Computers, Ethics and Society

Over the last two decades, computers have become more and more important to our everyday lives, helping to manage our finances, fly our airplanes, run our factories, and even educate our children. As computers become more powerful, and more essential to the functioning of business and government, their potential for stripping us of our privacy and autonomy increases exponentially, so that now more than ever there is a need to grasp the ethical and social implications of their growing use. Computers, Ethics, and Society meets this need by providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary set of readings ideally suited to address the potential problems of the computer age. Taking into account technical, social, and philosophical complications, the contributors consider such topics as the labor ramifications of automation, the ethical obligations of computer specialists, and the threat of violation of privacy that comes with increased computerization.