Universität Wien

180058 SE Computer Ethics (2013S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 45 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 06.03. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 20.03. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 17.04. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 24.04. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3E NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 15.05. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 22.05. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3E NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 29.05. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 05.06. 18:30 - 21:00 Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

There hardly is any area in life not affected by computer technology and information and communication technologies. Accordingly, new ethical questions arise and existing ethical issues may need to be reconsidered. Whether or not computer ethics is a fundamentally new form of ethics or merely a specific case of applied ethics, it seems undeniable that computers and information and communication technologies have deeply affected our lifeworld - be it Wikipedia, Facebook, Email...
In the seminar we will address the ethical implications of this computational turn on topics such as privacy, responsibility, freedom of expression, transparency or autonomy.

Assessment and permitted materials

To obtain credit the following tasks have to be accomplished by the students:
- Participation in the discussions (on- and offline)
- Preparation oft he compulsory texts for each session & submission of corresponding questions
- Prepare and conduct a session as part of a project group
- Autonomous literature research
- Seminar Paper: 4500-6000 words
- Attendance: in order to obtain credit, the students must not miss more than 2 sessions.
Evaluation:
- Session organization: 25%
- Active participation in the seminar: 25%
- Seminar paper: 50%

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The goal of this seminar is to provide an introductory understanding of the field of and the problems within computer ethics. Students shall be enabled to recognize and critically address problems and issues related to the increasing computerization of our lifeworld. Different positions as well as different research areas (such as privacy, responsibility, etc) within computer ethics will be portrayed and assessed. The knowledge and expertise acquired in the seminar is meant to go beyond theoretical reflection and to enable reflection and the improvement of practice. Through the methods employed, students shall also be supported in their presentation and creative skills.

Examination topics

The seminar will take place in 3-hour session. In the first session an introduction into the topic will be provided. Each of the following sessions will be chaired by a group of students. All sessions entail presentations, discussions, and group work. All students are required to read the compulsory texts for each session and provide questions regarding these texts one week ahead of each session.

Reading list

Preliminary Selection - the final selection will be provided in the first session:

Brey, P. (2010). Values in technology and disclosive computer ethics. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. L. Floridi. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 41-58.
Brigham, M. and L. Introna (2007). "Invoking politics and ethics in the design of information technology: undesigning the design." Ethics and Information Technology 9(1): 1-10.
Bynum, T. W. (2010). The historical roots of information and computer ethics. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. L. Floridi. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 20-38.
Bynum, T. W. (2000). "The Foundation of Computer Ethics." Computers and Society 30(2).
Feuz, M., M. Fuller, et al. (2011). Personal Web searching in the age of semantic capitalism: Diagnosing the mechanisms of personalisation.
Flanagan, M., D. Howe, et al. (2005). Values in Design: Theory and Practice (Research Report). New York, Hunter College & New York University: 33.
Friedman, B. (1997). Introduction. Human Values and the Design of Computer Technology. B. Friedman. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 1-18.
van den Hoven, J. (2010). The use of normative theories in computer ethics. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. L. Floridi. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 59-76.
Introna, L. (2005). "Phenomenological Approaches to Ethics and Information Technology." Retrieved 24.03.2011, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-it-phenomenology/.
Introna, L. (2005). "Phenomenological Approaches to Ethics and Information Technology." Retrieved 24.03.2011, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-it-phenomenology/.
Introna, L. (2007). "Maintaining the reversibility of foldings: Making the ethics (politics) of information technology visible." Ethics and Information Technology 9(1): 11-25.
Introna, L. and H. Nissenbaum (2000). "Shaping the Web: Why the Politics of Search Engines Matters." The Information Society 16: 169–185.
Introna, L. D. (2007). "Maintaining the reversibility of foldings: making the ethics (politics) of information technology visible." Ethics and Information Technology 9(1): 11-25.
Kraemer, F., K. van Overveld, et al. (2010). "Is there an ethics of algorithms?" Ethics and Information Technology: 1-10.
Light, B. and K. McGrath (2010). "Ethics and social networking sites: A disclosive analysis of Facebook." Information Technology and People 23(4): 290-311.
Longstaff, S. (2010). "The Irony of Wikileaks " Living Ethics: Newsletter of the St. James Ethics Centre 82(2,4).
Moor, J. H. (1985). "What is computer ethics?" Metaphilosophy 16(4): 266-279.
Nayar, P. K. (2010). "WikiLeaks, the New Information Cultures and Digital Parrhesia." Economic & Political Weekly.
Nissenbaum, H. (2004). "Privacy as Contextual Integrity." Washington Law Review 79(1): 119-158.
Nissenbaum, H. (2005). Values in Technical Design. Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics. C. Mitcham. New York, Macmillan: lxvi-lxx.
Paulsson, A. (2010). Critique of pure transparency: Epistemology, axiology and ethics in public administration. EGPA 2010 Symposium for Doctoral Students and Junior Researchers. Toulouse, France.
Roehle, T. (2007). "Desperately seeking the consumer: personalized search engines and the commercial exploitation of user data." from http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_9/rohle/index.html.
Rogers, R. (2004). Information politics on the Web. Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press.
Various (2010). "Who gets to keep secrets? ." from http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/hillis10.1/hillis10.1_index.html.
Weizenbaum, J. (1994 (1977)). Die Macht der Computer und die Ohnmacht der Vernunft. Frankfurt, Suhrkamp.
Wiener, N. (1950/1954). The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society. Houghton Mifflin, Doubleday Anchor.


Association in the course directory

BA M 5.3, PP 57.3.5

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:36