Good computing: a pedagogically focused model of virtue in the practice of computing (part 2)
Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society
ISSN: 1477-996X
Article publication date: 21 November 2008
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a four component model of ethical behavior that integrates literature in moral psychology, computing ethics, and virtue ethics as informed by research on moral exemplars in computing. This is part 2 of a two part contribution, part 1 having appeared in Vol. 6 No. 3.
Design/methodology/approach
This psychologically based and philosophically informed model argues that moral action is grounded in relatively stable personality characteristics, guided by integration of morality into the self‐system, shaped by the context of the surrounding moral ecology, and facilitated by morally relevant skills and knowledge.
Findings
The model seeks to explain the daily successful (and unsuccessful) performance of moral action by computing professionals and to provide groundwork for a pedagogy that emphasizes ethically effective performance.
Practical implications
The model has significant implications for how ethical action to computer professionals and other design professionals might be taught. It also makes recommendations about what need to be measured to construct a complete picture of sustained ethical action in a profession.
Originality/value
Most accepted models of ethical behavior are unidimensional, emphasizing either principled reasoning or a simplistic model of integrity/character. This model brings together a variety of disparate literatures in the light of its emphasis on sustained moral action in the profession. It thereby provides researchers and educators with a picture of what is needed to construct a complete understanding of moral action in the profession.
Keywords
Citation
Huff, C., Barnard, L. and Frey, W. (2008), "Good computing: a pedagogically focused model of virtue in the practice of computing (part 2)", Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 284-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960810921114
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited