Abstract
AbstractThis article presents two approaches for computer simulations of virtue ethics in the context of agent-based modeling, a simple way and a complex way. The simple way represents virtues as numeric variables that are invoked in specific events or situations. This way can easily be implemented and included in social simulations. On the other hand, the complex way requires a PECS framework: physical, cognitive, emotional, and social components need to be implemented in agents. Virtue is the result of the interaction of these internal components rather than a single variable. I argue that the complex way using the PECS framework is more suitable for simulating virtue ethics theory because it can capture the internal struggle and conflict sometimes involved in the practice of virtue. To show how the complex way could function, I present a sample computer simulation for the cardinal virtue of temperance, the virtue that moderates physical desires such as food, drink, and sex. This computer simulation is programmed in Python and builds upon the well-known Sugarscape simulation.1
Highlights
IntroductionThough social scientists have used agent-based modeling for many topics with ethical dimensions or concerns, there are only a few agent-based models that explicitly refer to an ethical theory and only a handful of philosophers who have created computer simulations for ethics.[2]
I argue that the complex way using the PECS framework is more suitable for simulating virtue ethics theory because it can capture the internal struggle and conflict sometimes involved in the practice of virtue
Though social scientists have used agent-based modeling for many topics with ethical dimensions or concerns, there are only a few agent-based models that explicitly refer to an ethical theory and only a handful of philosophers who have created computer simulations for ethics.[2]
Summary
Though social scientists have used agent-based modeling for many topics with ethical dimensions or concerns, there are only a few agent-based models that explicitly refer to an ethical theory and only a handful of philosophers who have created computer simulations for ethics.[2]. Agent-based modeling is able to give virtual agents different variables, rules, or strategies that dictate their behavior It can be a single simple rule such as the one found in Schelling’s segregation model or can be a complex set of properties such as those found in Epstein and Axtell’s Sugarscape simulation.[4] This functional parallelism between virtue ethics and agent-based modeling suggests the possibility of using agent-based modeling as a tool to simulate and observe virtue ethics in action inside a controlled environment, which could lead to a greater appreciation and understanding of the ethical theory.[5]. The results can be compared with each other and quantitatively analyzed In this respect, computer simulations could be seen as more complex, robust, and precise counterparts to the thought experiments that philosophers sometimes employ.
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