This document provides an overview of key concepts in engineering ethics. It discusses the variety of moral issues engineers may face and different approaches to ethical inquiry. It also covers theories of moral development by Kohlberg and Gilligan and how engineers' obligations are shaped by consensus and controversy. Case studies are presented to illustrate ethical dilemmas and the document outlines scopes and approaches to engineering ethics.

1. Syllabus
Senses of “Engineering Ethics” – Variety of moral
issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral
Autonomy – Kohlberg‟s theory – Gilligan‟s theory –
Consensus and Controversy – Models of professional roles
- Theories about right action – Selfinterest – Customs and
Religion – Uses of Ethical Theories

2. Ethics in Engineering Profession
• Engineering Ethics is the study of moral decisions that
must be made by engineers in the course of engineering
practice.
• The correct answer to an ethical problem will not be
obvious.
• Will require some analysis using ethical theories.
• There will not be a single correct answer.
• Will have multiple correct solutions, with some solution
being better than others

3. • Field of applied ethics which examines and sets
standards for engineers’ obligations to the public, their
clients, employers and the profession.
• Engineering does not have a single uniform system, or
standard, of ethical conduct across the entire profession.
• The latter, working as engineers in industry, are
governed by various laws including whistle blowing,
and product liability laws, and often rely on
principles of business ethics rather than engineering
ethics

4. Scope of Engineering Ethics
• Ethics of the workplace
• Ethics related to the product or work
eg: warehousing, transporting etc…

5. Approaches
There are two approaches
1. Micro Ethics
2. Macro Ethics

6. Senses of Engineering Ethics
Normative
Descriptive

8. NSPE
• One American engineering society, the National
Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) has sought
to extend professional licensure and a code of ethics
across the field regardless of practice area or
employment sector

9. Code of Ethics
• While these statements of general principles served as a
guide, many engineers requested interpretations of how
the Code would apply to specific circumstances

10. General Principles
• Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties,
shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of
the public” – National Society of Professional Engineers

11. Moral Problems in Engineering
Examples
• An inspector discovered faulty construction equipment
and applied a violation tag, preventing its use.
• The supervisor, a construction manager viewed the case
as a minor abrasion of the safety regulations and ordered
the removal of the tag to speed up the project.
• When the inspector objected to this, he was threatened
with disciplinary action

12. Case Study
• The Pentium chip case study is summarized below .
• Situation: In 1994, Intel produced a defective processor
chip. It misrepresented the defect and and mishandled
customer complaints.
• Ethical Points: The defect was not disclosed
appropriately, the defect significance was grossly
misrepresented, and interests of customers were
disregarded.
• Consequences: The company suffered tangible losses
(financial) and intangible losses (loss of customer
confidence).

13. • The public statements by Intel during the event include a
claim that the error due to the chip defect was unlikely to
occur and that the typical spreadsheet user would have
an error on average of “once every 27,000 years of use.”
• The discussion highlights several key points. The chip
defect itself was not due to negligence, i.e. a bad result or
mistake does not imply negligence necessarily. The case
shows the overlapping interests of the company, the
shareholders, customers, and the public. The students can
consider if Intel’s statement of an error “once every 27,000
years of use” could possibly be an honest engineering
mistake when IBM’s engineers determined the likelihood
of an error was about every 24 days. The consequences to
Intel were dramatic.

14. What is Morality?
• Concerns what
a)ought or ought not to be done in a given situation
b) right or wrong when handling a situation
c) good and bad about persons,policies

15. Moral Issues
• Organization Oriented Issues
• Clients or Customer Oriented Issues
• Competitors Oriented Issues
• Law,Government and Public Agencies Oriented issues
• Social and Environment Oriented issues
• Family Oriented Issues

16. Types of Inquiry
• Normative Inquiry:
It seeks to identify and justify the morally-desirable
norms or standards that should guide individuals and
groups.
• 1. How far does the obligation of engineers to protect public
safety extend in any given situation?
• 2. When, if ever, should engineers be expected to blow whistle
on dangerous practices of their employers?

17. Examples:
• How far does the obligation of engineers to protect public
safety extends in any given situation?
• When, if ever, should engineers be expected to blow whistle
on dangerous practices of their employers?
• When and Why is the government justified in interfering
with the organizations?
• What are the reasons on which the engineers Show their
obligations to their employees or clients or the public?

18. Conceptual Inquiry
It is directed to clarify the meaning of concepts or ideas or
principles that are expressed by words or by questions
and statements. For example,
(a) What is meant by safety?
(b) How is it related to risk?
(c) What is a bribe?
(d) What is a profession?

19. Factual or Descriptive Inquiry
It is aimed to obtain facts needed for understanding
and resolving value issues. Researchers conduct factual
inquiries using mathematical or statistical techniques.

20. Ex amples
• How were the benefits assessed?
• What are procedures followed in the risk assessment?
• What are short-term and long-term effects of
drinking water being polluted?

21. Ethical Dilemmas
“An ethical dilemma is a situation that will often
involve an obvious conflict between moral
obligation, in which to obey one would result in
disobeying another.”

22. Moral Dilemma

23. Moral Dilemmas
• Dilemmas are situations in which moral reasons come
into conflict, or in which the application of moral values
are problems, and one is not clear of the immediate
choice or solution of the problems.
• Moral reasons could be rights, duties, goods or
obligations.
• It does not means things gone wrong

24. Types of Complexities
• Vagueness
This refers to the condition where the doubt lies in
whether the action refers to good or bad. This is just like
having a thought that following the rules is mandatory.
• Conflicting reasons
When you know about the solutions you have, the
making of better choice among the ones you have, will be
the internal conflict.

25. • Disagreement
When there are two or more solutions and none
among them is mandatory, the final solution selected
should be best suitable under existing and the most
probable conditions.

26. Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas
• Identification
• Ranking
• Inquiries
• Discussions
• Final Solution

27. Moral Autonomy
• Defined as, decisions and actions exercised on the basis of
moral concern for other people and recognition of good
moral reasons.
• Alternatively, moral autonomy means ‘self determinant
or independent’.

28. Kohlberg’s Theory
Pre conventional
Conventional
Post
Conventional

29. Level 1 - Pre-conventional morality
• At the pre-conventional level (most nine-year-olds and
younger, some over nine), we don’t have a personal code
of morality. Instead, our moral code is shaped by the
standards of adults and the consequences of following or
breaking their rules.

30. Level 2 - Conventional morality
• At the conventional level (most adolescents and adults),
we begin to internalize the moral standards of valued
adult role models.
• Authority is internalized but not questioned, and
reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the
person belongs.

31. Level 3 - Post-conventional morality
• Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles,
and moral reasoning is based on individual rights and
justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral
reasoning is as far as most people get.
• Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking
necessary for stage 5 or 6 (post-conventional morality).
That is to say, most people take their moral views from
those around them and only a minority think through
ethical principles for themselves.

32. Heinz’ Dilemma

33. Heinz’ Dilemma
• Heinz’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer.
Doctors said a new drug might save her. The drug had
been discovered by a local chemist, and the Heinz tried
desperately to buy some, but the chemist was charging
ten times the money it cost to make the drug, and this was
much more than the Heinz could afford.

34. • Heinz could only raise half the money, even after help
from family and friends. He explained to the chemist that
his wife was dying and asked if he could have the drug
cheaper or pay the rest of the money later.
• The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the
drug and was going to make money from it. The husband
was desperate to save his wife, so later that night he
broke into the chemist’s and stole the drug.

35. Kohlberg asked a series of questions
such as:
1. Should Heinz have stolen the drug?
2. Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his wife?
3. What if the person dying was a stranger, would it make
any difference?
4. Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the
woman died?

36. Stage 1: Obedience-and-Punishment Orientation
Stage 1 focuses on the child’s desire to obey rules and
avoid being punished. For example, an action is perceived
as morally wrong because the perpetrator is punished; the
worse the punishment for the act is, the more “bad” the act
is perceived to be.
Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation
Stage 2 expresses the “what’s in it for me?” position, in
which right behavior is defined by whatever the individual
believes to be in their best interest. Stage two reasoning
shows a limited interest in the needs of others, only to the
point where it might further the individual’s own interests.

37. Level of Moral Development

39. Kohlberg’s Theory Gilligan’s Theory
Is based on the study on men Is based on study on men and
women
Men give importance to
moral rule.
Women always want to keep
personal relationships with all
the persons involved in the
situations
Ethics of rules and rights Women give attention to
circumstances leading to
critical situations rather than
rules:
Basic Differences between Kohlberg and Gilligan
Theories

40. The difference in these two theories is
explained through the well-known
example, Heinz’s dilemma

41. • According to Kohlberg study, men observed that the
theft was morally ‘wrong’ at the conventional level,
because the property right was violated.
• But men at the post-conventional level, concluded that
the theft was ‘right’, as the life of the human being was
in danger. But women observed that Heinz was wrong.
They observed that instead of stealing he could have
tried other solutions (threatening or payment in
installments?) to convince the Pharmacist.
• Gilligan however attributed the decision by women as
context-oriented and not on the basis of rules ranked in
the order of priority.

42. CONSENSUS & CONTROVERSY
• Consensus means agreement and Controversy means
conflict or disagreement.
• Ethics makes the engineers realize the importance of
tolerance among them in case of disagreement while
applying moral autonomy.

43. Commitment
Alignment to goals and adherence to
ethical principles during the
activities

44. COOPERATION
• team-spirit present with every individual engaged in
engineering.
• • is activity between two persons or sectors that
• aims at integration of operations.
• • Willingness to understand others, think and act
• together and putting this into practice, is cooperation.
• • cooperation should exist or be developed, and
• maintained
• • The absence of cooperation leads to lack of
• communication, misinformation.

45. VALUING TIME
•Time is rare resource. Once it is
spent, it is lost for ever