said yes, while 18.3% responded no.

AUTHOR

A Barnard, E Cloete and L Pretorius

ABSTRACT

The domain of information security research is not exclusively of a technological nature as it is permeated with aspects of human behaviour. Similarly the broad field of ethics is no longer only a human issue, as is reflected by the establishment of computing ethics as a separate research area. Advances in the past decade have led to the emergence of among others, new technologies, frameworks and methodologies in the field of computing. Examples include the Internet, global connectivity and agent technology – in particular intelligent agents. The attribute intelligent brings with it a concomitant human characteristic that is assigned to an inanimate technological object. It is even plausible to think of communities of intelligent agents, inhabiting cyberspace, interacting with other entities (agents, human users and hosts) and in this way developing a social life. This raises issues concerning information security as well as the ethical and social behaviour of intelligent agents.

Agent behaviour can be analysed from a multitude of perspectives, including the security and ethical concerns. Security analyses typically focus on evaluating the application of external measures to an entity to ensure the safety of the entire community. Alternatively an ethical analysis addresses the internal behaviour of an entity in order to highlight its possible performance of actions harmful to the community. These different perspectives complement one another and may lead to a simplification of the security system.

Computer users may in general be classified as either aware or unaware of security aspects. The former group mistrusts unfamiliar agents while the latter group is not at all aware of potential security risks associated with agent computing. A framework to analyse the security risks of agent computing will create and raise awareness of how secure agents are. Similarly, it can be argued that a framework for ethical analysis will provide a more reliable basis for systematic assessment since intuitive assessment of agent behaviour may be misleading.

An a posteriori systematic analysis of the behaviour of an agent can assist developers of said agent to improve the modelling of the secure and ethical behaviour of future versions of the agent. Once the behaviour of a number of agents have been analysed in this systematic fashion, norms and criteria for the design of new agents that will exhibit acceptable secure and ethical behaviour can be formulated and continually refined. This may lead to a simplification of the security measures imposed on the agent.

In this paper we thus briefly discuss agent computing and its impact on the environment in which it is applied. In particular, we focus on security and ethical issues associated with software agent computing. For this purpose we start off by explicating what we understand under the notion of an agent and we describe the typical environments in which these agents can operate, the so-called agent community. For illustrative purposes we consider the Aglet Software Development Kit (ASDK) for development and management of network-efficient mobile agent applications. This example is used throughout the paper to illustrate both the security and ethical analyses.

We furthermore discuss a number of relevant security issues and ethical theories pertinent to agent computing and we present a framework within which the security and ethical behaviour of agents can be evaluated and analysed. As part of the evaluation phase of the security risks posed by agent computing, we consider the five security requirements, namely identification and authentication, authorisation, confidentiality, integrity, and non-repudiation as defined according to the ISO 7498-2 standard, produced by the International Standards Organisation (ISO, 1999).

Following on the security considerations we discuss some of the better-known ethics theories that may be applied in the analysis of the ethical behaviour of agents. In this respect we review the basic principles of two deontological theories, viz. duty-based and rights-based ethics, the teleological theory of utilitarianism (Spinello, 1997), and the theory of just consequentialism (Moor, 2001). Note that these theories will be discussed in the context of agent computing.

Regarding an ethical analysis of an agent’s behaviour we use the Five-step Process of Ethical Analysis of Rananu, Davies and Rogerson (Maner, 2002) as basis. Other similar procedures for ethical analysis may be found in Maner (2002). The analysis procedure of Rananu, Davies and Rogerson, originally designed primarily for the analysis of human behaviour and ethical decision-making, was chosen because it can be readily applied to the ethical analysis of agent behaviour. For the purposes of this paper we modify this process to be applicable to agent computing.

We conclude by observing that agent computing presents certain ethical and security challenges that are worthwhile investigating and require further research.

REFERENCES

ISO 7498-2. (1999). Available online at http://www.iso.ch/cate/d14256.html, accessed on 22/05/2003.

Maner, W. (2002). Rananu, Davies and Rogerson, ‘The Five-step Process of Ethical Analysis’, in Procedural Ethics, http://csweb.cs.bgsu.edu/maner/heuristics/1996Rananu.htm, accessed on 26/11/2002.

Moor, J.H. (2001). Just consequentialism and computing, in Readings in cyberethics, (eds. R.A. Spinello and H.T. Tavani), Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Spinello, R. A. (1997). Case studies in information and computer ethics, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.