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Ethics: Fundamental Elements

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Part of the book series: Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering ((ISCA,volume 79))

Abstract

Ethics is a branch of philosophy (moral philosophy) which investigates the concepts of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in human performance and action. Many psychologists advocate that moral (ethical) behavior is derived from moral reasoning, while others regard the ethical behavior as a humanistic psychology judgment. This chapter presents the fundamental concepts and aspects of ethics which include the branches of analytic philosophy ethics and the principal theories of ethics. Also, the chapter discusses the professional codes of ethics focusing on engineering and robotics ethical codes.

Ethics is to know the difference between what you have the right to do and what is right to do.

Potter Stewart

With respect to social consequences I believe that every researcher has responsibility to assess, and try to inform others of the possible social consequences of the research products he is trying to create.

Herbert Simon

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Correspondence to Spyros G. Tzafestas .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Tzafestas, S.G. (2016). Ethics: Fundamental Elements. In: Roboethics. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering, vol 79. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21714-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21714-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21713-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21714-7

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