Discuss with your group: does this distinction between formal and practical ethics make sense? Why or why not?
Section 6.1 Ethical Lenses
In this section, we will consider questions regarding ethical decision making in mathematical practice related to technology and network science. We will use two main resources for this work. The first is a guide to Ethics in Technology Practice developed by faculty and staff at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics:
https://www.scu.edu/ethics-in-technology-practice/ The second resource is the 2021 special issue of the journal Social Networks devoted to the topic of "Recent ethical challenges in social network analysis":https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/social-networks/vol/67/suppl/C
For Essay 6, students in this course read "A Framework for Ethical Decision Making", published by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics:
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/a-framework-for-ethical-decision-making/ The framework from the Markkula Center provides six ethical lenses through which we can reflect on ethical dimensions of situations and problems: the rights lens, the justice lens, the utilitarian lens, the common good lens, the virtue lens, and the care ethics lens. The framework then provides a sequence of ten questions to use when engaging in ethical decision making.
Let us begin by considering the Markkula Center web page "Overview of Ethics in Tech Practice" by Shannon Vallor, Irina Raicu, Brian Green:
https://www.scu.edu/ethics-in-technology-practice/overview-of-ethics-in-tech-practice/ One of the first distinctions made in this overview is between Formal and Practical Ethics. (Instructor describe this difference.)
Checkpoint 6.1.1.
The overview later introduces the metaphor that "Ethical Issues are Like Birds". (Instructor review that section of the webpage.)
Checkpoint 6.1.2.
Discuss with your group: do you have any previous training on the practical experience and skills needed to assess ethical dimensions of situations or problems you encounter? If so, was that training effective? Do you regularly consider ethical issues in your academic work? If not, why not?
The instructor will next read the following case study titled "Poppins", which we :
https://www.scu.edu/ethics-in-technology-practice/case-studies/poppins/
Let’s review the six ethical lenses in the Markkula Center framework in more detail, using the extended description given in "Technology and Engineering Practice: Ethical Lenses to Look Through":
https://www.scu.edu/ethics-in-technology-practice/ethical-lenses/ For each of the six ethical lenses:-
The instructor will review the first paragraph of the Overview section, and
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Students will discuss with their groups the "Questions for Technologists that Illuminate the Ethical Landscape" at the end of the corresponding section, and
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Students will discuss the "Poppins" case study using the ethical lens.
In the next section, we will discuss ethical considerations directly related to network science.
