The document discusses engineering ethics and why it is important for engineers to consider ethics in their professional work. It covers several key topics: - Engineering ethics refers to the rules and standards that govern how engineers should conduct themselves. It aims to provide guidance on balancing responsibilities to clients, costs, and risks. - Notable engineering failures in the past have increased awareness of the far-reaching impacts of engineering on society and the need for professional responsibility. - Questionable practices include forging data, plagiarism, and conflicts of interest while clearly wrong practices are lying, deception, and revealing confidential information. - The goal of engineering ethics is to help engineers think critically about moral issues and apply ethical reasoning to professional situations

1. 4-5 ETHICS
The study of the characteristics of morals.
Engineering Ethics –
 Rules and standards governing conduct of engineers.
 A body of philosophy indicating ways that engineers should conduct themselves in
their professional capacity.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 1

2. ENGINEERING ETHICS
Engineers have an ethical and social responsibility
to themselves, their clients, and to society.
Practically (although there is much debate about
this), engineering ethics is about balancing
cost, schedule, and risk.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 2

3. WHY STUDY?
Several notorious cases –
Achieved great attention and led engineers to gain an increased sense of
professional responsibilities.
Led to an awareness of the importance of ethics, how engineers have far reaching
impact on society.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 3

4. QUESTIONABLE ENGINEERING
PRACTICES
Forging – “ inventing some or all of the research data…”
Plagiarism – misappropriating intellectual property.
Conflicts of interest (such as accepting gifts.)
 actual
 potential
 apparent
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 4

5. CLEARLY WRONG ENGINEERING
PRACTICES
Lying
Deliberate deception
Withholding information
Failure to seek out the truth
Revealing confidential or proprietary information.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 5

6. GOAL
Sensitize you to the important ethical issues before you have to confront them.
Moral autonomy –
 To think critically and independently about moral issues.
 To apply this moral thinking to situations that arise in professional engineering
practice.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 6

7. ETHICS
Ethics define rules or norms for acceptable and unacceptable behavior
What does it mean to “Do the Right Thing”?
 Behaving Ethically Includes:
 Being honest.
 Keeping promises.
 Doing your job well.
 Not stealing.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 7

8. ETHICS
Ethical Views (cont’d)
 Reaching the Right Decision
 There is no formula to solve ethical problems.
 The professional must consider trade-offs.
 Ethical theories help to identify important principles or guidelines.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 8

9. ETHICS
Ethical Views (cont’d)
 Some Important Distinctions (cont’d)
 Goals vs. actions: the actions we take to achieve our goals should be consistent with our
ethical constraints.
 Law vs. ethics: some acts are ethical, but illegal; other acts are legal, but unethical.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 9

10. ORIGINS OF TODAY’S ETHICS
Ancient Greeks - especially Socrates, Aristotle
Judeo – Christian tradition
Islam
Buddhists
Hindus
Western ethics have principally evolved from first
two.
Muslim culture is basically the best way for best
ethics
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 10

11. ORIGINS - CONTINUED
Philosophy Law Religion
Ethical Behavior – grounded in concern for others
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 11

12. ETHICS AND RELIGION
Some people’s ethics are based in religion
However, nominally religious people may not be ethical.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 12

13. ETHICS AND LAW
Engineering and business are governed by laws at the international, federal, state
and local levels.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 13

14. PERSONAL VS. BUSINESS ETHICS
Personal ethics deal with how we treat others in our day-to-day lives.
Professional (business) ethics often involves choices on an organizational level
rather than a personal level.
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 14

15. ETHICS PROBLEMS
Rarely have a correct answer that everyone will come up with.
There will be a range of solutions that are clearly right.
There will be a range of solutions that are clearly wrong.
It is convenient to define your ethics reference
AUTHOR: TOMAS U. GANIRON JR 15