The Trolley Dilemma
and how it relates to ethical communication

c.Do not throw the switch because that would be a form of killing, and killing is inherently wrong.

1 Track Workman Cable Car 5 Track Workmen

This answer corresponds with the ethical paradigm of deontology

"Deontology...is an approach to ethics that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions" (The basics of philosophy, http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_deontology.html (accessed April 25, 2012)).

The Impact of Technology on Deontological Communication

The availability of information through the World Wide Web poses a danger to the future of deontological communication. The web's round-the-clock presence allows for intellectual property to be available any time, any place. Some authors and software programmers have attempted to protect the use of their work through copyrights and license agreements, while others have failed to express appropriate terms of use. The reality is, both licensed and non-licensed works are being misused. A deontologist would experience no hesitation providing proper attribution, or in the case of vague terms of use, avoiding using the material altogether. On the other hand, an unethical or ethically-ignorant person (deontologically-speaking) could mistake the availability of information for public domain or open source.

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