C omputer technology has significantly reshaped our lifestyles affecting the way we work, relax, treat our sick, shop, educate our young, fight wars, catch criminals, and even, commit crimes.
Global networks promise even more dramatic changes to communications, community, and society.
The effects of computing are not limited to the technological and scientific realms but extend also into the social and ethical. This course examines the social and ethical implications of computer technology. Its goal is to identify and formulate answers to questions that deal with the moral basis of individual responsibilities and actions, as well as with the moral underpinings of public policy. It pays special attention to the risks of computing, individual privacy, moral and professional responsibility, ownership of intellectual property, and the prospects of a networked world. It considers not only how these values are affected by computer technology, but how computer technology may be shaped by them.