Internet Ethics
Abstract: This paper takes a look at basic ethics in relation to the Internet. By tracing the development of the Internet, it identifies perils of the World Wide Web and their moral significance to a culture trying to move successfully into the twenty-first century.
As scientists travel into the future, they are lead by ambition, imagination, and genius. In their quest to find uses for their rapidly expanding knowledge they often leave behind their morals. Failing to carefully consider the possible paths their research will follow, scientist often find that they have gone too far with out realizing it. Their creations exceed their expectations. When faced with this situation it is up to the scientist to decide how to handle these powerful and unexpected new findings. Weighing the benefits against the dangers of the new possibilities, he must decide which outweighs the other. Publication and production of the new piece of technology could easily lead to even more advanced or dangerous findings down the line. It is up to scientists to take responsibility for their work and its results.
The ability to handle this responsibility involves the establishment of concrete ethical codes which a scientist can apply to his research. Ethics are moral standards on which people base their lives by using them in decision making. Because they will never be agreed on by all the members of a society, complicated arguments arise around all issues. In science they address ways in which the world should handle its discoveries. Each branch of science has followed a steady path of progression over its years of development. As it has lengthened with time, the paths have widened with information. This is th...
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...d look at changing technology. Using moral codes and a system such as the "Slippery Slope" it is easy to analyze an issue, weighing its benefits and drawbacks. This analization will lead to the more responsible use of knowledge and its application to the world.
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Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times goes by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of the novel they are enthusiastic about going into the war. After they see what war is really like, they do not feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital.
O'Meara is more successful than Turner at utilizing ethos in order to validate his arguments. One way in which to establish ethos is by recounting personal experiences. O'Meara's article in fact opens with a very powerful anecdote; reminiscing about the first time he ever held a gun. He vividly descri...
He believed that since they were older and had more knowledge “they ought to know” ( Hughes, para. 2 ) the events that would occur during the religious revival, thus he presumed his aunt spoke the truth. As children, they were taught to trust and respect their elders, thus, Langston in his younger years followed the orders of his aunt; the lies fed to him in his adolescent years destroyed his virtues. He was disappointed and “ashamed” ( Hughes para. 11 ) once he recognized that Jesus would not reveal himself. His disappointment conveyed the parallelism and repetition of “nothing” ( Hughes para. 7 ). Specifically when he realized that “nothing happened” ( Hughes para. 7 ) during the religious revival he started to doubt himself and reflect how foolish his actions were. The shift in the narrative emphasized that he no longer believed in his religious salvation and punishment for his sins. He “got up” ( Hughes para. 12 ) from his placement in his sins while the rest of the children had confirmed so easily; Hughes could not understand the figurative language of the salvation. Hughes expected to physically see Jesus because of the adults in his life have enlightened him that he would, although they manipulated him to believe he would be
Ethics of technology is one important aspect of ethics and is required to answer all the ethical questions which are specific to the technological age. Ethics of technology can also be defined as “Cyber-ethics”. The main reason for the existence of cyber-ethics is to examine the impact that cyber related crimes has for our social, legal and moral systems. Cyber ethics can also help us in calculating the social policies and laws that we frame with respect to issues...
World War I had a great effect on the lives of Paul Baumer and the young men of his generation. These boys’ lives were dramatically changed by the war, and “even though they may have escaped its shells, [they] were destroyed by the war” (preface). In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer and the rest of his generation feel separated from the other men, lose their innocence, and experience comradeship as a result of the war.
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
Richard Russo's "Dog" and Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" are stories that illustrate the negative impacts parents sometimes have on their children and the unintended consequences that occur as a result of their parenting. In "Dog," Henry Devereaux grows into an adult who has difficulty connecting emotionally with others, a man who is not easy, and though entertaining, is not comforting. In "Two Kinds," Jing-mei was a failure many times over in her mother's eyes, finally dropping out of college and only accepting of herself later in life.
The story of several schoolmates who symbolize a generation destroyed by the dehumanisation of the First World War, All Quiet on the Western Front tells of the men who died, and the tragically changed lives of those who survived. Remarque follows the story of Paul Bäumer, a young infantryman, from his last days of school to his death three years later. Whereas the journey motif is typically used to portray a positive character development, that of Paul is deliberately the opposite. In what has been dubbed the greatest antiwar novel of all time, Remarque depicts the way in which Paul is snatched away from humanity by the brutality of war. However while Paul and his comrades become separated from society, and begin to rely on their basic survival instincts, in their own surroundings they still show humane qualities such as compassion, camaraderie, support and remorse. Paul’s transformation from human to soldier begins in training camp, and is reinforced by the trauma at the front. His return home further alienates him from society, and Paul begins to feel safe at the front with his friends. Nonetheless throughout the novel suffering and mortality bare Paul’s true side, and he momentarily regains his former self. Bäumer, the German word for tree, is an early indication that Paul must remain firmly rooted in reality to survive the brutality of war.
his aunt ran over to him and asked him why he was not going to Jesus. She knelt there and prayed for him. Langston sat there waiting for something to happen, but nothing! He truly wanted to see Jesus but he did not. Finally, he thought to himself and saw that nothing had happened to Westley for lying about not seeing Jesus. Langston then decides that he, too, will go to the altar and lie, hoping that nothing will happen to him for lying to God. Suddenly, loud cries of rejoice were heard throughout the church and everyone was pleased to see that “all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God” (220). That night Langston cried because he did not understand why he did not see Jesus. His aunt had heard him and explained to his uncle, “the Holy Ghost had come into my life” (220). From that point on he did not believe there was a Jesus, since he d...
Possession of knowledge in natural sciences caries infinite amount of ethical responsibility, primarily due to the effect it has on a large scale. The possession of knowledge in natural sciences can either save or end lives. A perfect example of this is Alexander Fleming and his discovery of penicillin. Had he not shared his accidental discovery of the antibiotic, millions would have died. Alexander Fleming had an ethical responsibility to share his knowledge as not doing so would have appeared to be immoral. In this situation, sharing his knowledge brought the greatest amount of happiness to the largest quantity of people. However the opposite can be said with some cases in natural sciences. The most famous being the Manhattan project. The scientists working on that project had an ethical responsibility not to share their possessed...
Throughout the centuries, society has been given men ahead of their time. These men are seen in both actual history, and in fictional accounts of that history. Aristotle, Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, and even Freud laid the framework in their fields, with revolutionary ideas whose shockwaves are still felt today. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and so society has also possessed those how refuse to look forward, those who resisted the great thinkers in science and civilization. The advancement of science and technology is like the flick of a light switch; research may be slow and tedious, but once discoveries are made, they are not long hidden. In contrast, advancement in the ideas of ethics and human values come slowly, like the rising of the sun; there are hints at advancement for a long time before the next step is ready to be made. Because of this, science and technology takes off in leaps and bounds before human values have awakened to find society moving again.
Why are ethics important to scientists? The answer stems from the belief that experts in particular fields have inherent responsibilities simply for being experts (Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, 2009). Scientists are obli...
Gould, Carol C. (ed.) (1989). The Information Web: Ethical and Social Implications of Computer Networking. (Boulder, Colorado : Westview Press).
...here is always a new discovery to be made. Although each of them may have benefits, are they all worth the time. There needs to be balance. Everybody needs to remember the things that are truly important: communication, love, and individuality. The list goes on. Science and technology may provide miraculous breakthroughs every once in a while, but sometimes it leads everybody down a dark road. Each and every individual must come together as a whole, in order to determine where the line needs to be drawn.
Each of us lives with a modern paradox; how can we continue to enjoy the benefits of science and avoid the threat of its misuse or abuse to endanger life and nature? Responses to this paradox have been many, but seldom anything but emotional and impotent in making any useful changes. Among the strongest feeling brought forth by our increasing awareness of the negative side effects of technology has been the feeling of alienation - that we in society have little or no control over the impacts of science and technology on those of us who are supposed to be their beneficiaries.