The Ethical Technologist: Ethical Decision Model (Module 3)

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A dilemma is a complex problem for which there is no obvious solution. A solution exists but is obscured by the complexity. Common sense would suggest that the best way to deal with a complex problem is to simplify it. You can do this by breaking it down into more comprehensible pieces.
Here we outline the Ethical Decision Model (EDM), a general-purpose model for analysing complex situations to reveal optimal solution(s), ones that might be described as ethical, and be defended as such.
Appendix A is an example of how the EDM can be applied to an IT-related case study. The solutions in the example are indicative, not definitive.
The model has three main stages; analysis, prioritisation, decision.
1. Analysis is getting the facts and categorising them into extrinsic factors (legal, professional, employment, social, personal) and intrinsic (a person’s individual attributes).
2. Prioritisation involves ranking the elements into order of importance by means of a priority table.
3. A Decision is made by rationally weighing up the relative importance of the elements.
No two people who approach a complex situation will perceive the various factors the same. Their perceptions are filtered through the lens of their personal experience and intrinsic leanings. The precise nature of what reaches their cognitive centre will be different for every person and might even differ for the same person on different occasions.
Applying the defined process of the EDM helps to remove the subjectivity from the situation and gives us an objective, process-based approach to the solving of ethical dilemmas.

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