Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Shifting Ground


"Moor believes that consequences are an important part of ethics but that they must be balanced with a sense of justness. He recommends using an impartiality test to determine if the situation is just. This removes bias and allows one to look at the situation more objectively".
It is clear that "justice" can be defined according to the precepts of a number of recognized philosophical perspectives that represent culturally-- and spiritually-- diverse perspectives.
Justice can be regarded from a traditional Western point of view or from an Eastern/Asian viewpoint. However, the strategy for applying ethics to decision-making that is presented does not consider the possibility of multiple view points in regards to how interests are represented.
For example, if one party affected by a decision regards John Stuart Mill's “Principle of Utility” as a critical value, in which it is essential to seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, but another party bases values on a Zen selflessness and universal compassion, it will be difficult to come to a decision that represents the interests of both parties.
Moor does acknowledge that “midcourse adjustments in computing policy are necessary and proper and should be expected” (113). However, in the situation of mutually exclusive interests, even continual readjstment will not result in a mutually-acceptable conclusion.
Based on fundamentally different values, situations that involve radiaclly different perspectives may be impossible to resolve, because the ethical principles involved may be perceived as radically and irreconcilably different.

While "the Potter Box is a method that allows the user to 'analyze the ethical responsibilities of communicators in terms that are both practical and theoretically grounded' (Backus and Ferraris, 2004, 222)," that foundation may be perceived as perpetually shifting, depending on the parties involved and affected by a particular decision.

Backus, N., & Ferraris, C. (2004). Theory Meets Practice: Using the Potter Box to Teach Business Communication Ethics. Proceeding of the 2004 Association for Business Communication Annual Convention (pp. 222-229).
Black, J. (2003, March). Ethical Decision-Making Models across the Profession.
Moor, J. H. (1999). Just Consequentialism and Computing. In R. A. Spinello & H. T.
Tavani (Eds.), Readings in Cyberethics (2nd ed., pp. 107-113). Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

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