placed in that of morality of law."(182) Death is a definite damage (at least to those that have lost the loved one. Socrates said that there was no proof that death was in anyway harmful to the person that died.) So therefore the person that caused the damage has to be punished.When a virus writer brags to his friends about a virus he has created and the friends go and infect a computer did both the writer and friend do something unethical? We have already established that the friend should be punished for willfully harming others and their property. So what about the writer? We could use Aristotle's arguments that he didn't voluntarily infect a computer but that it was done by someone else's will. Just because you tell someone that you own a gun and then that person uses that gun to kill another human doesn't mean that you had any part in the murder. Aristotle goes on to say in Politics, "For man, when perfect, is the best of animals, but, when seperated from law and justice, he is the worst of all; since armed injustice is more dangerous, and he is equipped at birth with arms, meant to be used by intelligence and virtue which he may use for the worst ends."(61) The virus writer used his "arms" for intelligence and virtue when he programmed the virus as a programming exercise. His friend was seperated from law and justice because he used his "arms" to steal and hurt.Viral Labs and Distribution (VLAD) and Computer Virus Research and Information Service (CRIS) publish viral code that is not compiled claiming that in that form the viruses are inactive. While that may be true, compiling the source code takes no programming knowledge and can be done by anyone that owns or has access to a computer. They are making it possible for the public to "write" their own viruses. Is there anything unethical about his? The Bible tells us that it is wrong to "cause your brother to Nottingham 7stumble."(87) Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologic...
