Term Paper
Is the U.S. Government surveillance of citizens ethical?
https://www.wired.com/2007/07/fbi-spyware/
The 35 points available on the term paper will be awarded as follows:
This paper must follow the same structure as the example provided. (attached document).
3= Paper is 8+ pages, including the title page (-1 per page short)
1= Your abstract outlines what you will write
1= Your introduction states what you will show (the abstract, reworded) 2= Your introduction outlines the structure of your paper
3= You identify the ethical actor. I will not go looking for this. I will look exclusively and only in a section entitled “ethical actor” or something similar. If you do not have such a separate section your grade for this part will be 0. This grade is all or nothing – if I find some content that identifies an ethical actor, you get all of these points.
3= You specify the action being tested for ethics. I will not impute this from your paper. I will read the section entitled “ethical action” or something similar, and as- sign this grade only on words found in that section. If you do not have such a sepa- rate section your grade for this part will be 0. This grade is all or nothing – if I find some content that identifies an ethical action, you get all of these points.
4= You select your ethical test (the golden rule, the strokes of brilliance of Donald Trump or George W. Bush, etc. are not ethical tests, and you will lose these points if you suggest that they are. Kantian/Utilitarianism/ACM/Cowboy Code/The Class’ are ethical tests. You will not lose points if you select these). Laws, sets of laws, constitutions, and such are also not ethical standards. Nor are tests you find on the internet that call themselves ethical standards, but that do not meet our requirements of specific and objective rules that are enforced disproportionately to produce a good for a group that leads to the good of society. I will not impute your choice. I will read the section entitled “ethical standard” or something similar, and assign this grade only on words found in that section. If you do not have such a separate section your grade for this part will be 0. This grade is all or nothing – if I find some content that identifies an ethical standard, you get all of these points.
5= You give the specific provisions of the test that you are applying. Hint: If you
can’t give specifics of the ethical system you are applying, it may not be an ethical system. Also: It is perfectly possible to lose these points, AND the points above, if you select an ethical system that isn’t an ethical system. When in doubt, ACM. I will not impute your provisions. I will read the section entitled “specific provisions of the ethical standard” or something similar, and assign this grade only on words found in that section. If you do not have such a separate section your grade for this part will be 0. This grade is all or nothing – if I find some content that identifies a specific provisions of an ethical standard, you get all of these points.
6= Connect the action you specified with the provisions of the test you specified. You will have words from the action, above, and the specifics of the test, above, in this section. If you don’t have words from both of the above, and some connection between them, you will not get these points. Merely having them in the same 8 page paper will not be enough. I will not impute your analysis. I will read the sections entitled “analysis – ethical” and “analysis – unethical” or something similar, and assign this grade only on words found in that section/those sections. If you do not have such separate sections your grade for this part will be 0. This grade is all or nothing – if I find some content that connects actions to an ethical standard, you get all of these points.
5= Argue that the ethical test is satisfied, ie, pro ethical AND argue that the ethical test is failed, ie, con ethical. I will not impute your analysis. I will read the sections entitled “analysis – ethical” and “analysis – unethical” or something similar, and assign this grade only on words found in that section. If you do not have such separate sections your grade for this part will be 0. This grade is all or nothing – if I find both content that argues for a satisfied ethical test, and content that argues for an ethical test that is not satisfied, you get all of these points.
2= Conclusion: Restate your abstract yet again.
I will apply an additional penalty of 25 points if the subject does not require a computer (euthanasia, for example). This penalty cannot reduce your grade below 0. If I approved a subject, and you are using that subject, you cannot be penalized in this fashion.
