Ben Allison, Peter Huene, David Paroulek, Robert Rossman, and Mark Shapiro

US Reasoning

What is Censorship?
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines censorship as "the act or process of an authorized person examining books, films, or other materials to remove or suppress what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise objectionable." This paper is mainly concerned with censorship in the US and how it pertains to the Internet and electronic means of communications. I will use an ethical scenario described on the Professionalism in Computing to discuss typical US responses and positions with respect to the issue of censorship. The scenario talks about how the ACLU is threatening to go to court to try to challenge a court ruling that prohibits state employees from accessing sexually explicit materials on the Internet.

US Views of Censorship
Clearly, US citizens are generally very pessimistic when they feel that they are being censored or watched and judged morally. As we know, freedom and individuality are considered some of the strongest values in American society. Anything that might take away from an individualís right to free thought or exploration is taken seriously. Censorship entails prohibiting someone from experiencing or seeing something in order to prevent a person from becoming "immoral" or developing views that are questionable compared to the norms. The majority of todayís laws exist in order to protect American Citizens. Censorship laws are so controversial because they question a citizenís morality or ethics as indicated above. The American public seems to have two distinct views of morality. The first is that morality is a thing that exists by itself and is created by some higher power. The opposing view is that morality is a product of human interaction and existence. Edward O. Wilson summarizes these two views with the following, "Centuries of debate on the origin of ethics come down to this: Either ethical principles, such as justice and human rights, are independent of human experience, or they are human inventions." Depending on an individual citizenís views on morality decides whether or not US government should be responsible for upholding the country's morality.