USD Magazine, Spring 1996

"I hope that businesses do right just because it is right, but we have proven over and over again that doing right also posi– tively affects their bottom line," Rabbi Dosick says. "I'm trying to say that we can be good, successful and achieving people and do what's right at the same time." The principles in Rabbi Dosick's books are straightforward, but many people tell the rabbi they have never seen those prin– ciples gathered in one place. Rabbi Dosick constantly receives reports of businesspeople sending The Business Bible to their partners and colleagues, and of parents buying copies of Golden Rules for each other. "People see the moral decay around them and they don't want their kids, or their workplace, to be caught up in it," Rabbi Dosick says. "There are many problems out there in society, but I'm optimistic that enough people want change to make it happen." Ethics for the Electronic Age Philosophy professor Larry Hinman has followed with inter– est the many criticisms of the Internet as a repository for inde– cent materials, and the numerous discussions of the potential for unethical uses of this new technology. Hinman, however, has a different view of the Internet. He sees it as a breeding ground for research, discussion and promotion of ethics.

Overdose o f se l f-appre c i a ti o n

The computer site has proved to be a successful tool not just for Hinman's students, but also for the thousands of people who have accessed it since it was created last year. "The feedback has been positive, especially as people find they can conduct their research more rapidly and have easy access to what they need," Hinman says. "If they need infor– mation, for example, on human rights, they can read the major documents in the history of human rights, and they can access the State Department's reports on human rights for every coun– try in the world." Links from the site point to places where students can find pending legislation on issues in ethics, statements by politicians and religious leaders, primary documents such as reports on topics in ethics, and major philosophical works from Plato and Aristotle through John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. Hinman says that with discussion ongoing about the ethical uses of new technology, people should look at the positive uses of the Internet and the World Wide Web as well as the nega– tive. "The Internet is news, and the focus of the news is that the Internet is salacious and potentially dangerous," Hinman says. "But there are a lot of high-level discussions and philosophical debates going on through the Internet. The Internet will be as good as we make it. It depends on the users." - Larry Hinman's World Wide Web site can be found at http://www.acusd.edu:80/-hinman. Books by all three profes– sors can be ordered from the USD Bookstore, (619) 260-4551.

Last year, Hinman unveiled his own site on the World Wide , Web, the portion of the Internet that links computers and allows communication between sites and access to graphics, text and sound. Although there are thou– sands of Web sites around the world, and many that deal with ethics, Hinman's vision was to create more than just a place where computer users can locate information. "I created the Web site as a virtual classroom or seminar room," says Hinman, who also

O nlin e e tbi cs

just published a new text on ethics titled Contemporary Moral Issues. "As you enter, there are journals in one area, a wall of textbooks in another section and links to other sites and docu– ments. Soon there will even be a chat room where people can get together and join discussions on ethics." Hinman's Web site, like his book, seeks to combine the classic works in ethics with newer issues and problems. He believes that students should have access to older works and classical sources so they can see how ancient philosophies are applied to current problems. Although his book is a finished work, the Web site is work constantly in progress. "I never 'go to press' on the Web site," Hinman says. "I can update it whenever necessary and use it more flexibly as a teaching tool."

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