1. PUTRI BALQIS BINTI ZULKIFLEE
ASSIGNMENT #1
DUE DATE: 9/3/2013
Living in community means that anything we do will affect our self and people
surrounding. Everything that we do in our daily life will contribute back to the society neither
good nor bad. We should also realize that every society itself has its own guidelines and rules.
Not just any type of rules but it is the rules of living; ethics. "Ethics is a rational examination into
people's moral beliefs and behavior" (Quinn, 2013, Ethics For The Information Age). There are a
few ethical theories which are accepted and workable in the society and while the others are
not.
One of the accepted ethics theory is the Kantianism. Kantianism is a theory which
started back by Immanuel Kant. Kant begins his inquiry by asking, “What is always good without
qualification?” and to conclude it, the only thing in the world that can be called goods without
qualification is a good will. (Quinn, 2013, Ethics For The Information Age). A good will is good in
and of itself. Most of us are torn apart between what we want to do and what we have to do.
According to Kant, it is no importance of what we want to do but it is about what we are
supposed to do. This sense of what we have to do is as dutifulness. Dutifulness is having a sense
of duty. Kant proposes the Categorical Imperative which is divided into two; First Formulation &
Second Formulation. The First Formulation is as act only from moral rules that a person can at
the same time will be universal moral laws (Quinn, 2013, Ethics For The Information Age). For
example, “An individual may make a false promise when he is in extreme situation” but to think
backs of this universally, if everyone started to make false promise during their hard time then
no one would ever believe a promise and it would be impossible for anyone anymore to make a
promise which is believable. The moral rule self-destructs when we try to make it a universal
law. Next, The Second Formulation is defined as act so that you always treat both yourself and
other people as ends in themselves, and never only to an end (Quinn, 2013, Ethics For The
Information Age). This terminology is about how we are supposed not to take advantage of
another person but must respect them as a human being. This theory isaccepted into the
society as it is rational, produces universal moral guidelines and each one of us is treated as
moral equals.
Secondly, the accepted ethics theory is Social contact theory. Social contact theory is
about “morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another,
which rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others
follow those rules as well (Quinn, 2013, Ethics For The Information Age). Social contact theory
holds that it is right for a person to act according to a moral rule if rational people would
collectively accept it as binding because of it benefits to the community and there is a close
connection between right and duty. For example, everyone has a right to live and the others
have the duty not to kill that person. Right are divided into four; negative right, positive right,
absolute right and limited right. A negative right is a right that another can guarantee by leaving
a person alone to do his right such as the right of free expression while a positive right is a right

2. that obligates others to do something on your behalf such as right to get free education.
Another way to view rights is to consider whether they are absolute or limited. An absolute
right is a right that is guaranteed without exception such as the right to live whichis
considered as negative right. In contrast, a limited right is a right which may be restricted based
on the circumstances and typically positive rights are considered as limited rights. Social
contract theoryis accepted because it is framed in the language of rights, it explains why
rational people act out of self-interest in the absence of a common agreement and it provides a
clear ethical analysis of some important moral issues about the relationship between people
and government. This theory evaluates moral problems from the point of view of moral rights.
Next, we move on to the rejected ethics theories. One of them is ethical egoism. Ethical
egoism is a philosophy that a person must focus on his self-interest. In the other word, it is a
morally right action for a person to take in a particular situation is the action that will provide
that person with the maximum long-term benefit (Quinn, 2013, Ethics For The Information
Age). For example, I depend on my friend to give me a ride to work every day. If my friend’s car
breaks down and she doesn’t have $100 to fix it, I have to lend her the money. Although I’m out
$100 until she pays me back, I’m better giving her the money because I’m still able to go to
work and make money. If I don’t lend her the money, I can’t go to work and I’ll lose my income.
Lending $100 to her is the right thing to do because it provides me the maximum overall
benefit. (Birsch, 2002. Ethical Insights: A Brief Introduction. McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA). This
theory is rejected as a workable theory because it is an easy moral philosophy but it is not the
best moral philosophy for an individual and the others. Furthermore, this theory is rejected
because the people who take advantage on the others’ live happier life as they achieved their
goal, a self-interested focus can lead to a blatantly immoral behavior and other moral principles
are superior to the principle of self-interest.
Last but not least, cultural relativism is one of the rejected theories. Cultural relativism is
the ethical theory that meaning of “right” and “wrong” rests with a society’s actual moral
guidelines which they are vary from one place to other and from time to time. (Quinn, 2013,
Ethics For The Information Age). This theory is rejected as a workable theory because it does
not explain how an individual determines the moral guidelines of a particular society, how to
determine right from wrong when there are no cultural norms and it does not do a good job of
characterizing actions when moral guidelines evolve. Besides that, the case against this theory
is just because different societies do have different views about right and wrong doesn’t imply
that they ought to have different views, the existence of many acceptable cultural practices
does not imply that any cultural practice would be acceptable and societies do, in fact, share
certain core values. Lastly, cultural relativism is only indirectly based on reason. For example,
many moral guidelines in this theory are a result of traditions which develop because they meet
a need but once the traditions have established, people behave in certain way that the society
does because it’s what they’re supposed to do and not because they understand the deep
meaning of the traditions.
In a conclusion, each one of the theory has its own strengths and weakness. To sum up
everything, there are four accepted theories and another four rejected theories. The accepted

3. theories are Kantianism, act utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism and social contract theory
which are used toevaluate a variety of problems arising from the introduction of information
technology into society. In contrast, the rejected theories which are not workable in the society
are subjective relativism, cultural relativism, divine command theory and ethical egoism. The
understanding to each one of these theories may lead to a better life.