Illegal but Ethical

[chris at mewett.net (chris mewett)]

I should be writing an essay around this topic, but am procrastinating, so I
thought I'd throw some thoughts in for anyone interested in this area.

what is ethical can depend on what meta-ethical theory you subscribe to: the
rule consequentialist might think the parking meter clown was acting
unethically, but the act consequentialist would probably think it is okay.
Duty based theories would probably consider the act unethical (you have a
duty to obey the law).

on the general area of illegal but ethical, it could be better framing this
in terms of justice - St Augustine says something like "an unjust law is no
law at all" and that there's no obligation to obey it, but Aquinas and Dr
King would also say you have to disobey publically, and accept the
sanctions/punishment that come for the breach. The point of the disobedience
is to get the law changed, isn't it?
(google Letter from a Birmingham jail for more from Dr King).

But back to the business masters - I think the inverse question is more
worrying - what about activities that are legal, but unethical? The
consequences of possibly legal but unethical practices can be unfortunate.
(Stripped out some examples as the e-mail was getting long).

I personally find the ethical area fascinating - got the taste doing a
Masters in Information Systems Security, so am doing further study in
ethics. If you want more readings in this area, let me know and I can give
you some references.

Regards,
Chris.

--
Chris Mewett
chris at mewett.net


2009/10/10 Jack Daniel <jackadaniel at gmail.com>

> OK, I tried, but have nearly chewed my tongue off trying to contain my
> snark.  The obvious answer is to have your ethics certified.
>
>
> As far as productive commentary: If you are really venturing near a
> dangerous edge, I would suggest thoroughly documenting what you think,
> plan to do, do, and do not do- including motivation and rationale.  It
> may not help with the legal defense, but it may help your conscience
> (which is what it is about, right?)
>
>
> Jack
> (Ethics certified by ISC2)
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