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GE6075 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN ENGINEERING
UNIT-2 ENGINEERING ETHICS
UNIT – II
ENGINEERING ETHICS
2
Department of Information Technology
3
GE6075 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN ENGINEERING
UNIT 2 ENGINEERING ETHICS 96
Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’-Variety of Moral
Issues-Types Of Inquiry-Moral Dilemmas- Moral
Autonomy-Kohlberg’s Theory-Gilligan’s Theory-
Consensus And Controversy- Professions And
Professionalism-Professional Ideals And Virtues-
Theories About Right Action-Self-Interest-Customs
And Religion-Uses Of Ethical Theories.
CONTENTS
īƒ’ Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’
īƒ’ Variety of Moral Issues
īƒ’ Types of inquiry
īƒ’ Moral dilemmas
īƒ’ Moral autonomy
īƒ’ Kohlberg’s theory
īƒ’ Gilligan’s theory
īƒ’ Professions and professionalism
īƒ’ Professional ideals and virtues
īƒ’ Theories about right action
īƒ’ Self-interest
īƒ’ Customs and religion
īƒ’ Uses of ethical theories
4
SENSES OF ETHICS
â€ĸ Ethics is an activity of
– Understanding the moral values
– Resolve the moral issues
– Justify the moral judgment
â€ĸ Ethics refers to a set of beliefs, attitudes, and
habits that a person or group displays
Concerning morality.
â€ĸ Ethics is a purely factual matter about explaining
beliefs and actions related to morality.
â€ĸ Ethics refers to being “morally correct”
– People’s action can be spoken as “ethical” or
“unethical”
– Individuals can be evaluated as “ethical” or
“unethical”
5
WHAT IS ENGINEERING ETHICS
īƒ’ Engineering Ethics is an
activity of
īƒ‰Understanding the moral values
that ought to guide the
engineering profession
īƒ‰Resolve the moral issues in the
profession
īƒ‰Justify the moral judgment
concerning the profession.
6
MORALITY
īƒ’ Morality is concerned with
principles and practices of morals
such as:
īƒ‰ What ought or ought not to be done in
a given situation?
īƒ‰ What is right or wrong about the
handling of a situation?
īƒ‰ What is good or bad about the people,
policies, and ideals involved?
7
Department of Information Technology
MORALITY VS. ETHICS
8
MORAL REASONING
â€ĸ “Engineering design is a good one”
– Meets Specifications – Technical Value
– Specifications has moral content - Moral Reasons
â€ĸ Designed in such a way that a safe, reliable and
environmental friendly product can be produced
â€ĸ Moral Reasons
– Require us to respect other people as well as
ourselves, to care for their good as well as their own
Respecting persons by being fair and just with them,
respecting their rights, keeping promises, avoiding
unnecessary offense and pain to them, avoiding
cheating and dishonesty
9
VARIETY OF MORAL ISSUES
īƒ’ Two Approaches to engineering
ethics:
īƒ‰Typical, everyday problems that
can take on significant
proportions in and engineer’s life
īƒ‰Societal Problems that are often
shunted aside and are not
addressed until they unexpectedly
resurface
10
HOW DO MORAL PROBLEMS ARISE
IN ENGINEERING
â€ĸ Examples
– Faculty construction equipment
– Applying for a permit to operate a nuclear
power plant
– Chemical plant dumping wastes in a landfill
– Advertisements from an electronic company
for a product which is not ready for sale
â€ĸ Engineer might be faced with contrary opinions
– Within the firm
– From the client
– From other firms within the industry
11
CHALLENGES ON HANDLING
MORAL ISSUES
īƒ˜ To what extent can a supervisor be an
authoritative guide to engineer’s conduct ?
īƒ˜ What does one do when there are differences
of judgement ?
īƒ˜ Should one always follow the law to the
letter?
īƒ˜ Is an engineer to do no more than what the
specifications say, even if there are problems
more serious than those initially anticipated?
īƒ˜ How far does an engineer’s responsibility
extend into the realm of influencing the social
impact of the projects he or she participates
in?
12
TYPES OF INQUIRIES
īƒ’The three types of inquiries,
in solving ethical problems
are:
īƒ‰Normative inquiry
īƒ‰Conceptual inquiry
īƒ‰Factual or descriptive inquiry
13
NORMATIVE INQUIRY
īƒ’ It seeks to identify and
justify the morally-desirable
norms or standards that
should guide individuals and
groups.
īƒ’ It also has the theoretical
goal of justifying particular
moral judgments.
14
NORMATIVE INQUIRY
15
Example:
How far does the obligation of engineers to protect
public safety extend in any given situation?
When, if ever, should engineers be expected to blow
whistle on dangerous practices of their employers?
Whose values ought to be primary in making judgment
about acceptable risks in design for a public transport
system or a nuclear plant? Is it of management, senior
engineers, government, voters or all of them?
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?
CONCEPTUAL INQUIRY
â€ĸ It is directed to clarify the meaning of
concepts or ideas or principles that
are expressed by words or by
questions and statements.
â€ĸ Examples:
– What is meant by safety?
– How is it related to risk?
– What is a bribe?
– What is a profession?
â€ĸ When moral concepts are discussed,
normative and conceptual issues are
closely interconnected.
16
FACTUAL OR DESCRIPTIVE INQUIRY
â€ĸ It is aimed to obtain facts needed for
understanding and resolving value issues.
â€ĸ Researchers conduct factual inquiries
using mathematical or statistical
techniques.
â€ĸ The inquiry provide important information
on business realities, engineering
practice, and the effectiveness of
professional societies in fostering moral
conduct, the procedures used in risk
assessment, and psychological profiles of
engineers.
17
Factual or Descriptive Inquiry
Department of Information 18
â€ĸ The facts provide not only the reasons for
moral problems but also enable us to develop
alterative ways of resolving moral problems.
â€ĸ Example
1.How were the benefits assessed?
2.What are procedures followed in risk
assessment?
3.What are short-term and long-term
effects of drinking water being polluted?
4.Who conducted the tests on materials?
MORAL DILEMMA
â€ĸ Dilemmas are situations in which
– Moral reasons come into conflict
– 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.
– These situations do not mean that things
had gone wrong, but they only indicate
the presence of moral complexity. This
makes the decision making complex.
19
SITUATIONS LEADING TO MORAL DILEMMA
The three complex situations
leading to moral dilemmas
are:
The problem of vagueness
â€ĸ One is unable to distinguish between
good and bad (right or wrong)
principle. Good means an action that
is obligatory. For example, code of
ethic specifies that one should obey
the laws and follow standards.
Refuse bribe or accept the gift, and
maintain confidentiality
20
Situations leading to Moral Dilemma
21
The problem of conflicting reasons
â€ĸOne is unable to choose between two good moral
solutions. One has to fix priority, through knowledge
or value system.
The problem of disagreement
â€ĸThere may be two or more solutions and none of
them mandatory. These solutions may be better or
worse in some respects but not in all aspects. One
has to interpret, apply different morally reasons, and
analyze and rank the decisions. Select the best
suitable, under the existing and the most probable
conditions.
STEPS TO SOLVE DILEMMA
â€ĸ Identification of the moral factors and
reasons.
â€ĸ Collection of all information, data, and
facts
â€ĸ Rank the moral options
â€ĸ Generate alternate courses of action to
resolve the dilemma
â€ĸ Discuss with colleagues and obtain their
perspectives, priorities, and suggestions
on various alternatives
â€ĸ Decide upon a final course of action,
based on priority fixed or assumed
22
MORAL AUTONOMY
â€ĸ Moral autonomy is defined as, decisions and
actions exercised on the basis of moral
concern for other people and recognition of
good moral reasons.
â€ĸ Alternatively, moral autonomy means ‘self
determinant or independent’.
â€ĸ The autonomous people hold moral beliefs
and attitudes based on their critical reflection
rather than on passive adoption of the
conventions of the society or profession.
â€ĸ Moral autonomy may also be defined as a
skill and habit of thinking rationally about the
ethical issues, on the basis of moral concern.
23
MORAL AUTONOMY
īƒ’ If management views profitability
is more important than consistent
quality and retention of the
customers that discourage the
moral autonomy, engineers are
compelled to seek the support from
their professional societies and
outside organizations for moral
support.
24
KOHLBERG THEORY
īƒ’ Kohlberg suggested there are
three levels of moral
development, based on the
type of reasoning and
motivation of the individuals in
response to moral questions
īƒ‰Pre-conventional
īƒ‰Conventional
īƒ‰Post-conventional
25
Pre-Conventional
– Right conduct for an individual is
regarded as whatever directly benefits
oneself.
– At this level, individuals are motivated
by obedience or the desire to avoid
punishment or to satisfy their own
needs
– All young children exhibit this tendency.
Conventional
– People respect the law and authority
Post Conventional
– People begin to account for the differing
values, opinions and beliefs of other
people.
26
KOHLBERG THEORY
â€ĸ The following is one example of the dilemmas
Kohlberg presented.
"Heinz Steals the Drug”
In Europe, a woman was near death
from a special kind of cancer. There
was one drug that the doctors thought
might save her. It was a form of
radium that a druggist in the same
town had recently discovered. The
drug was expensive to make, but the
druggist was charging ten times what
the drug cost him to make. He paid
$200 for the radium and charged
$2,000 for a small dose of the drug.
27
Kohlberg Theory
The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to
everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he
could only get together about $ 1,000 which is
half of what it cost. He told the druggist that
his wife was dying and asked him to sell it
cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist
said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going
to make money from it." So Heinz got
desperate and broke into the man's store to
steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband
have done that?
â€ĸ Kohlberg was not interested so much in the answer to
the question of whether Heinz was wrong or right, but in
the reasoning for each participant's decision. The
responses were then classified into various stages of
reasoning in his theory of moral development.
KOHLBERG THEORY
â€ĸ Level 1. Preconventional Morality
Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment
The earliest stage of moral development is
especially common in young children, but adults
are also capable of expressing this type of
reasoning. At this stage, children see rules as
fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is
important because it is a means to avoid
punishment.
Stage 2 - Individualism and Exchange
At this stage of moral development, children
account for individual points of view and judge
actions based on how they serve individual
needs. In the Heinz dilemma, children argued
that the best course of action was the choice
that best-served Heinz’s needs. Reciprocity is
possible, but only if it serves one's own
interests.
29
Kohlberg Theory
Department of Information 30
â€ĸ Level 2. Conventional Morality
Stage 3 - Interpersonal Relationships
often referred to as the "good boy-good girl"
orientation, this stage of moral development is focused
on living up to social expectations and roles. There is an
emphasis on conformity, being "nice," and
consideration of how choices influence relationships.
Stage 4 - Maintaining Social Order
At this stage of moral development, people begin to
consider society as a whole when making judgments.
The focus is on maintaining law and order by following
the rules, doing one’s duty and respecting authority.
â€ĸ Level 3. Post conventional Morality
Stage 5 - Social Contract and Individual
Rights
At this stage, people begin to account for the
differing values, opinions and beliefs of
other people. Rules of law are important for
maintaining a society, but members of the
society should agree upon these standards.
Stage 6 - Universal Principles
Kolhberg’s final level of moral reasoning is
based upon universal ethical principles and
abstract reasoning. At this stage, people
follow these internalized principles of
justice, even if they conflict with laws and
rules.
31
GILLIGAN’S THEORY
â€ĸ Gilligan observes that Kohlberg's stages
were derived exclusively from interviews
with males, and she charges that the
stages reflect a decidedly male
orientation.
â€ĸ For males, advanced moral thought
revolves around rules, rights, and abstract
principles. The ideal is formal justice, in
which all parties evaluate one another's
claims in an impartial manner. This
conception of morality, Gilligan argues,
fails to capture the distinctly female voice
on moral matters. 32
GILLIGAN’S THEORY
īƒ’ Gilligan says
īƒ‰ morality centers not on rights and rules
but on interpersonal relationships and
the ethics of compassion and care.
īƒ‰ The ideal is not impersonal justice but
more affiliative ways of living.
īƒ‰ Women's morality, in addition, is more
contextualized; it is tied to real, ongoing
relationships rather than abstract
solutions to hypothetical dilemmas.
33
GILLIGAN’S THEORY
īƒ‰ Understanding the needs, interests, and
welfare of another person, and
understanding the relationship between
oneself and that other requires a stance
toward that person informed by care,
love, empathy, compassion, and
emotional sensitivity.
īƒ‰ It involves, for example, the ability to
see the other as different in important
ways from oneself, as a being existing
in her own right, rather than viewing
her through a simple projection of what
one would feel if one were in her
34
KOHLBERG’S THEORY VS. GILLIGAN'S THEORY
â€ĸ For Kohlberg the mode of reasoning which
generates principles governing right
action involves formal rationality alone.
Emotions play at most a remotely
secondary role in both the derivation and
motivation for moral action.
â€ĸ For Gilligan, by contrast, morality
necessarily involves an intertwining of
emotion, cognition, and action, not readily
separable. Knowing what to do involves
knowing others and being connected in
ways involving both emotion and
cognition.
35
CONSENSUS AND CONTROVERSY
īƒ’ Consensus means agreement.
īƒ’ Controversy means
Disagreement.
īƒ’ The ethics make the engineers
realize the importance of
tolerance among them in case
of disagreement while applying
moral autonomy.
36
OCCUPATION VS. PROFESSION
Profession can only be applied to certain
occupations which meet the following criteria -
â€ĸ Knowledge: The work involves exercising
sophisticated skills , theoretical knowledge and
judgment and discretion that is not entirely
routine or subject to mechanization.
â€ĸ Organization: Special societies and
organizations controlled by members of the
profession are allowed by the public to play a
major role in setting standards for admission to
the profession.
â€ĸ Public Good: The occupation serves some
important aspects of public good as indicated in
the codes of ethics.
Department of Information Technology
37
MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
īƒ’ Earning bachelor’s degree in
engineering at a school approved
by the ABET.
īƒ’ Performing commonly recognized
as what engineers do.
īƒ’ Being officially registered and
licenses as a Professional
Engineer(PE).
īƒ’ Acting in morally responsible ways
while practicing engineering.
38
MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ROLES
â€ĸ Savior: The representative engineer is
a savior who will redeem society from
poverty, inefficiency, waste and
drudgery of manual labor.
â€ĸ Guardian: The representative
engineer knows the directions in
which and pace at which, technology
should develop. Accordingly they
should be given positions of high
authority based on their expertise in
determining what is in the best
interest of the society.
39
Models of Professional Roles
40
â€ĸ Bureaucratic servant: The role of engineer is to be a
servant who receives and translates the directives of
the management into concrete achievements.
â€ĸ Social servant: The role of engineers’ lies in obedient
service to others but their true master is society.
â€ĸ Social enabler or catalyst: Ultimate power lies with the
management. Nevertheless, the engineer plays a vital
role beyond mere compliance with orders.
â€ĸ Game Player: Engineers are neither servants nor
masters. They play by the economic game rules that
happen that happen to be in effect at a given time.
VIRTUE ETHICS
īƒ’Actions are considered right
if they support good
character traits (virtues)
and wrong if they support
bad character traits (vices)
īƒ’Closely tied to personal
honor
41
THEORIES ABOUT VIRTUES
īƒ’ Aristotle: Virtue and the Golden Mean
īƒ‰ Aristotle, the most influential of all virtue
ethicist, defined the virtues as acquired habits
that enable us to engage effectively in rational
activities.
īƒ‰ Moral virtues are tendencies, acquired thro’
habit formation, to reach a proper balance
between extremes in conduct, emotion, desire
and attitude.
īƒ‰ Virtues are tendencies to find “The Golden
Mean” between the extremes of too much and
too little.
īƒ E.g. Truthfulness is the mean between
revealing all information in violation of tact
and confidentiality and being secretive. 42
THEORIES ABOUT VIRTUES
īƒ’ Macintyre: Virtues and Practices
īƒ‰ Macintyre is a contemporary ethicist who has
stimulated a renewed interest in virtue ethics
and applied it to thinking about professional
ethics.
īƒ‰ Macintyre begins with the idea of social
practices.
īƒ‰ Cooperative activities aimed toward achieving
public goods that could not otherwise be
achieved, at least not to the same degree.
īƒ‰ These goods are internal to the practices in
that they define what the practices are all
about.
īƒ‰ They differ from external goods.
īƒ E.g. The primary internal good of medicine is the
promotion of health. 43
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
īƒ’ is being morally responsible as a
professional.
īƒ’ is an umbrella virtue that
encompasses a wide variety of more
specific virtues that acquire
importance in particular situations
īƒ’ Many of the virtues can be grouped
into four categories
īƒ‰ Self-direction virtues
īƒ‰ Public-spirited virtues
īƒ‰ Team-work virtues
īƒ‰ Proficiency virtues 44
INTEGRITY
īƒ’ is the unity of character on the
basis of moral concern, and
especially on the basis of honesty.
īƒ’ The unity is consistency among our
attitudes, emotions and conduct in
relation to justified moral values.
īƒ’ Integrity makes possible the
virtues of self-respect and pride in
one’s work.
45
HONESTY
īƒ’ Honesty has two aspects:
īƒ‰ Truthfulness
īƒ Meeting responsibilities concerning truth-telling
īƒ‰ Trustworthiness
īƒ Meeting responsibilities concerning trust.
īƒ’ List of specific virtues that truthfulness
and trustworthiness imply:
īƒ‰ Honesty in acts
īƒ‰ Honesty in speech
īƒ‰ Honesty in beliefs
īƒ‰ discretion
46
SELF RESPECT
īƒ’ is valuing oneself in morally
appropriate ways.
īƒ’ takes two forms:
īƒ‰ Recognition self-respect
īƒ‰ Appraisal self-respect
īƒ’ Specific virtues for self respect
īƒ‰ A sense of honor
īƒ‰ Self-control
īƒ‰ Courage
īƒ‰ Good judgment
47
SENSES OF RESPONSIBILITY
īƒ’ Characteristic quality
īƒ’ Obligations
īƒ’ General moral capacity
īƒ’ Liability and accountability
48
TYPES OF RESPONSIBILITY
īƒ’ Moral responsibility
īƒ‰Obligations
īƒ‰Accountability
īƒ‰Praiseworthy/Blameworthy
īƒ’ Casual responsibility
īƒ’ Legal responsibility
49
THEORIES ABOUT RIGHT ACTION
īƒ’Utilitarianism
īƒ’Duty Ethics
īƒ’Rights Ethics
īƒ’Virtue Ethics
50
UTILITARIANISM JOHN STUART MILL (1806-1873)
īƒ’ Considers a balance of good & bad
consequences for everyone
affected (society)
īƒ’ Actions are good that serve to
promote human well-being
īƒ’ Cost-Benefit analysis is an
application
īƒ’ Consideration of most benefit to
the most people outweighs needs
of a few individuals
51
DUTY ETHICS IMMANUEL KANT (1724-1804)
īƒ’ There are duties that should be
performed (e.g.. Duty to treat
others fairly or not to injure
others) regardless of whether
these acts do the most good or
not.
52
RIGHTS ETHICS JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)
īƒ’People have fundamental
rights (like life, liberty, &
property) that others
have a duty to respect.
53
TESTING ETHICAL THEORIES
īƒ’ Five widely used tests for
evaluating ethical theories:
īƒ‰ The theory must be clear
īƒ‰ It must be consistent
īƒ‰ Neither the theory nor its defense can
rely upon false information
īƒ‰ It must be sufficiently comprehensive
to provide guidance in specific
situations of interest to us.
īƒ‰ It must be compatible with our most
carefully considered moral convictions
about concrete situations. 54
SELF-INTEREST AND ETHICAL EGOISM
īƒ’ is being good and acceptable to
oneself.
īƒ’ It is pursuing what is good for oneself.
īƒ’ It is very ethical to possess self-
interest.
īƒ’ A view that tries to reduce morality to
the pursuit of self-interest is called
ethical egoism.
īƒ’ “Ethical “ because it is a theory about
morality and “egoism” because it says
that the sole duty of each of us is to
maximize his or her own good. 55
CUSTOMS AND ETHICAL RELATIVISM
īƒ’ Various culture in our pluralistic society lead to
tolerance for various customs, beliefs and
outlooks.
īƒ’ Ethical pluralism is the view that there may be
alternative perspectives that are reasonable,
but no one of which must be accepted
completely by all rational and morally
concerned persons.
īƒ’ Ethical relativism says that actions are morally
right when they are approved by law or
custom; they are wrong when they violate laws
or customs.
īƒ’ Moral rationalism is the view that moral
judgments should be made in relation to
factors that may vary from case to case.
56
RELIGION
īƒ’ Religions have played major roles in
shaping moral views and moral values.
īƒ’ Each religion lays stress on certain high
moral standards.
īƒ‰ Hinduism holds polytheistic view and virtues
of devotion and surrender to high order.
īƒ‰ Christianity believes in one deity and
emphasizes on virtues of love, faith and
hope.
īƒ‰ Islam on one deity and adherence to ishan
and prayer.
īƒ’ But many religious sects have adopted
poor moral standards.
īƒ‰ People are killed in the name of religion. 57
DIVINE COMMAND ETHICS
īƒ’ As per this principle, the right
action is defined by the
commands by God.
īƒ’ It implies that to be moral, a
person should believe in god
and an action is right only if it
is commanded by God.
58
USES OF ETHICAL THEORIES
īƒ’Ethical theories are useful :
īƒ‰for justifying moral
obligations.
īƒ‰for resolving moral dilemmas.
īƒ‰in relating professional and
ordinary morality.
59
BIBLIOGRAPHY
īƒ’ Text Book
īƒ‰ Mike Martin and Roland Schinzinger,
Ethics in Engineering, Mcgraw Hill,
New York, 1996.
īƒ’ Reference Books
īƒ‰ M.Govindarajan, S.Natarajan,
V.S.SenthilKumar, Engineering Ethics, PHI,
2004.
īƒ‰ Charles D.Fleddermann, Engineering Ethics,
Prentice Hall, New Mexico, 1999.
īƒ‰ R.S.Naagarazan, Professional Ethics
and Human Values, New Age
International Publishers, 2006. 60
REVIEW QUESTIONS
īƒ’ What is engineering ethics?
īƒ’ What are the situations when moral
dilemmas arise?
īƒ’ What are the steps needed to
confront moral dilemmas?
īƒ’ What are the types of inquiry?
īƒ’ What are the two aspects of
honesty?
īƒ’ List the criteria to achieve
professionalism.
īƒ’ List the models of professional roles.
īƒ’ What are the virtues fulfilled under
professional responsibility?
61

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ge6075-unit-2.ppt

  • 1. GE6075 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN ENGINEERING UNIT-2 ENGINEERING ETHICS
  • 3. Department of Information Technology 3 GE6075 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN ENGINEERING UNIT 2 ENGINEERING ETHICS 96 Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’-Variety of Moral Issues-Types Of Inquiry-Moral Dilemmas- Moral Autonomy-Kohlberg’s Theory-Gilligan’s Theory- Consensus And Controversy- Professions And Professionalism-Professional Ideals And Virtues- Theories About Right Action-Self-Interest-Customs And Religion-Uses Of Ethical Theories.
  • 4. CONTENTS īƒ’ Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ īƒ’ Variety of Moral Issues īƒ’ Types of inquiry īƒ’ Moral dilemmas īƒ’ Moral autonomy īƒ’ Kohlberg’s theory īƒ’ Gilligan’s theory īƒ’ Professions and professionalism īƒ’ Professional ideals and virtues īƒ’ Theories about right action īƒ’ Self-interest īƒ’ Customs and religion īƒ’ Uses of ethical theories 4
  • 5. SENSES OF ETHICS â€ĸ Ethics is an activity of – Understanding the moral values – Resolve the moral issues – Justify the moral judgment â€ĸ Ethics refers to a set of beliefs, attitudes, and habits that a person or group displays Concerning morality. â€ĸ Ethics is a purely factual matter about explaining beliefs and actions related to morality. â€ĸ Ethics refers to being “morally correct” – People’s action can be spoken as “ethical” or “unethical” – Individuals can be evaluated as “ethical” or “unethical” 5
  • 6. WHAT IS ENGINEERING ETHICS īƒ’ Engineering Ethics is an activity of īƒ‰Understanding the moral values that ought to guide the engineering profession īƒ‰Resolve the moral issues in the profession īƒ‰Justify the moral judgment concerning the profession. 6
  • 7. MORALITY īƒ’ Morality is concerned with principles and practices of morals such as: īƒ‰ What ought or ought not to be done in a given situation? īƒ‰ What is right or wrong about the handling of a situation? īƒ‰ What is good or bad about the people, policies, and ideals involved? 7 Department of Information Technology
  • 9. MORAL REASONING â€ĸ “Engineering design is a good one” – Meets Specifications – Technical Value – Specifications has moral content - Moral Reasons â€ĸ Designed in such a way that a safe, reliable and environmental friendly product can be produced â€ĸ Moral Reasons – Require us to respect other people as well as ourselves, to care for their good as well as their own Respecting persons by being fair and just with them, respecting their rights, keeping promises, avoiding unnecessary offense and pain to them, avoiding cheating and dishonesty 9
  • 10. VARIETY OF MORAL ISSUES īƒ’ Two Approaches to engineering ethics: īƒ‰Typical, everyday problems that can take on significant proportions in and engineer’s life īƒ‰Societal Problems that are often shunted aside and are not addressed until they unexpectedly resurface 10
  • 11. HOW DO MORAL PROBLEMS ARISE IN ENGINEERING â€ĸ Examples – Faculty construction equipment – Applying for a permit to operate a nuclear power plant – Chemical plant dumping wastes in a landfill – Advertisements from an electronic company for a product which is not ready for sale â€ĸ Engineer might be faced with contrary opinions – Within the firm – From the client – From other firms within the industry 11
  • 12. CHALLENGES ON HANDLING MORAL ISSUES īƒ˜ To what extent can a supervisor be an authoritative guide to engineer’s conduct ? īƒ˜ What does one do when there are differences of judgement ? īƒ˜ Should one always follow the law to the letter? īƒ˜ Is an engineer to do no more than what the specifications say, even if there are problems more serious than those initially anticipated? īƒ˜ How far does an engineer’s responsibility extend into the realm of influencing the social impact of the projects he or she participates in? 12
  • 13. TYPES OF INQUIRIES īƒ’The three types of inquiries, in solving ethical problems are: īƒ‰Normative inquiry īƒ‰Conceptual inquiry īƒ‰Factual or descriptive inquiry 13
  • 14. NORMATIVE INQUIRY īƒ’ It seeks to identify and justify the morally-desirable norms or standards that should guide individuals and groups. īƒ’ It also has the theoretical goal of justifying particular moral judgments. 14
  • 15. NORMATIVE INQUIRY 15 Example: How far does the obligation of engineers to protect public safety extend in any given situation? When, if ever, should engineers be expected to blow whistle on dangerous practices of their employers? Whose values ought to be primary in making judgment about acceptable risks in design for a public transport system or a nuclear plant? Is it of management, senior engineers, government, voters or all of them? 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?
  • 16. CONCEPTUAL INQUIRY â€ĸ It is directed to clarify the meaning of concepts or ideas or principles that are expressed by words or by questions and statements. â€ĸ Examples: – What is meant by safety? – How is it related to risk? – What is a bribe? – What is a profession? â€ĸ When moral concepts are discussed, normative and conceptual issues are closely interconnected. 16
  • 17. FACTUAL OR DESCRIPTIVE INQUIRY â€ĸ It is aimed to obtain facts needed for understanding and resolving value issues. â€ĸ Researchers conduct factual inquiries using mathematical or statistical techniques. â€ĸ The inquiry provide important information on business realities, engineering practice, and the effectiveness of professional societies in fostering moral conduct, the procedures used in risk assessment, and psychological profiles of engineers. 17
  • 18. Factual or Descriptive Inquiry Department of Information 18 â€ĸ The facts provide not only the reasons for moral problems but also enable us to develop alterative ways of resolving moral problems. â€ĸ Example 1.How were the benefits assessed? 2.What are procedures followed in risk assessment? 3.What are short-term and long-term effects of drinking water being polluted? 4.Who conducted the tests on materials?
  • 19. MORAL DILEMMA â€ĸ Dilemmas are situations in which – Moral reasons come into conflict – 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. – These situations do not mean that things had gone wrong, but they only indicate the presence of moral complexity. This makes the decision making complex. 19
  • 20. SITUATIONS LEADING TO MORAL DILEMMA The three complex situations leading to moral dilemmas are: The problem of vagueness â€ĸ One is unable to distinguish between good and bad (right or wrong) principle. Good means an action that is obligatory. For example, code of ethic specifies that one should obey the laws and follow standards. Refuse bribe or accept the gift, and maintain confidentiality 20
  • 21. Situations leading to Moral Dilemma 21 The problem of conflicting reasons â€ĸOne is unable to choose between two good moral solutions. One has to fix priority, through knowledge or value system. The problem of disagreement â€ĸThere may be two or more solutions and none of them mandatory. These solutions may be better or worse in some respects but not in all aspects. One has to interpret, apply different morally reasons, and analyze and rank the decisions. Select the best suitable, under the existing and the most probable conditions.
  • 22. STEPS TO SOLVE DILEMMA â€ĸ Identification of the moral factors and reasons. â€ĸ Collection of all information, data, and facts â€ĸ Rank the moral options â€ĸ Generate alternate courses of action to resolve the dilemma â€ĸ Discuss with colleagues and obtain their perspectives, priorities, and suggestions on various alternatives â€ĸ Decide upon a final course of action, based on priority fixed or assumed 22
  • 23. MORAL AUTONOMY â€ĸ Moral autonomy is defined as, decisions and actions exercised on the basis of moral concern for other people and recognition of good moral reasons. â€ĸ Alternatively, moral autonomy means ‘self determinant or independent’. â€ĸ The autonomous people hold moral beliefs and attitudes based on their critical reflection rather than on passive adoption of the conventions of the society or profession. â€ĸ Moral autonomy may also be defined as a skill and habit of thinking rationally about the ethical issues, on the basis of moral concern. 23
  • 24. MORAL AUTONOMY īƒ’ If management views profitability is more important than consistent quality and retention of the customers that discourage the moral autonomy, engineers are compelled to seek the support from their professional societies and outside organizations for moral support. 24
  • 25. KOHLBERG THEORY īƒ’ Kohlberg suggested there are three levels of moral development, based on the type of reasoning and motivation of the individuals in response to moral questions īƒ‰Pre-conventional īƒ‰Conventional īƒ‰Post-conventional 25
  • 26. Pre-Conventional – Right conduct for an individual is regarded as whatever directly benefits oneself. – At this level, individuals are motivated by obedience or the desire to avoid punishment or to satisfy their own needs – All young children exhibit this tendency. Conventional – People respect the law and authority Post Conventional – People begin to account for the differing values, opinions and beliefs of other people. 26
  • 27. KOHLBERG THEORY â€ĸ The following is one example of the dilemmas Kohlberg presented. "Heinz Steals the Drug” In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. 27
  • 28. Kohlberg Theory The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that? â€ĸ Kohlberg was not interested so much in the answer to the question of whether Heinz was wrong or right, but in the reasoning for each participant's decision. The responses were then classified into various stages of reasoning in his theory of moral development.
  • 29. KOHLBERG THEORY â€ĸ Level 1. Preconventional Morality Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment The earliest stage of moral development is especially common in young children, but adults are also capable of expressing this type of reasoning. At this stage, children see rules as fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important because it is a means to avoid punishment. Stage 2 - Individualism and Exchange At this stage of moral development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs. In the Heinz dilemma, children argued that the best course of action was the choice that best-served Heinz’s needs. Reciprocity is possible, but only if it serves one's own interests. 29
  • 30. Kohlberg Theory Department of Information 30 â€ĸ Level 2. Conventional Morality Stage 3 - Interpersonal Relationships often referred to as the "good boy-good girl" orientation, this stage of moral development is focused on living up to social expectations and roles. There is an emphasis on conformity, being "nice," and consideration of how choices influence relationships. Stage 4 - Maintaining Social Order At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider society as a whole when making judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one’s duty and respecting authority.
  • 31. â€ĸ Level 3. Post conventional Morality Stage 5 - Social Contract and Individual Rights At this stage, people begin to account for the differing values, opinions and beliefs of other people. Rules of law are important for maintaining a society, but members of the society should agree upon these standards. Stage 6 - Universal Principles Kolhberg’s final level of moral reasoning is based upon universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning. At this stage, people follow these internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules. 31
  • 32. GILLIGAN’S THEORY â€ĸ Gilligan observes that Kohlberg's stages were derived exclusively from interviews with males, and she charges that the stages reflect a decidedly male orientation. â€ĸ For males, advanced moral thought revolves around rules, rights, and abstract principles. The ideal is formal justice, in which all parties evaluate one another's claims in an impartial manner. This conception of morality, Gilligan argues, fails to capture the distinctly female voice on moral matters. 32
  • 33. GILLIGAN’S THEORY īƒ’ Gilligan says īƒ‰ morality centers not on rights and rules but on interpersonal relationships and the ethics of compassion and care. īƒ‰ The ideal is not impersonal justice but more affiliative ways of living. īƒ‰ Women's morality, in addition, is more contextualized; it is tied to real, ongoing relationships rather than abstract solutions to hypothetical dilemmas. 33
  • 34. GILLIGAN’S THEORY īƒ‰ Understanding the needs, interests, and welfare of another person, and understanding the relationship between oneself and that other requires a stance toward that person informed by care, love, empathy, compassion, and emotional sensitivity. īƒ‰ It involves, for example, the ability to see the other as different in important ways from oneself, as a being existing in her own right, rather than viewing her through a simple projection of what one would feel if one were in her 34
  • 35. KOHLBERG’S THEORY VS. GILLIGAN'S THEORY â€ĸ For Kohlberg the mode of reasoning which generates principles governing right action involves formal rationality alone. Emotions play at most a remotely secondary role in both the derivation and motivation for moral action. â€ĸ For Gilligan, by contrast, morality necessarily involves an intertwining of emotion, cognition, and action, not readily separable. Knowing what to do involves knowing others and being connected in ways involving both emotion and cognition. 35
  • 36. CONSENSUS AND CONTROVERSY īƒ’ Consensus means agreement. īƒ’ Controversy means Disagreement. īƒ’ The ethics make the engineers realize the importance of tolerance among them in case of disagreement while applying moral autonomy. 36
  • 37. OCCUPATION VS. PROFESSION Profession can only be applied to certain occupations which meet the following criteria - â€ĸ Knowledge: The work involves exercising sophisticated skills , theoretical knowledge and judgment and discretion that is not entirely routine or subject to mechanization. â€ĸ Organization: Special societies and organizations controlled by members of the profession are allowed by the public to play a major role in setting standards for admission to the profession. â€ĸ Public Good: The occupation serves some important aspects of public good as indicated in the codes of ethics. Department of Information Technology 37
  • 38. MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA īƒ’ Earning bachelor’s degree in engineering at a school approved by the ABET. īƒ’ Performing commonly recognized as what engineers do. īƒ’ Being officially registered and licenses as a Professional Engineer(PE). īƒ’ Acting in morally responsible ways while practicing engineering. 38
  • 39. MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ROLES â€ĸ Savior: The representative engineer is a savior who will redeem society from poverty, inefficiency, waste and drudgery of manual labor. â€ĸ Guardian: The representative engineer knows the directions in which and pace at which, technology should develop. Accordingly they should be given positions of high authority based on their expertise in determining what is in the best interest of the society. 39
  • 40. Models of Professional Roles 40 â€ĸ Bureaucratic servant: The role of engineer is to be a servant who receives and translates the directives of the management into concrete achievements. â€ĸ Social servant: The role of engineers’ lies in obedient service to others but their true master is society. â€ĸ Social enabler or catalyst: Ultimate power lies with the management. Nevertheless, the engineer plays a vital role beyond mere compliance with orders. â€ĸ Game Player: Engineers are neither servants nor masters. They play by the economic game rules that happen that happen to be in effect at a given time.
  • 41. VIRTUE ETHICS īƒ’Actions are considered right if they support good character traits (virtues) and wrong if they support bad character traits (vices) īƒ’Closely tied to personal honor 41
  • 42. THEORIES ABOUT VIRTUES īƒ’ Aristotle: Virtue and the Golden Mean īƒ‰ Aristotle, the most influential of all virtue ethicist, defined the virtues as acquired habits that enable us to engage effectively in rational activities. īƒ‰ Moral virtues are tendencies, acquired thro’ habit formation, to reach a proper balance between extremes in conduct, emotion, desire and attitude. īƒ‰ Virtues are tendencies to find “The Golden Mean” between the extremes of too much and too little. īƒ E.g. Truthfulness is the mean between revealing all information in violation of tact and confidentiality and being secretive. 42
  • 43. THEORIES ABOUT VIRTUES īƒ’ Macintyre: Virtues and Practices īƒ‰ Macintyre is a contemporary ethicist who has stimulated a renewed interest in virtue ethics and applied it to thinking about professional ethics. īƒ‰ Macintyre begins with the idea of social practices. īƒ‰ Cooperative activities aimed toward achieving public goods that could not otherwise be achieved, at least not to the same degree. īƒ‰ These goods are internal to the practices in that they define what the practices are all about. īƒ‰ They differ from external goods. īƒ E.g. The primary internal good of medicine is the promotion of health. 43
  • 44. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY īƒ’ is being morally responsible as a professional. īƒ’ is an umbrella virtue that encompasses a wide variety of more specific virtues that acquire importance in particular situations īƒ’ Many of the virtues can be grouped into four categories īƒ‰ Self-direction virtues īƒ‰ Public-spirited virtues īƒ‰ Team-work virtues īƒ‰ Proficiency virtues 44
  • 45. INTEGRITY īƒ’ is the unity of character on the basis of moral concern, and especially on the basis of honesty. īƒ’ The unity is consistency among our attitudes, emotions and conduct in relation to justified moral values. īƒ’ Integrity makes possible the virtues of self-respect and pride in one’s work. 45
  • 46. HONESTY īƒ’ Honesty has two aspects: īƒ‰ Truthfulness īƒ Meeting responsibilities concerning truth-telling īƒ‰ Trustworthiness īƒ Meeting responsibilities concerning trust. īƒ’ List of specific virtues that truthfulness and trustworthiness imply: īƒ‰ Honesty in acts īƒ‰ Honesty in speech īƒ‰ Honesty in beliefs īƒ‰ discretion 46
  • 47. SELF RESPECT īƒ’ is valuing oneself in morally appropriate ways. īƒ’ takes two forms: īƒ‰ Recognition self-respect īƒ‰ Appraisal self-respect īƒ’ Specific virtues for self respect īƒ‰ A sense of honor īƒ‰ Self-control īƒ‰ Courage īƒ‰ Good judgment 47
  • 48. SENSES OF RESPONSIBILITY īƒ’ Characteristic quality īƒ’ Obligations īƒ’ General moral capacity īƒ’ Liability and accountability 48
  • 49. TYPES OF RESPONSIBILITY īƒ’ Moral responsibility īƒ‰Obligations īƒ‰Accountability īƒ‰Praiseworthy/Blameworthy īƒ’ Casual responsibility īƒ’ Legal responsibility 49
  • 50. THEORIES ABOUT RIGHT ACTION īƒ’Utilitarianism īƒ’Duty Ethics īƒ’Rights Ethics īƒ’Virtue Ethics 50
  • 51. UTILITARIANISM JOHN STUART MILL (1806-1873) īƒ’ Considers a balance of good & bad consequences for everyone affected (society) īƒ’ Actions are good that serve to promote human well-being īƒ’ Cost-Benefit analysis is an application īƒ’ Consideration of most benefit to the most people outweighs needs of a few individuals 51
  • 52. DUTY ETHICS IMMANUEL KANT (1724-1804) īƒ’ There are duties that should be performed (e.g.. Duty to treat others fairly or not to injure others) regardless of whether these acts do the most good or not. 52
  • 53. RIGHTS ETHICS JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704) īƒ’People have fundamental rights (like life, liberty, & property) that others have a duty to respect. 53
  • 54. TESTING ETHICAL THEORIES īƒ’ Five widely used tests for evaluating ethical theories: īƒ‰ The theory must be clear īƒ‰ It must be consistent īƒ‰ Neither the theory nor its defense can rely upon false information īƒ‰ It must be sufficiently comprehensive to provide guidance in specific situations of interest to us. īƒ‰ It must be compatible with our most carefully considered moral convictions about concrete situations. 54
  • 55. SELF-INTEREST AND ETHICAL EGOISM īƒ’ is being good and acceptable to oneself. īƒ’ It is pursuing what is good for oneself. īƒ’ It is very ethical to possess self- interest. īƒ’ A view that tries to reduce morality to the pursuit of self-interest is called ethical egoism. īƒ’ “Ethical “ because it is a theory about morality and “egoism” because it says that the sole duty of each of us is to maximize his or her own good. 55
  • 56. CUSTOMS AND ETHICAL RELATIVISM īƒ’ Various culture in our pluralistic society lead to tolerance for various customs, beliefs and outlooks. īƒ’ Ethical pluralism is the view that there may be alternative perspectives that are reasonable, but no one of which must be accepted completely by all rational and morally concerned persons. īƒ’ Ethical relativism says that actions are morally right when they are approved by law or custom; they are wrong when they violate laws or customs. īƒ’ Moral rationalism is the view that moral judgments should be made in relation to factors that may vary from case to case. 56
  • 57. RELIGION īƒ’ Religions have played major roles in shaping moral views and moral values. īƒ’ Each religion lays stress on certain high moral standards. īƒ‰ Hinduism holds polytheistic view and virtues of devotion and surrender to high order. īƒ‰ Christianity believes in one deity and emphasizes on virtues of love, faith and hope. īƒ‰ Islam on one deity and adherence to ishan and prayer. īƒ’ But many religious sects have adopted poor moral standards. īƒ‰ People are killed in the name of religion. 57
  • 58. DIVINE COMMAND ETHICS īƒ’ As per this principle, the right action is defined by the commands by God. īƒ’ It implies that to be moral, a person should believe in god and an action is right only if it is commanded by God. 58
  • 59. USES OF ETHICAL THEORIES īƒ’Ethical theories are useful : īƒ‰for justifying moral obligations. īƒ‰for resolving moral dilemmas. īƒ‰in relating professional and ordinary morality. 59
  • 60. BIBLIOGRAPHY īƒ’ Text Book īƒ‰ Mike Martin and Roland Schinzinger, Ethics in Engineering, Mcgraw Hill, New York, 1996. īƒ’ Reference Books īƒ‰ M.Govindarajan, S.Natarajan, V.S.SenthilKumar, Engineering Ethics, PHI, 2004. īƒ‰ Charles D.Fleddermann, Engineering Ethics, Prentice Hall, New Mexico, 1999. īƒ‰ R.S.Naagarazan, Professional Ethics and Human Values, New Age International Publishers, 2006. 60
  • 61. REVIEW QUESTIONS īƒ’ What is engineering ethics? īƒ’ What are the situations when moral dilemmas arise? īƒ’ What are the steps needed to confront moral dilemmas? īƒ’ What are the types of inquiry? īƒ’ What are the two aspects of honesty? īƒ’ List the criteria to achieve professionalism. īƒ’ List the models of professional roles. īƒ’ What are the virtues fulfilled under professional responsibility? 61