Virtue in Virtual Spaces
Tue, Feb 24
We'll spend today's class having a more in-depth discussion on how one designs software that is underpinned by virtue ethics. As we've already learned, there is much talk about ethical technology design, but not much out there when it comes to concrete instructions for incorporating ethical ideas that have stood the test of time into software engineering.
We have two main in-class learning goals. By the end of lecture today you will:
- Learn about the process of bringing virtue ethics to the design process of software through established practices in software engineering.
- Understanding how to instantiate principles of Catholic Social Teaching as the necessary components of Virtue Ethics.
The slides for today's lecture.
Read This:
Re-read Chapter 3 of Virtue in Virtual Spaces (this was an early reading to get us familiar with dialogue; we'll use this chapter to think about design today)
Also read Chapter 4 of Virtue in Virtual Spaces
The course staff has written a paper on how to use design patterns from software engineering to build technology around virtue ethics in their paper Design Patterns for the Common Good (read Sections 1, 4 and 5)
Do This:
Writing Reflection 05
See the instructions posted on the assignment's page.
This writing reflection is due on 3/3 at 5pm.
This Week's Dialogue Group Meeting
Find at least one hour to meet with your group to discuss the prompt of the week: What activities and ways of thinking are encouraged and discouraged by the key features of your chosen technology? Answer this question by filtering it through a chosen set of virtue principles (these can be the themes of Catholic Social Teaching introduced in class).
Project 01
Reminder: this project is due Thursday 2/26 at 5pm.
The project for this unit on the philosophy of technology will be the creation of a Zine that summarizes your group's dialogues over the course of the next few weeks. Review the instructions that have been posted on the Project 01 page.
Please complete the Team Member Evaluation Form and drop it in your Google drive folder that is shared with Louisa before the project deadline. Submit the link to the google sheet on Canvas.
Once you have completed the readings, fill out the following quiz. If you can't see the form below, try this direct link.