Ethics and Technology: Controversies, Questions, and Strategies for Ethical Computing [Paperback]

It seems that every time you turn around, there's some news story in the industry press about the ethics or legality of some aspect of technology. To help myself understand some of the underlying issues a bit better, I decided to read and review Ethics & Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology (2nd Edition) by Herman T. Tavani. While not the easiest or most riveting read, I did come away with a better appreciation for the field of ethics.

Contents: Introduction To Cyberethics - Concepts, Perspectives, and Methodological Frameworks; Ethical Concepts and Ethical Theories - Establishing and Justifying a Moral System; Critical Thinking Skills and Logical Arguments - Tools for Evaluating Cyberethics Issues; Professional Ethics, Codes of Conducts, and Moral Responsibility; Privacy and Cyberspace; Security in Cyberspace; Cybercrime and Cyberrelated Crimes; Intellectual Property Disputes in Cyberspace; Regulating Commerce and Speech in Cyberspace; Social Inclusion, The Digital Divide, and the Transformation of Work - The Impact for Class, Race, and Gender; Community and Identity in Cyberspace - Ethical Aspects of Virtual-Reality and Artificial-Intelligence Technologies; Pervasive Computing and Converging Technologies - Ethical Aspects of Ambient Intelligence, Bioinformatics, and Nanocomputing; Glossary; Index

Having never taken a class on ethics or critical thinking, I found the first three chapters interesting. Tavani builds the foundation of how to define and describe cyberethics, as well as how to determine and argue the case of what is "moral". These chapters are a concise course on how to build an argument and support it properly. After those three chapters are done, the concepts that were built are used to examine many different facets of computers and life, and how ethics come into play and shape how we think. There are the subjects you'd expect, like digital rights and security. But he also covers issues that I don't normally think of when dwelling on computers and ethics... gender, socioeconomic classes, race. First you have to determine if indeed those things are ethical issues, and if so, what responsibility do you have in those areas.

On one hand, the book is thorough and detailed. It's meant to be a textbook on the subject, and as such it delivers. These are the types of academic discussions and debates that you'd expect in a formal setting. I was somewhat disappointed, however, when it came to conclusions. Both sides of each issue were debated (even when I didn't even think there *was* another side), but resolution was elusive. I suppose I'm supposed to take this information and draw my own conclusions, but instead I came away with "so everything's right *and* wrong". Since I tend to want to get down to practical issues rather than deal with abstracts, I found it hard to come to any resolution at the end of each chapter.

Definitely good material, and worth reading. But it will make you work and think.

Bought this text for a class, it's pretty straightforward, moves at a reasonable pace, and covers all the bases. As far as textbooks go this has been one of the easier reads I've had in engineering school.

Myriad fields of philosophy exist within the halls of academia. Among these philosophical fields, ethics comprise one branch of morality that represents the study of ethics. Dr. Tavani represents one of those philosophers who specialize in the applied field of computer ethicists. His journal publications, conference presentations, and textbooks span decades. Seldom does a reader have the opportunity to gain the insights from such an individual who is so highly respected within his field of practice. In his third edition of Ethics and Technology: Controversies, Questions, and Strategies for Ethical Computing, Dr. Tavani once again demonstrates his acuity for the ethical issues related to information systems and information technology. His writings and explanations within this textbook provide the reader great understanding for why ethical interpretations of technology are needed. Further, the text also provides insights not always found from other computer ethicists. This fact, in and of its self, makes this book an excellent read for any individual interested in computer ethics, the problems that society faces because of technology, and how society can come to terms with handling some of technologies more complex technologically based ethical issues.