Midterm 2 Flashcards
State Michael Davis’s definition of ethics.
A set of morally permissible standards of a group that each member of the group (at his/her rational best) wants every other member to follow even if their doing so would mean that he/she must do the same.
According to Michael Bayles, the consensus view is that any profession does what three things?
Any profession…
… requires extensive training
…involves significant intellectual effort
…provides an important service to society
According to Michael Bayles, what three features are common to most professions?
- certification or licensing
- organization of members
- autonomy in one’s work
Who is in charge of the Good Works Project?
Wendy Fischman
How does the Good Works Project define a profession?
Any career in which the worker is awarded a degree of autonomy in return for services to the public that are performed at a high level.
What is the Good Works Project?
A large research project examining how young people deal with ethical problems in their professions.
How are Bayles’s definition of a profession and the Good Works Project’s similar?
“Services to the public” and “performed at a high level” from the Good Works Project are similar to the characteristics identified by Bayles
How are Bayles’s definition of a profession and the Good Works Project’s different?
The definition used by the Good Works Project would include a number of occupations that lack Bayles’s necessary attributes, for example a carpenter.
According to John Kultgen, a profession does what?
7 pts
A profession…
…involves a skill based on a theoretical foundation.
…requires extensive education.
…requires passing an exam.
…is organised and represented by one or more professional organisations.
…adheres to a code of conduct.
…provides altruistic service.
…requires members to assume responsibility for the affairs of others.
According to John Kultgen, what are the core characteristics of a profession? (6 pts)
Core characteristics of a profession:
- is indispensable for the public good.
- members are licensed so their work is sanctioned by the community
- members are independent practitioners serving individual clients
- members do their best to serve their clients impartially without regard to any special relationship
- members are compensated by fees or fixed charges
How does Michael Davis define a profession?
In terms of moral issues, a profession is a number of individuals in the same occupation voluntarily organised to earn a living by opening serving a certain moral ideal in a morally permissible way beyond what law, market, and morality would otherwise require.
According to Davis, what is a moral ideal?
A moral ideal is a state of affairs that, though not morally required, everyone* wants everyone else to approach, all else being equal.
- every rational person at his/her rational best
Davis: “A professional puts profession first”. What does this mean?
When a conflict arises between the professional’s code and the policy of an employer or perhaps even the law, the professional’s code must take precedence.
According to Davis, what is professionalism tied to?
A code of ethics.
According to Davis’s model, ethical standards may take the form of what?
Rules, principles, or ideals.
In ethical standards, what are “rules”?
Rules tell us certain things we must do (obligations) and certain things we must not do (prohibitions).
In ethical standards, what are “principles”?
Principles are truths that are to be consistently maintained unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.
In ethical standards, what are “ideals”?
Ideals are goals that are inherently good to achieve. However, failure to achieve them is not necessarily wrong.
What are the three definitions of privacy generally given by dictionaries?
1) seclusion
2) secrecy or concealment
3) freedom from intrusion
How do Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren define the right to privacy?
The right to be free from intrusion, or the right to be let alone.
What exactly is meant by “the right to be let alone”?
Freedom from intrusion–a conception of privacy that focuses on the grievance felt by the harmed party and on actions that directly make them feel harassed, embarrassed, or exposed
What is a “right”?
A right is an entitlement owed to a person, and an obligation to respect the rights of others.
What is the technological imperative?
Because a particular technology means that we can do something, then this action either
a) ought to be undertaken (as a moral imperative)
b) must be undertake (as an operational imperative), or
c) inevitably will (in time) be undertaken.
What does Judge Richard Posner think about privacy?
Privacy as concealment. He believes that there is no fundamental right to privacy and that people are interested in privacy only because they want to conceal their own wrongdoing or prevent embarrassment.
What are the three main points of Judge Posner’s argument that privacy will eventually be obsolete?
- It is perfectly natural for people to live with little to no privacy, as pre-modern peoples had no privacy.
- Contemporary people do not value individual privacy as we are willing to give up private information in return for very small financial incentives or improvements in convenience.
- Since concealment is most useful to criminals and least useful to honest people, privacy is mostly a social harm that reduces safety, not a social good.
What is the problem with the traditional approach to defining privacy?
Top-down: Starting with a single clear definition, and then discovering that not all privacy problems are covered by that definition.
What is Daniel Solove’s approach to defining privacy?
Bottom-up: Starting with a list of the common kinds of privacy problems, and then building a definition upwards.
What are the four items in Solove’s hierarchy, the Taxonomy of Privacy?
- Information collection
- Information processing
- Information dissemination
- Invasion
Which two items fall under Information Collection?
Surveillance and interrogation
Which five items fall under Information Processing?
Aggregation, identification, insecurity, secondary use, and exclusion
Which seven items fall under Information Dissemination?
Breach of confidentiality, disclosure, exposure, increased accessibility, blackmail, appropriation, and distortion
