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Has anybody tried to assign an order of precedence to these principles? The "consistent with the public interest" clauses of the 2nd and 6th principles suggest
by kijin 13y ago
Has anybody tried to assign an order of precedence to these principles?
The "consistent with the public interest" clauses of the 2nd and 6th principles suggests that the first principle takes precedence when it conflicts with either #2 or #6.
This is similar to how Asimov's famous 3 laws of robotics are written: the first law always takes precedence over the second, and the first two laws always take precedence over the third.
But the other principles don't mention any order of precedence.
Different partial orderings could yield very different interpretations of what software engineers should do in certain circumstances. For example, should we value #4 (integrity and independence) above #2 (best interests of the client) or below it? What if 4.06 (refusing to participate in corrupt orgs) has a detrimental effect on public interest in the long term?
Even if we acknowledge that it is impossible to produce a fully consistent ordering of the 8 principles and their numerous sub-principles, I think it would be interesting to identify conflicts and study how different people choose to resolve them. Everyone can nod in agreement when we talk about common moral principles, but it's only when the principles begin to conflict that things get really interesting.
For example, what would have been the principles that bothered Edward Snowden the most?
- meatmanek 13y agoThe preamble addresses how they think software engineers should handle tensions between different sections of the code: > In some situations standards may be in tension with each other or with standards from other sources. These situations require the software engineer to use ethical judgment to act in a manner which is most consistent with the spirit of the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, given the circumstances. > Ethical tensions can best be addressed by thoughtful consideration of fundamental principles, rather than blind reliance on detailed regulations.