Philosophy of Applied Ethics

SDS 410

Ben Baumer and Sarah Susnea

2025-03-05

An Impossibility Theorem

Generally, it is not possible to simultaneously satisfy these three statistical criteria for fairness (Kleinberg, Mullainathan, and Raghavan 2016):

balance for the negative class
balance for the positive class
well-calibration

What does this mean for algorithmic fairness?

Branches of Ethics

The Situation

Imagine you’ve been waiting in a long lunch line at one of the dining halls. You’re up next to grab a plate when someone cuts in front of you. They turn to you and explain they have a meeting they need to run to in 10 minutes.

How would each of the branches of applied ethics inform your response to this scenario?

Consequentialism

What we consider moral depends on the consequences of an action
An action is moral if it makes the world better in the future

A consequentialist might challenge the line cutter because although they immediately improved their future, they simultaneously worsened the futures of all the people behind them.

Deontology

What we consider moral depends on if that action follows social rules
An action is moral if the actor’s intentions were good, regardless of the consequences

A deontologist might challenge the line cutter because their actions didn’t follow the established social rules of waiting for your turn.

Virtue Ethics

What we consider moral depends on the actor’s character and virtue
An action is moral if virtues guided the actor in making the choice—people should aim to be virtuous.
Virtues include discipline, selflessness, justice, and honesty

A virtue ethicist guided by selflessness, you might let the line cutter go ahead. (If you centered a different virtue, you may consider acting differently.)

Your turn

On the back of your sheet, you have been assigned a branch of applied ethics
Find your like-minded teammates and split up into two groups
First, discuss the question about which statistical criteria for fairness you would prioritize
Next, apply your ethical philosophy to the COMPAS algorithm. Is it ethical? If not, how might you change it?

References

Kleinberg, Jon, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Manish Raghavan. 2016. “Inherent Trade-Offs in the Fair Determination of Risk Scores.” arXiv Preprint arXiv:1609.05807. https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.05807/.

Philosophy of Applied Ethics SDS 410 Ben Baumer and Sarah Susnea 2025-03-05

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Philosophy of Applied Ethics
An Impossibility Theorem
Branches of Ethics
The Situation
Consequentialism
Deontology
Virtue Ethics
Your turn
References

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