Throughout this semester I have considered many of the ethical pickles we are finding in our new digital era. Some of those are cheating in academia, organizations intruding in people’s private information, the consequences of violent role playing games. I still have a hard time finding a situation that is so foreign and new that cannot be directly correlated to a physical action that was possible before Al Gore gave us the internet. Thanks Al.

The most salient difference I find in pre-binary and post-binary ethics is the fact that we are continually interacting with a wide variety of people, from all cultures, geographical areas, and ideologies. Our ethics are not so simple and generally accepted as they were before.  We now find ourselves with a more pressing challenge to defy ethnocentrism and find moral standards than can be defended across the globe. A great example is that of Creative Commons. This initiative understands that for them to make a difference, they need to be applicable for person in different jurisdictions, which means the double challenge of language translation and ethical translation.

Still, at an individual level, I see e stronger tie between “real world” ethics and “virtual world” ethics. I use quote signs because I strongly believe, like virtue ethicists, that virtual world is just as real as flesh and bones for the moral stand of a person.

I think if anything, rethinking my digital ethics has been a strong critique towards my overall personal beliefs about what is good and bad, what is acceptable and not.

Hinman points to five virtues as foundation for an ethical academic life: Honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility. He further describes the new challenges that the web has provided for enacting this virtues as teachers and learners.

The story of Laura K Krishna describes how a college student looking for a way to plagiarize was publicly humiliated online. She basically asked a random stranger to write a paper for her, Nate (the stranger) provided her with a terrible paper and blogged about the encounter including a threat to contact her school.

I will not comment on the level of stupidity involved in the events. However, her actions were not hones to herself nor to others, she betrayed any trust that her professor may have offered her, she was unfair to the other students who did in fact write a paper, she disrespected her professor and her university by doing something dishonest, and she failed to show responsibility for her actions.

I can’t think of an ethical justification for cheating really, in higher education or any other education. We understand that education is a right, yet we sometimes frame it as an obligation. I believe that is part of the issue. As an almost 30 year old woman striving to walk across stage this December, I have a much different perspective on education than I did as a 19 year old freshman. Ethically, we mature and develop by understanding the nature of the world. More specifically in this case, we grow when we understand the nature of knowledge.

By helping students develop a significant vision of education we will enable them to be truthful learners either if they are pursuing a doctorate, or if they choose to be an excellent carpenter who did not finish fifth grade. Anyway, I am ranting.

Although a much stricter punishment would stem from a deontological perspective, correction is always the right option. This correction would probably be more forgiving and mentoring on the hands of a feminist.