In your post:You will respond with 250 words no plagiarism no a i. no chat bots original response please.
- Choose one ethical framework (Utilitarianism, Deontological Ethics, or Virtue Ethics).
- Briefly explain the core idea of that framework in your own words.
- Apply the framework to the algorithm. Is the update ethical according to this theory? Why or why not?
- Apply at least two technology concepts (Scale, Bias, Unintended Consequences, or Technological Mediation) to deepen your evaluation.
- Provide a clear recommendation: Should the company keep, modify, regulate, or remove the algorithm? Support your answer using course terminology.
Week 2 Chapter Reading: Ethical Theories and Thinkers
From Foundations to Frameworks
In Week 1, we asked what ethics is and where our moral beliefs come from. This week, we move from defining ethics to examining how people reason ethically. Ethical theories provide structured systems for analyzing dilemmas in technology. When people disagree about AI, surveillance, or automation, they are often prioritizing different values such as dignity, well being, care, or lived experience.
Pause & Reflect
- Do you usually think first about outcomes, rules, fairness, or relationships?
- Which value feels most important to protect in technology: privacy, safety, freedom, equity, or autonomy?
- Where do you think that instinct comes from?
Immanuel Kant and Deontological Ethics
Immanuel Kant wrote during the Enlightenment, when philosophers emphasized reason and autonomy. Kant believed morality must be grounded in universal principles that apply consistently to everyone. His Categorical Imperative requires acting only according to rules that could be universalized and treating people always as ends in themselves, never merely as means.
In technology ethics, this means privacy, consent, and dignity cannot be overridden simply because a system is efficient or profitable. If a platform collects data without meaningful consent, it risks using people as tools. If an algorithm reduces someone to a score or prediction, it may violate respect for autonomy.
Strength: Strong protection for rights and dignity.
Limitation: Can be rigid when trade offs are unavoidable.
John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill developed utilitarianism during the Industrial Revolution, a time of rapid technological change. Utilitarianism evaluates actions based on consequences and aims to maximize overall well being. Mill also introduced the harm principle, which says liberty should only be restricted to prevent harm to others.
Utilitarian reasoning is common in technology policy because systems operate at scale. Autonomous vehicles may reduce fatalities overall. AI medical tools may improve early detection. But utilitarianism raises a difficult question: if most benefit but a minority is harmed, is the system still justified?
Strength: Useful for large scale impact analysis.
Limitation: Risks justifying minority harm for majority benefit.
Ren Descartes and Rationalism
Ren Descartes emphasized methodical doubt and systematic reasoning. While not a modern ethicist, his approach shapes how technical systems are evaluated. In computing, rationalism means examining assumptions, breaking down complex systems, and demanding clarity about how inputs become outputs.
Strength: Encourages transparency and rigorous analysis.
Limitation: May overlook context, care, or lived experience.
Martha Nussbaum and Human Flourishing
Martha Nussbaums capabilities approach centers on human dignity and what people are actually able to do and to be. Technology should expand opportunity and agency, not reduce human capability or meaningful participation in life.
Strength: Centers long term human development.
Limitation: Debate exists over which capabilities are universal.
Carol Gilligan and Ethics of Care
Carol Gilligan emphasizes relationships, context, and responsibility. Care ethics highlights how digital systems affect vulnerable groups and how power structures shape technology outcomes. It asks who is included, who is excluded, and who bears the burden of errors.
Strength: Highlights inequality and power dynamics.
Limitation: Less focused on universal decision rules.
Don Ihde and Phenomenology of Technology
Don Ihde examines how technologies mediate human experience. Technologies shape attention, relationships, identity, and trust. Ethical analysis must consider how technology changes daily life, not only what it produces statistically.
Strength: Captures lived experience and mediation.
Limitation: Less prescriptive for policy decisions.
Scenario: AI in Hiring
An AI system screens job applicants. Ethical evaluation looks different depending on the theory applied. Kant would focus on dignity and autonomy. Mill would weigh overall benefit and harm. Descartes would demand transparency of assumptions. Nussbaum would ask whether opportunity expands. Gilligan would examine bias and exclusion. Ihde would examine how automated evaluation changes lived experience of applying for work.
Pause & Reflect
- Which thinker offers the most useful approach to analyzing AI hiring systems?
- What ethical risk feels most urgent: bias, privacy, loss of autonomy, or lack of transparency?
- What additional information would you need before deciding whether the system should be used?
Why This Matters in Technology
Technology embeds decisions into systems that scale. Without ethical theories, technology decisions risk being guided only by speed, profit, or convenience. Ethical frameworks provide structure for evaluating trade offs, protecting dignity, and examining inequality. Technology determines what can be built. Ethical reasoning determines what should be built.
End-of-Chapter Key Terms
- Deontological Ethics An ethical theory focused on duties and universal principles.
- Utilitarianism An ethical framework evaluating actions based on overall well being.
- Rationalism A philosophical approach emphasizing logical reasoning and systematic analysis.
- Humanism An ethical perspective centered on dignity and human flourishing.
- Feminist Ethics An approach emphasizing care, relationships, and structural analysis.
- Phenomenology The study of lived human experience and technological mediation.
- Categorical Imperative Kants principle requiring universalizability and respect for persons.
- Harm Principle Mills idea that liberty may only be restricted to prevent harm to others.
- Capabilities Approach Nussbaums framework focused on enabling human potential.
- Technological Mediation The way technologies shape perception and action.
Requirements: Agriculture Environmental Science and Sustainability
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