Existing norms of acceptability in Software

Creation Code-128 in Software Existing norms of acceptability

According to LaRue Hosmer,8 there are five important points about the character and nature of ethics and decision making:

Most ethical decisions have extended consequences Most ethical decisions have multiple alternatives Most ethical decisions have mixed outcomes Most ethical decisions have uncertain consequences Most ethical decisions have personal implications

Ethical decision making is not a simple process but rather a multifaceted process that is complicated by the characteristics just described, and there are no simple formulas The most serious danger is that of falling into an ethical relativism where we pick and choose which source of norms we wish to use based on what will justify our current actions or maximize our freedom A good ethical decision-making process requires the ability to explore all the aspects of a decision and then to weigh the options surrounding a course of action As a simple test, ask yourself these questions and try to answer them honestly:

Is the action under consideration legal Does the action comply with our society s values Is the action right/fair/appropriate If you had to explain your decision on television, would you be comfortable doing so How will I feel tomorrow about myself

The sets of questions posed here are intended to produce a process of ethical inquiry that is of immediate use and understanding and help ensure that ethical due process takes place They cannot tell us whether our decisions are ethical or not, but they can help us be sure that we are raising the appropriate issues and genuinely attempting to be ethical The generally accepted view of ethics is that ethical behavior resides above behavior required by the law; however, in many respects the law and ethics overlap To appreciate this, we need to recognize that the law embodies notions of ethics, ie, the law may be seen as a reflection of what society thinks are minimal standards of conduct and behavior Both law and ethics have to do with what is deemed right or wrong, but law reflects society s codified ethics In spite of this overlap, we continue to talk about desirable ethical behavior as behavior that extends beyond what is required by law

Viewed from the standpoint of civilized society, we would certainly say that obedience to the law is a minimum standard of behavior In other words, what is illegal is definitively also unethical, but what is unethical is not necessarily illegal Quite often we hear the statement: Well, legally speaking, this was fine However, we should aspire to something higher than just barely legal and, most likely, very questionable from the ethical point of view Instead, the question we should ask ourselves and the society we are living in is whether we are doing the right thing The question is whether our society is becoming less ethical (as it may seem to some people) than, for example, 60 years ago One of the explanations for why this may be so is that our expectations and awareness due to the modern communications media are much higher today than in early 1950s So, transparency of what we and companies in our city, state, country, or even globally are doing plays a big role in how we see and judge the world around us Ethical statements about the company should not be a marketing logo or a selling point in a glossy brochure; instead, they should flow naturally from the company s behavior, starting with the ethics toward employees, and further extending toward the company s partners and clients as well as towards other people 75 Frequently Asked Questions

This section will present and attempt to answer a collection of questions I received over a number of years while working in the microwave field Some of the questions are a reoccurring theme, and they keep repeating in different forms and in different situations