Key Idea: A value is what somebody holds important; ethics is the reasoning about which value gives way when two collide. Nobody argues about the values — the argument is always the trade.
Paper 1
- Part a: distinguish a value from ethics
- Part b: explain an ethical concern about a system
- Part c: evaluate an ethical dilemma or the neutrality claim
Paper 2
- Q2: explain the value a source is defending
- Q3: compare sources that weigh the same values differently
- Q4: synthesise sources that disagree about a trade
Everywhere else
- Every part c in the subject can be run through two frameworks
- HL Paper 3: recommendations need an ethical defence
- Design: values enter through defaults and measurement
Four frameworks, and what each asks
| Framework | Its question | Its weak point |
|---|---|---|
| Consequences | More good than harm? | The verdict moves when the numbers move |
| Duties | Is the act itself wrong? | Two duties can both apply |
| Rights | Does it take what may not be taken? | Rights collide and it cannot rank them |
| Character | What does this make normal? | No answer about this single case |
Naming a framework earns nothing. Run two on the same case, show that they disagree, then say which you follow here and why. That sequence is the top band.
Four things that guide action
From private and fast to public, binding and slow
- Personal values — strongest for one person, reach nobody else.
- Group norms — unwritten, enforced by everyone present, local.
- Written codes — public, and usually with nothing behind them.
- Law — binds whether or not anybody agrees, and always arrives late.
Important: A legislature cannot write a rule about something nobody has seen yet. That is what law is, not a failure of effort — which is why the other three have to carry the years in between.
Exam-style questions
Contrast a group norm with a written code as a way of governing behaviour online.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Examine the view that a technology company has no obligations beyond obeying the law.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Quick check
Value or ethics? A value is what matters. Ethics is the reasoning about which one gives way when two collide.
Why is listing values weak? Everybody is in favour of all of them, so the list contains none of the disagreement.
Why are codes weak? Written by the organisation, enforced by nobody, and afterwards shown as evidence of care.
Answering “technology is neutral” Neutral about purposes, not about outcomes — it does not care what you want, and it makes some results far easier.
Exam tips
- Start every ethics answer by naming the two values that collide. One sentence, and it structures everything after it.
- Never write “there should be regulation” without saying which of the four guides and what it will not reach.
- Keep “neutral about purposes, not about outcomes” ready.