Nicolo Machiavelli wrote: 'The gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation" There are two kinds of selfishness: the kind that says, 'I must do what will make me happy,' and the kind that says, 'You must do what will make me happy.' The first is good, the second is bad." -- Kenton E. Sinner The basis of ethics is man's right to play the games of his choice. I will not trample on your toys and you will not trample on mine; I won't spit on your idol and you will not spit on mine. (Isaac Bashevis Singer) You're responsible not only for what you do, but also for what you fail to do Eugene Leitl Until the day animals stand up and demand equal rights, I have the right to eat them. -Jeff Mink A truly great man will neither trample on a worm nor sneak to an emperor. -- B. Franklin Everyone has an agenda. The sin comes in pretending that you don't. Jennifer Boeth Donovan "I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." The Moon is a Harsh Mistress "Our ability to adapt and therefore to accept everything is one of our greatest dangers. Creatures that are completely flexible, changeable, can have no fixed morality." - Stanislaw Lem, "His Master's Voice." "But ethics are really not the issue. We're talking about saving lives here." Dr. Robert White Today, man knows more about his dangerous inclinations than he knew a hundred years ago, and in another hundred years his knowledge will be even more complete. The he will be able to benefit from it. Stanislaw Lem I object to intellect without discipline; I object to power without constructive purpose. Spock, "The Squire of Gothos," stardate 2124.5. "The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action." Einstein I'm all for treating others with respect. However, I don't think that should be extended to (for example) refraining from research into cognitive science just because the end result may offend someone who held a prejudiced view of what the result 'ought' to be. Jeff Dee To treat something as conscious when it turns out not to be is a little foolish. To treat something as not consious when it turns out to be is an ethical outrage. So the time will come when we must give the benefit of the doubt. malcolm@pigsty.demon.co.uk (Malcolm McMahon) Put broadly, even a quick perusal of the books, essays, and organizations that have emerged to address computing ethics will show that the ethics of the Internet are currently being worried under four headings: 1.Right to Intellectual Property (e.g., "you can't use my image on your page without permission") 2.Right to Privacy (e.g., "don't let the government coopt encryption") 3.Right to Intellectual Freedom ("information wants to be free") 4.Right to Bandwidth ("don't spam the Net because it hogs resources that others need") By Alan Liu,Should We Link to the Unabomber? An Essay on Practical Web Ethics "If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn