Computing and Technology Ethics: Engaging through Science Fiction

by Emanuelle Burton, Judy Goldsmith, Nicholas Mattei

A new approach to teaching computing and technology ethics using science fiction stories.

Should autonomous weapons be legal? Will we be cared for by robots in our old age? Does the efficiency of online banking outweigh the risk of theft? From communication to travel to medical care, computing technologies have transformed our daily lives, for better and for worse. But how do we know when a new development comes at too high a cost? Using science fiction stories as case studies of ethical ambiguity, this engaging textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to ethical theory and its application to contemporary developments in technology and computer science.

Computing and Technology Engaging through Science Fiction first introduces the major ethical deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, communitarianism, and the modern responses of responsibility ethics, feminist ethics, and capability ethics. It then applies these frameworks to many of the modern issues arising in technology ethics including privacy, computing, and artificial intelligence. A corresponding anthology of science fiction brings these quandaries to life and challenges students to ask ethical questions of themselves and their work.

Genres: Textbooks, Philosophy

504 pages, Hardcover

Published February 14, 2023

Reviews

[Cassi]

Note to self: check if MIT Press does an Open Access edition; print edition is $85; if not check ILL?

[Judy Goldsmith]

I might be biased, but reading through the book this past semester with my class, I was amazed and awed by all the work my coauthors did. And all the insights my students brought to the fabulous short stories at the back of the book. This is a textbook, but worth reading even if it's not assigned in a class!