RD15 - Software Engineering Ethics 2

Preparation

Review the expectations for preparation for the Readings and Class Discussions.

Assigned Readings

1. Download “An Introduction to Software Engineering Ethics” by Shannon Vallor and Arvind Narayanan for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
   1. Read Parts 4-6 (pp. 16-30).
      • As you complete the reading, record your answers to the questions in a separate document.
   2. Save your answers as a PDF.
   3. Send your PDF to me in a private Teams message.
2. Read the Google Street View case study on pages 54-55.

Discussion Questions

1. In class we will discuss as a group the following questions based on the readings:
   1. What distinguishes a job from a profession? Or alternatively, a worker from a professional? Then, Is software engineering a profession?
   2. What is your working definition of each of the three ethical theories that were introduced (Virtue, Concequentialist, Deontological)? Which one most resonates with you and why?
   3. What other examples did you come up with in question 5.10?
   4. Which of the “Five Ethically Constructive Habits of Mind and Action” do you think would be easiest/hardest to implement? Most/least beneficial?
2. Then you will work in small groups to apply the ideas from the reading and associated questions to the analysis of the Google Street View case study.

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All textual materials used in this course are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

All executable code used in this course is licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 3 or later