Problem
1) What does Callahan mean by the distinction between descriptive and normative statements? Provide two examples of each.
2) How does Callahan characterize the distinction between conventional morality and reflective morality?
3) How does Callahan distinguish ethics from law, religion, and custom? Explain each of these distinctions that she draws with the use of examples.
4) Callahan discusses two kinds of ethical principle: teleological and deontological. Explain these two kinds of ethical principle. Use an example to illustrate the application of these two principles.
5) Explain how Callahan characterizes the structure of moral reasoning. Identify and explain two ways in which a moral judgment could be challenged on the basis of this structure.
6) Under what conditions do Roy, Williams, and Dickens claim that it is morally justifiable to use humans in scientific experimentation?
7) Would you say that Roy, Williams, and Dickens employ a teleological or deontological approach to research ethics on humans? Justify your answer (you may find it help to consult Callahan, pages 19-21, for this question).
8) What role do you think informed consent should play in research ethics involving human subjects? Do you think informed consent is sufficient for covering all cases of research on humans? Why or why not?
9) Explain why Brunk thinks a new professional ethic is needed for professionals working in the area of technology. What does he see as the major components of such an ethic?
10) Brunk identifies a second moral principle in "Professionalism and Moral Responsibility in the Technological Society," (p. 151), that he says should be part of the "ethic of Conscientious Professionalism." Identify the principle, and explain how Brunk argues it should influence the thinking of scientists and technical people. Do you agree with his argument? Why or why not?
11) How does James define "whistle-blowing," and under what conditions does he think it is justified?
12) What policies does James think corporations and institutions might adopt to make whistle-blowing unnecessary?
13) What steps did the employees described in the article on the Challenger case take to try to avert the disaster? How did their actions fit with the steps James says professionals should take when they think activities of their organization may cause harm?
14) What are the similarities and differences between therapeutic and reproductive cloning, as described by Bowring in "Therapeutic and Reproductive Cloning: A Critique"? On what basis is therapeutic cloning widely considered to be morally acceptable? How does Bowring argue that, if therapeutic cloning were considered morally acceptable, it would be difficult to maintain that reproductive cloning is morally unacceptable?
15) How does Bowring argue that both sex selection and human cloning raise the same ethical issue?
16) Critically analyze one of Bowring's moral arguments against human reproductive cloning. In your answer, be sure to incorporate the most important normative concepts, such as autonomy, in his description of the effects of cloning on the child. Also, be sure to indicate what kind of argument he is making. If necessary, re-read Callahan to refresh your memory about the distinction between utilitarian and deontological moral reasoning.
17) In "A Genethics that Makes Sense," Diprose argues that genetic engineering is based, at least in part, on the assumption that sameness among individuals is desirable. What are Diprose's ethical worries regarding the "effacement of difference?" which is promoted, she argues, by the very theory of genetics?
18) Diprose is concerned about the consequences to our notions of self that research in human cloning could have. Through the concept of the "effacement of difference," Diprose argues that all genetic realizations necessarily express the impulse to mass produce or objectify human beings. Do you agree with the factual claim that this impulse is driving, if not determining, human genetic research? If you agree, do you think the impulse ought to be resisted? If you disagree, what do you think is determining the direction in which cloning research is going?
19) Fried draws a distinction between understanding privacy as intrinsically valuable (an end-in-itself) and as instrumentally valuable (a means-to-an-end). Explain this distinction with respect to the values of "wealth" and "happiness." Do you think privacy is better characterized as intrinsically valuable or instrumentally valuable? Explain your answer.
20) Fried does not think that privacy fits neatly into the category of either being intrinsically or instrumentally valuable, but he does favour a certain version of the instrumentalist conception. Explain his instrumentalist conception of the value of privacy by focusing upon his account of what kinds of morally desirable ends are only made possible by privacy.
21) What reasons does Fried provide for arguing that probationary monitoring can be morally justifiable while electronic monitoring of the general public is not?
22) Name and explain three reasons that Fried provides for thinking that electronic monitoring of the general public is morally problematic.
23) Consider the following passage from Fried's article:
"It is my thesis that privacy is not just one possible means among others to insure some other value, but that it is necessarily related to ends and relations of the most fundamental sort: respect, love, friendship, and trust. Privacy is not merely a good technique for furthering these fundamental relations; rather without privacy they are simply inconceivable. They require a context of privacy or the possibility of privacy for their existence. To make clear the necessity of privacy as a context for respect, love, friendship, and trust is to bring out also why a threat to privacy seems to threaten our very integrity as persons." (Fried, p. 140) In one paragraph explain Fried's thesis to someone who has not read Fried's article. In a following paragraph explain why you agree or disagree with Fried's thesis.
24) Apply Fried's analysis of the significance of privacy to the Facebook case study that opened Unit 6. On what grounds might Fried allege that Facebook's data sharing "threatened our very integrity as persons"? How might a Facebook representative respond to such an allegation? Explain, with reasons, whose side you would defend, and present possible alternatives for mitigating Fried's concerns.
25) Name and explain three leading arguments for the use and development of military robots today.
26) Drawing upon the case study that opened Unit 7, what is the "main reason" that those involved in this area are concerned with arming military robots?
27) Name and explain the three principles that Singer argues should guide the development of military robots. Do you agree or disagree with his suggestions? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning.
28) Why does Singer argue that "the human creators and operators of autonomous robots must be held accountable for their machine's actions" (p. 162)? Do you think this claim is something that Anderson and Anderson would agree with, even though they claim that AI machines should be considered "moral agents"?
29) Do you think armed and autonomous military robots should be developed? Why or why not? Give reasons in support of your position.
30) In the first reading for this unit, an ex-Google executive is quoted as saying: "It's Homo sapiens minds against the most powerful supercomputers and billions of dollars . . . It's like bringing a knife to a space laser fight . . . We are going to look back and say, 'Why on earth did we bring this upon ourselves'?" Explain this comment by tying it into the research that is presented concerning the human proclivity for novelty bias, insecurity, and addiction. What kinds of abilities, if any, do human beings have for mitigating against these forces? Do you think emerging technologies have enhanced or frustrated those abilities? Why or why not?
31) What does Thomas mean by the Aristotelian ideal of "companion friendship"? What reasons does he present for thinking that digital technology is a great facilitator for communication but not for conversation? Why does he think those considerations severely inhibit the possibility of "companion friendship" in the digital age? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
32) Consider the following passage from Thomas's essay:
There is simply no denying the extraordinary wonders of technology as a vehicle for communicating information. The mistake lies in losing sight of the truth that in so very many instances what matters enormously to human beings is not just that the right information is communicated to us, but also the way in which we experience that information being communicated to us. (Thomas, p. 388)
Explain this passage by drawing upon the phenomenon of a parent saying "I love you" to a child. Can digital communication capture the depth and meaning of such a phrase in the same way that a face-to-face encounter can? Why or why not?
33) Why does Turkle think that our reliance upon digital technology has frustrated not only our social relationships but also our capacity for self-reflection? What kinds of strategies does Turkle suggest we employ for addressing these challenges in the digital age?