Topic 4.4: Exploring ethics in a changing world of work

To continue our journey into what is a very interesting and challenging topic, we turn to video from Damon Horowitz, in which he addresses a technology conference to discuss the very real, everyday implications and applications of moral and ethical principles.

At TEDxSiliconValley, Damon Horowitz calls for a ‘moral operating system’ and reviews the enormous new powers that technology gives us: to know more — and more about each other — than ever before. Drawing the audience into a philosophical discussion, Horowitz invites us to pay new attention to the basic philosophy — the ethical principles — behind the burst of invention remaking our world. Where’s the moral operating system that allows us to make sense of our everyday decisions and how innovation is challenging us?

Required Activity
40 min

As you watch the video, make notes on the four moral / ethical frames Horowitz describes (from the work of Plato, Aristotle, Mills, Kant).
TED (2011, June 7). Damon Horowitz calls for a “moral operating system” [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/nG3vB2Cu_jM.

Now that you have watched the video (and hopefully done the 30 seconds of thinking Horowitz invited), note your responses to the following:

  1. Which of the four frameworks did you feel most comfortable or familiar with? Why?
  2. What framework or principles did you apply to the decision Horowitz asked you to think about?
  3. Think about your response to the idea that “The sad truth is that most evil done in this world is not done by people who choose to be evil, it arises from people not thinking”. Can you identify a situation you have been involved in where this was the case?

License

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