Abstract
This chapter has the sole purpose of asking the following question: is there an ethics that emerges in the context of computer simulations? In order to properly answer this question, we need to investigate the specialized literature to see how issues have been approached. The first problem that we encounter is the question of whether such an ethics actually exists, or rather if moral concerns in computer simulations can be approached by a more familiar ethical framework.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The difference between ethics and morals is often formulated in terms that ethics are the science of moral, whereas morals are the practice of ethics. While morals are the collection of values and standards, ethics is the formal study and encoding of those standards. I shall not make that distinction here. Instead, I will refer to both concept indistinguishably.
- 2.
Another author that anticipated much of the contemporary discussion is McLeod (1986).
- 3.
Studies on Big-Data constitutes a new locus classicus on issues regarding the ethical implications of companies dealing with large amounts of data. For cases of successful uses of Big-Data, see the work of Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier (2013); Marr (2016); and for the philosophical treatment, see among others (Zwitter 2014; Béranger 2016; Mittelstadt and Floridi 2016a). We could also mention the many institutions—governmental, educational, and in the private sector—that are being created to understand computer ethics. An excellent example of this is the Oxford Internet Institute, part of the University of Oxford.
- 4.
Let it be said that Brey’s work also relates ethical issues with Virtual Reality as used in video games or non-scientific visualizations. Here I focus solely on his view of computer simulations.
- 5.
Let us recall that for Williamson, the ‘expert’ was not necessarily the researcher designing and programing a computer simulation, but rather the specialist on the topic that is being simulated.
- 6.
Andreas Tolk has a large body of work on the ethics of computer simulations that follows a similar line of research as Ören’s. See Tolk (2017), and Armstrong and Taylor (2017).
- 7.
A collection of over 50 official codes of ethics issued by 45 associations in business, health, and law can be found in Gorlin (1994).
- 8.
Codes come in many different forms. They can be formal (written) or informal (oral). They bear a variety of names, each with slightly different educational and regulatory aims. The most common forms are codes of ethics, codes of professional conduct, and codes of practice. Here, I will discuss a general form of codes. For more details, see Pritchard (1998).
- 9.
For more on the ethics of professional practice and codes of ethics, see Harris et al. (2009), and van der Poel and Royakkers (2011).
- 10.
Ören actually speaks of three reasons, the third being the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Society for Modeling and Simulation International (SCS).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Durán, J.M. (2018). Ethics and Computer Simulations. In: Computer Simulations in Science and Engineering. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90882-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90882-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90880-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90882-3
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)