Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University

What should be taught in courses on social ethics?

The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept and the content of courses on “social ethics”. I will present a dilemma that arises in the design of such courses. On the one hand, they may present versions of “applied ethics”; that is, courses in which moral theories are applied to moral and social problems. On the other hand, they may present generalised forms of “occupational ethics”, usually professional ethics, with some business ethics added to expand the range of the course. Is there, then, not some middle ground that is distinctively designated by the term “social ethics”? I will argue that there is such a ground. I will describe that ground as the ethics of “social practices”. I will then illustrate how this approach to the teaching of ethics may be carried out in five domains of social practice: professional ethics, commercial ethics, corporate ethics, governmental ethics, and ethics in the voluntary sector. My aim is to show that “social ethics” courses can have a clear rationale and systematic content

Payday lending: America's unsecured loan market [Business Ethics Case Study, 5000 words]

Case study for Business Ethics, 5000 words. Considers the state of the payday lending market in USA and Canada as of March 2018. Suitable for undergraduate or business school use. Includes the discussion of: Storefront and online payday lending in state/province and national contexts. Applicability of the concept of exploitation to payday lending. Alternatives to payday lending ("Payday Alternative Loans" provided through credit unions, and savings incentive programs that reduce demand for payday lending). U.S. government regulation of 2017 that was rescinded shortly before it was to have effects on business, specifically due to change of Presidential administration (January 2018). Class discussion questions. References

How Do Fairness Definitions Fare? Examining Public Attitudes Towards Algorithmic Definitions of Fairness

What is the best way to define algorithmic fairness? While many definitions of fairness have been proposed in the computer science literature, there is no clear agreement over a particular definition. In this work, we investigate ordinary people's perceptions of three of these fairness definitions. Across two online experiments, we test which definitions people perceive to be the fairest in the context of loan decisions, and whether fairness perceptions change with the addition of sensitive information (i.e., race of the loan applicants). Overall, one definition (calibrated fairness) tends to be more preferred than the others, and the results also provide support for the principle of affirmative action.Comment: To appear at AI Ethics and Society (AIES) 201

Is Tadeusz Kotarbiński’s Independent Ethics Program Important Nowadays?

In the paper, the essential elements of Kotarbiński’s independent ethics are presented. These are ethics which are one example of ethics in the broader sense, with a range of problems related to the question: how should we live our lives? Kotarbiński proposed an idea of independent ethics, ethics that are independent of religion and philosophy, ethics based on “platitude (obviousness) of heart”. In the paper, some shortcomings of this proposal will be shown, but also, by analysis of the parable of the Good Samaritan, it will be shown how we can overcome the weaknesses of independent ethic theory

Ethics of Public Administration in the Administration of Governance in Indonesia

Ethics is an important element which determines the successful implementation of organizations activities and public administration actors. The importance to implement public administration ethics in the Indonesia government bureaucracy was based to the ethical problems which happened, such as corruption, collusion and nepotism. This research used qualitative method, where is primary data obtained from observations, and secondary data obtained from media and literature study. From the research that has been conducted, it is known that few of government officials in Indonesia are lack of accountability in performing their duties, authorities and responsibilities and as a result the public bureaucracy in the reform era was much highlighted by the public and got criticism. To solve this problem, besides by enforcing the laws, the government also must to cultivate and implement the public administration ethics for their bureaucratic apparatus. &nbsp

Fair play in sports organizations : effectiveness of ethical codes

Ethical challenges and scandals worldwide have generated widespread interest in unethical behavior in the sports domain, both on and off the field. An often-used approach to tackle unethical behavior in sports organizations is the establishment of an ethical code, although its effectiveness remains controversial. This study aims to detail ethical codes in Flemish sports organizations. Not only the mere existence is the object of this research, but also the creation, content, implementation, and enforcement are studied. It is investigated whether the ethical code and its characteristics influence ethical behavior in sports organizations. To evaluate code effectiveness, the ethical climate index of sports organizations is assessed. Results show that although a code of ethics, as such, is not capable of influencing the ethical behavior in sports organizations, it can still be a helpful and inspiring document. For the code to become truly effective, certain conditions need to be in place. The motivation to genuinely promote ethical behavior, the involvement of the coaches in the design of the code, the explicit mentioning of management responsibilities in the code, and the communication of the code at the registration of new club members improve the ethical behavior in the sports organizations. Also the tone of the code, the applied ethical orientation and the number of statements play a key role in the code effectiveness. Therefore, although the mere presence of an ethical code seems to be ineffective to guide ethical behavior, this is still no reason to throw this instrument overboard in the battle of malicious events in organizations. A code of ethics could be a sound starting point to enhance ethics in organizations and could prove to be successful when the right conditions are in place. A fundamental concept in ethical codes is Fair Play, which concerns sports participation ethics (as opposed to the more general organizational ethics). The way in which this concept is applied, has striking consequences for the domain of sport ethics on the field. The application of this crucial concept is observed for the first time in athletes themselves, using the advanced Factorial Survey Method. The research reveals that the judgment on Fair Play by athletes is affected by the act, the level of the match and the presence of an ethical code. The use of a certain conceptualization differs according to the observed act as well as to the gender of the subject that makes the judgment. When it comes to the intention of the athletes to engage in questionable behavior, this decision again shows to be influenced by the act and the gender of the subject. Overall this study has attributed to our knowledge on ethical codes in sports organizations, and provides us with the characteristics that need to be in place to make this instrument effective in promoting organizational ethics. A quintessential concept in both sport ethics and ethical codes in sports organizations, namely Fair Play, is further investigated. This study increased the findings on the use of this central concept by athletes themselves. This project renders practical implications to increase the effectiveness of ethical codes on the sports field and points out ethical dilemmas that come forward from the different application of Fair Play by athletes

Fair Engineering of Machine Learning Systems – Lessons Learned from a Literature Review

With the growing prevalence of AI algorithms and their use to prepare and even execute decisions, there is increasing debate about whether the results of machine learning systems tend to be fairer or more unfair. When faced with engineering a fair machine learning solution in practice, trade-offs arise between conflicting fairness notions. We conduct a literature review on this topic. The results of our review indicate that a slight consensus exists that the human concept of fairness is much broader than what lies in the scope of current fairness metrics. We discuss the context of judging fairness metrics. We also find that, albeit much research already has been done, there is room for improvement when seeking to generalize the findings across different scenarios

On the Governance of Artificial Intelligence through Ethics Guidelines

This article uses a socio-legal perspective to analyse the use of ethics guidelines as governance tool in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI). This has become a central policy area in several large jurisdictions, including China and Japan, as well as the EU, focused here. Particular emphasis is in this article placed on the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI published by the EU Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence in April 2019, as well as the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, published by the EU Commission in February 2020. The guidelines are reflected against partially overlapping and already existing legislation as well as the ephemeral concept construct surrounding AI as such. The article concludes by pointing to the i) challenges of a temporal discrepancy between technological and legal change; ii) the need of moving from principle to process in the governance of AI, and iii) and the multidisciplinary needs in the study of contemporary applications of data-dependent AI

On Understanding the Human Nature of Good and Bad Behavior in Business: A Behavioral Ethics Approach

The numerous scandals in business, such as those at AIG, Tyco, WorldCom, Enron and Ahold, have made all of us concerned about the emergence of unethical and irresponsible behavior in organizations. Such widespread corruption in business and politics has, as result, prompted a growth of interest in the field of business ethics. At the same time, however, within the academic world it is also recognized that to tackle those unethical actions in an efficient way, the field of business ethics needs to integrate insights from behavioral science. In this inaugural address I focus more closely on the benefits that a behavioral approach can bring to the field of business ethics. In presenting these benefits, I draw a distinction between prescriptive and descriptive approaches and outline how the field of psychology can help in integrating these two perspectives so that we can move towards a more comprehensive understanding of behavioral business ethics. This integration is illustrated by my own research addressing how sanctioning and regulation systems affect behavior, the benefits of procedural fairness and the workings of trust repair strategies. Finally, I formulate some implications for academia, the government and economics.business ethics;behavioral ethics;descriptive;trust repair;sanctions;procedural fairness