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Food for thought though, is it about tech writer ethics and what are those
ethics? Are ethics absolute, globally and forever? I know philosophy
professors would like us to think so and think the end never justifies the
means. However, out of the classroom, I submit that people do not think or
behave in pure, sterile absolute terms.
What might be ethical for some, such as photocopying the Corsby class
materials for the Quality program, might not be for others, who hold
copyrights dear. (I understand that's a pretty vulgar example, easy to dump
on, but it happened and I objected and I lost.)
I propose that ethics are relative to who and where you are. Know the
culture of the company in which you are working and act within those, local,
ethical guidelines, or stricter but certainly not outside them.
Best regards,
Sean
sean -at- quodata -dot- com
(No, I'm not evil <vbg>.)
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Ray [SMTP:ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com]
Well, I dunno...although I'm usually the one to sing out "Know your
audience", I think this is far more an ethics issue than an
audience issue. That is, to what extent does the end justify
the means for technical writers at work?