Curriculum issues and controversies in computer ethics instruction

This paper examines two controversial issues currently associated with computer ethics instruction. First, the question whether computer ethics courses should be taught by philosophy faculty or by computer science faculty is considered, and arguments advanced by proponents on each side of the debate are critically analyzed. We then consider controversies surrounding the implementation of certain “knowledge units” on social and ethical issues in the Computer Science Curriculum, as recently proposed by the IEEE-CS/ACM Task force on Computing curricula. Finally, an interdisciplinary model is suggested that would enable instructors to deliver computer ethics courses in a way that integrates certain methodological insights from the disciplines of philosophy and computer science, as well as from the relevant social sciences