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Article Information:
Title:
Good computing: a pedagogically focused model of virtue in the practice of computing (part 1)
Author(s):
Chuck Huff, Laura Barnard, William Frey
Journal:
Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society
Year:
2008
Volume:
Issue:
Page:
246 - 278
DOI:
10.1108/14779960810916246
Publisher:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Acknowledgements:
The authors express their thanks to Jose Cruz-Cruz, Almut Furchert, Deborah Johnson, Dan Lapsley, Darcia Narvaez, Michael Pritchard, and Simon Rogerson for their comments on earlier versions of this theoretical approach. Thanks to Thomas Pearson, Charles Harris, and Ken Fleischmann for detailed comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was partially supported by NSF grants DUE-9980786, DUE-9972280, and SES-0217298 to Chuck Huff and NSF grant SES-0551779 to William Frey. The opinions expressed in this paper are the opinions of the authors and not of the National Science Foundation.
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Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a four component model of ethical behavior (PRIMES) that integrates literature in moral psychology, computing ethics, and virtue ethics as informed by research on moral exemplars in computing. This is part 1 of a two-part contribution.
Design/methodology/approach – This psychologically based and philosophically informed model argues that moral action is: grounded in relatively stable PeRsonality characteristics (PR); guided by integration of morality into the self-system; shaped by the context of the surrounding moral ecology; and facilitated by morally relevant skills and knowledge (S).
Findings – The model seeks to explain the daily successful (and unsuccessful) performance of moral action by computing professionals and to provide groundwork for a pedagogy that emphasizes ethically effective performance.
Practical implications – The model has significant implications for how ethical action might be taught to computer professionals and other design professionals. It also makes recommendations about what is needed to measure to construct a complete picture of sustained ethical action in a profession.
Originality/value – Most accepted models of ethical behavior are unidimensional, emphasizing either principled reasoning or a simplistic model of integrity/character. This model brings together a variety of disparate literatures in the light of its emphasis on sustained moral action in the profession. It thereby provides researchers and educators with a picture of what is needed to construct a complete understanding of moral action in the profession.
Keywords:
Computers,
Ethics,
Individual psychology,
Personality,
Professional ethics
Article Type:
Conceptual paper
References:
Article URL:
www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/14779960810916246