ETHICS

ETHICS
- Synonymous with morality
- It refers to moral values that are sound,
actions that are morally required (right) or
morally permissible (all right), policies and
laws that are desirable
- Study of morality; it is an inquiry into
ethics
- It studies which actions, goals principles,
policies, and laws are morally justified
First sense:
Engineering ethics
- Consists of the responsibilities and rights
that ought to be endorsed by those
engaged in engineering, also of desirable
ideals and personal commitments in
engineering.
Second sense:

Engineering ethics
- Is the study of the decisions, policies, and
values that are morally desirable in
engineering practice and research.
Two senses:

a. Normative

b. Descriptive
Normative:
- They refer to justified values and choices,
to things that are desirable (not merely
desired)
- “engineering ethics” refers to justified
moral values in eng’g, BUT what is
Moral Values? What is Morality?
MORALITY – is about right and wrong,
good and bad, values and what ought to be
done
Example:
1. In order to start a car, a person
“OUGHT” to put the key in the ignition;
that is the “RIGHT” thing to do.

2. Chocolates tastes “GOOD” and beauty is

an aesthetic “VALUE”
Morality Concerns:

 Moral right and wrong

 Moral good and bad
 Moral values and what morally ought to
be done
Rudimentary Ethical
Theory:

 A normative theory about morality

Example:
1. If we say that morality consists in
promoting the most good, we are invoking
an ethical theory called “UTILITARIANISM”
2. If we say that morality is about human
rights, we invoke “RIGHT ETHICS”

3. And if we say that morality is essentially

about good character, we might be
invoking “VIRTUE ETHICS”.
Morality Concerns:

1. Respect for persons, both others and

ourselves.

2. Being fair and just, meeting obligations

and respecting rights and not causing
unnecessary harm by dishonesty and
cruelty or by hubris.
Morality Concerns:

3. Involves ideals of characteristics, such as

integrity, gratitude, and willingness to help
people in severe distress.

4. And it implies minimizing suffering to

animals and damage to the environment.
Descriptive:

- According to Henry Ford’s ethics or the

ethics of American Engineers

 Descriptive referring thereby to what

specific individuals or groups believe
and how they act, without implying that
their beliefs and actions are justified
Descriptive:
- In other descriptive sense, social
scientists study ethics when they describe
and explain what people believe and how
they act; they conduct opinion polls,
observe behavior, examine documents
written by professional societies, and
uncover the social forces shaping
engineering ethics.
Scope of Eng’g Ethics:

1. Engineering as Social Experimentation

 As eng’g projects create new

possibilities they also generate new
dangers.
Scope of Eng’g Ethics:
2. Ethics and Excellence
 Moral values are embedded in eng’g
 Moral values are embedded at several
junctures in projects, including:
1. the basic standards of safety and
efficiency,
2. the structure of technological
corporations as communities of people
engaged in shared activities,
 3. the character of engineers who
spearhead technological progress,
4. and the very idea of eng’g as a
profession that combines advanced skill
with commitment to the public good

Arete – greek word means “excellence” or

as “virtue”
Scope of Eng’g Ethics:
3. Personal Commitment and Meaning
 Desire for meaningful work, concern to make
a living, care for other human beings, and
the need to maintain self-respect all
combine to motivate excellence in eng’g
 Personal commitments we have in mind both
commitments to shared responsibilities and
to these more individual commitments as
they affect professional endeavours
Scope of Eng’g Ethics:
4. Promoting Responsible Conduct and
Preventing Wrong Doing
 Compliance issues are about making sure that
individuals comply to professional standards
and avoid wrong doing
 Procedures are needed in all corporations to
deter fraud, theft, bribery, incompetence, and
a host of other forms of outright immorality.
Scope of Eng’g Ethics:
5. Myriad Moral Reasons Generate Ethical
Dilemmas
 Ethical dilemmas or moral dilemmas, are situations
in which moral reasons come into conflict, or in
which the applications of moral values are
problematic, and it is not immediately obvious what
should be done.
 Moral reasons might be obligations, rights, goods,
ideals or other moral considerations.
 Ethical dilemmas need not be a sign that something
has gone wrong; instead, they indicate the presence
of moral complexity
Scope of Eng’g Ethics:
6. Micro and Macro Issues
 Micro issues concern the decisions made by
individuals and companies
 Macro issues concern more global issues such
as the directions in technological
development, the laws that should or should
not be passed, and the collective
responsibilities of groups such as engineering
professional societies and consumer groups.
Scope of Eng’g:

5. Cautious Optimism About Technology

 Pessimists view advanced technology as
ominous and often out of our control.
 Optimists highlight how technology
profoundly improves all our lives.
WHY STUDY ENGINEERING
ETHICS?
 Engineering ethics should be studied because
it is important, both contributing to safe and
useful technological products and giving
meaning to engineers’ endeavours.
 It is also complex, in ways that call for serious
reflection throughout a career, beginning
with earning a degree.
SPECIFIC AIMS THAT GUIDE
THE STUDY OF ENG’G ETHICS
 To increase one’s ability to deal effectively
with moral complexity in engineering.
 Strengthens one’s ability to reason clearly
and carefully about moral questions.
 To invoke a term widely used in ethics, the
unifying goal is to increase moral autonomy.
SPECIFIC AIMS THAT GUIDE
THE STUDY OF ENG’G ETHICS
 autonomy – self-determining or
independent, viewed as the skill and habit of
thinking rationally about ethical issues on the
basis of moral concern
 Moral concern – or general responsiveness to
moral values, derives primarily from the
training we receive as children in being
sensitive to the needs and rights of others, as
well as ourselves
SKILLS RELATED TO ENG’G
ETHICS
1. MORAL AWARENESS – proficiency in
recognizing moral problems and issues in
eng’g
2. COGENT MORAL REASONING –
comprehending, clarifying, and assessing
arguments on opposing sides of moral issues
3. MORAL COHERENCE – forming consistent
and comprehensive viewpoints based upon a
consideration of relevant facts
SKILLS RELATED TO ENG’G
ETHICS
4. MORAL IMAGINATION – discerning alternative
responses to moral issues and receptivity to
creative solutions for practical difficulties
5. MORAL COMMUNICATION – precision in the
use of a common ethical language, a skill
needed to express and support one’s moral
views adequately to others
6. MORAL REASONABLENESS – the willingness
and ability to be morally reasonable
SKILLS RELATED TO ENG’G
ETHICS
7. RESPECT FOR PERSONS – genuine concern for
well-being of others as well as oneself
8. TOLERANCE OF DIVERSITY – within a broad
range, respect for ethnic and religious
differences, and acceptance of reasonable
differences in moral perspective
SKILLS RELATED TO ENG’G
ETHICS
9. MORAL HOPE – enriched appreciation of the
possibilities of using rational dialogue in
resolving moral conflicts
10. INTEGRITY – maintaining moral integrity, and
integrating one’s professional life and personal
convictions
MEANINGS OF
RESPONSIBILITY
If we say that LeMessurier was
responsible, as a person and as an engineer we
might mean several things:
 He met his responsibilities (obligation)
 He was responsible (accountable) for doing so
 He acted responsibly (conscientiously)
 He is admirable (praiseworthy/blameworthy)
CAUSES OF
SHORTCOMINGS
 LACK OF VISION which in the form of tunnel
vision biased toward traditional pursuits
overlooks suitable alternatives, and in the
form of goupthink (a term coined by Irving
Janis) promotes acceptance at the expense of
critical thinking
 INCOMPETENCE among engineers carrying
out technical tasks
CAUSES OF
SHORTCOMINGS
 LACK OF TIME OR LACK OF PROPER
MATERIALS both ascribable to poor
management
 A SILO MENTALITY that keeps information
compartmentalized rather than shared across
different departments
 The notion that there are safety engineers
SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE to catch
potential problems
CAUSES OF
SHORTCOMINGS
 IMPROPER USE OR DISPOSAL OF THE
PRODUCT by an unwary owner or user
 DISHONESTY in any activity and pressure by
management to take shortcuts
 INATTENTION to how the product is
performing after it is sold and when in use