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Imaginative Engagement with Ethical Issues in Computing

In this first lecture, I will discuss several alternative frameworks for a course on ethical issues in computer science. The need for imaginative engagement by students with ethical issues that will confront them throughout their careers in computing argues for a structure in which examination of case studies and discussion of critical issues of the moment are prominent. I will discuss and illustrate both the virtues and dangers of this approach using the case study of Therac-25 accidents, a series of accidents involving a computer-controlled medical linear accelerator for delivering therapeutic doses of high-energy radiation in the treatment of cancer. My remarks will address both the significance of this sequence of accidents and the pedagogical utility of its study.