Are You Ethically Sane?
30 Nov 2017
There is so much talk about ethics in the workplace (or really just life in general), but what exactly is “ethics”? According to the dictionary, ethics is “the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity.” I like to think of it as “the little guy on your shoulder” (or the subconscious) telling you that what you’re doing is right or wrong. Or if you already did something deemed as “wrong” then it the strong sense of guilt you feel afterwards.
In the case of software engineering, you can read all about the principles of ethics in the Software Engineering Code of Ethics. The code basically states that one must remain ethically sane towards the public, one’s profession, and, ultimately, one’s self. If you get the slightest inclination that what your being asked to do is wrong, as an ethical software engineer, it is your duty to bring up the problem with your client and employer to fix the situation.
In Bill Sourour’s Article, The Code I’m Still Ashamed of, Sourour explains a time where he was asked to code something basically advertising for the viewer to take a certain drug. When looking at the job more closely, he felt that something was a little wrong, but he brushed it off saying, “I had a job to do, and I did it.” However, after an incident with the suicide of a teenage girl by that same product, the guilt really started to sink in. Eventually, he resigned.
When reading this article I didn’t and still don’t believe that he was responsible for any of the deaths associated with the drug, as ultimately it’s the doctor who prescribes it and the client who chooses to take it. However, once Sourour started to feel even the slightest instance of how this job was unethical he should have brought it up with his employer and the client. I thought it was interesting when someone in class mentioned that “he saved himself.” It’s good that he felt ashamed of what he had done, but I can’t really say he did right by resigning because after him, there’s just more people that will be put in the same situation.
The fact is that he had made the choice to do something that did not sit right with his morals, but he chose to do it, and he still feels ashamed of his actions till this day. As much as I can sit here and ridicule Sourour for his actions and talk about what he should and shouldn’t have done, if it was me, I really don’t know what I would do in his situation. It’s sad to say, but what Sourour did was something that a lot of us would do if given the situation, fearing losing the job or the respect from the higher ups.
He mentioned in the article that, “if you write code for a living, there’s a chance that at some point in your career, someone will ask you to code something a little deceitful – if not outright unethical.” I hope that if I’m ever put in such a situation in the future that I choose to be ethically sane.
