It’s heartening that Google’s motto, “Don’t be evil,” puts morality at the heart of Google’s mission. It’s a lot better guideline than “Ruthlessly enrich ourselves” or “Crimp the air supply of our competitors.” I personally would like to see “Make the world better” become an explicit part of every company’s charter, just as a reminder.

But, “Don’t be evil” only poses as a principle. It’s not a principle because it can’t be applied to a situation. It can’t be used to guide action. Does not demoting an anti-semitic site’s rank constitute doing evil or not doing evil? Saying “Don’t be evil” just doesn’t help us decide.

A more dangerous — because more subtle — faux principle is the Libertarian one that says “The goernment that governs least governs best.” It looks like it can be brought in to settle a discussion’s hash. But it turns out to be totally unhelpful. Everyone agrees that governmental bloat is a bad thing. The real question is: What constitutes bloat and what constitutes “least”? When a Libertarian invokes the “Least Governement” principle to explain why she doesn’t want the government to inspect children’s toys, the response is: Yes, but is this a case of least-ness? After all, Libertarians aren’t anarchists. They believe in some level of government regulation. As we argue about toy inspections or seat belt laws or inheritance taxes, we will have to argue the specifics of each case: Are these regulations necessary and desirable? The “Least Governement” principle doesn’t help us at all. It is a faux principle.

At least Google’s faux principle tells the company to be alert to the moral dimension, even though the principle can’t help with the answers. And it’s phrased so succinctly that it won’t fool anyone into thinking that it could actually direct action; Google’s expression seems to have a little distance, a little irony, a little self-awareness. That’s good because, while it reminds us that businesses are moral entities, we shouldn’t think that not doing evil is as easy as it sounds.

[See Josh McHugh’s Wired article on Good and Evil at Google.]

Categories: Uncategorized dw