Engineering ethics, Kohlburg theory, Gilligans theory, controversy, consensus

1. UNIT-II
ENGINEERING ETHICS AND
PROFESSIONALISM
Baskaran S
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology
03/11/2017
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

2. General objective:
GO:
Understanding the moral values that ought to guide
engineering profession or practice
Resolving moral issues in engineering
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

3. Specific objective:
SO:
Scope of Engineering Ethics(Senses)
Variety of moral issues
Types of inquiry
Moral autonomy
Kohlburg’s theory
Gilligan’s theory
Consensus
Controversy
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

4. EVOCATION:
Fig1: Electric shock due to
defective product
Fig2:Broken bridge due to poor
construction
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

5. What is meant by Engineering Ethics?????
Engineering Ethics
→ Engineering ethics is the field of applied ethics and system of
moral principles that apply to the practice of engineering
→ Compromising the safety beyond the level of acceptable risk
leads to disaster Ex:Bhopal gas disaster
Senses
Normative:Correct way of doing something
Descriptive: Actual way it was done
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

6. Two approaches to Engg Ethics
Micro Ethics
Every day problems of Engi-
neers life and Engineers office
Macro Ethics
Social problems that often ig-
nored until a disaster happened
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

7. Types of inquiry:
Inquiry
An inquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting
knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem.
Types
Normative inquiries
Conceptual inquiries
Factual inquiries
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

8. Types of inquiry:
Normative
inquiries
1.It is about what
ought to be and
what is good,
based on moral
values.
Ex:Whose values
are primary in tak-
ing a moral de-
cision, employee,
public or govt?
Conceptual
inquiries
1.Clarify the mean-
ing of concepts or
ideas orprinciples
that are expressed
by words or
byquestions and
statements.Ex: (a)
What is meant by
safety? (b) How
is it related to
risk? (c) What is a
bribe?
Factual inquiries
1.These help to
provide facts for
understanding and
finding solutions to
value based issues
2.These are in-
quiries used to
uncover infor-
mation using
scientific tech-
niques Ex:a.What
are short-term and
long-term effects
of drinking water
being polluted?
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

9. Moral autonomy
What is autonomy?
Skill and habit of thinking rationally about ethical issues on
the basis of moral concern.
Apply this moral thinking to situations that arise in
professional engineering practice
Moral autonomy is at the heart of engineering ethics.
Example
From childhood: Neglected children result in sociopath
Sociopath: Lack of sense of moral concern and guilt
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

10. So lets consider a case
You found a your employer is using harmful substance to
process the goods they produce
Your supervisor is asking you to dilute that substance in
nearby river
You know it is toxic and it may kill or cause diesease
What would you do?
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

11. So lets consider a case
You found a your employer is using harmful substance to
process the goods they produce
Your supervisor is asking you to dilute that substance in
nearby river
You know it is toxic and it may kill or cause diesease
What would you do? You could say to yourself, I ill get
along with this for now and find a new job next month
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

12. So lets consider a case
You found a your employer is using harmful substance to
process the goods they produce
Your supervisor is asking you to dilute that substance in
nearby river
You know it is toxic and it may kill or cause diesease
What would you do? You could say to yourself, I ill get
along with this for now and find a new job next month or
You can report this to environmental agency
Dilemma: a choice between two equally unfavorable or disagree-
able alternatives. For the above said case as per ethical problem
solving you should find a solution which gives mutual benefit
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

13. Kohlberg’s theory:An Introduction to the Stages of
Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg: Who Is He?
Lawrence Kohlberg was, for many years, a professor at Har-
vard University.
He became famous for his work there beginning in the early
1970s.
He started as a developmental psychologist and then
moved to the field of moral education.
He was particularly well-known for his theory of moral de-
velopment which he popularized through research studies
conducted at Harvard’s Center for Moral Education.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

14. Kohlberg’s theory:
This theory is a stage theory. In other words, everyone goes
through the stages sequentially without skipping any stage.
However, movement through these stages are not natural,
that is people do not automatically move from one stage to
the next as they mature. In stage development, movement
occurs when a person notices inadequacies in his or her
present way of coping with a given moral dilemma.
According to stage theory, people cannot understand moral
reasoning more than one stage ahead of their own. For
example, a person in Stage 1 can understand Stage 2 rea-
soning but nothing beyond that.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

15. Stages of Moral Development
Figure: Stages Of Moral Development
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

16. Example of Kohlberg theory:Moral Dilemma
A woman was near death from a unique kind of cancer.
There is a drug that might save her. The drug costs $4,000
per dosage.
The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he
knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but
he could only get together about $2,000
He asked the doctor scientist who discovered the drug for a
discount or that he let him pay later. But the doctor scientist
refused.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

17. Stage 1
Stage One (obedience): Heinz should not steal the medicine,
because otherwise he will be put in prison.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

18. Stage 2
Stage Two (self-interest): Heinz should steal the medicine, be-
cause he will be much happier if he saves his wife, even if he will
have to serve a prison sentence
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

19. Stage 3
Stage Three (conformity): Heinz should steal the medicine, be-
cause his wife expects it.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

20. Stage 4
Stage Four (law-and-order): Heinz should not steal the medicine,
because the law prohibits stealing.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

21. Stage 5
Stage five (human rights):
Heinz should steal the medicine because saving his wife is more
important than obeying the law.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

22. Stage 6
Stage six (universal human ethics):
Heinz should steal the medicine, because saving a human life
is a more fundamental value than respecting the property of an-
other person. (People rarely, if ever, reach stage 6 of Kohlberg’s
model)
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

23. Gilligan Theory:
Carol Gilligan
Born in 1936
Student of Lawrence Kohlberg
Has taught at Harvard University, University of Cambridge,
and New York University. She currently teaches at the Uni-
versity of Cambridge
Focused most of her studies on gender-related develop-
ment
She developed her own theory because in her opinion she
beleved womens moral development is not same as men
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

24. Stages
Figure: Gilligans theory stages of development
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

25. Review Questions
1.Is there a difference in orientation in moral decision making
between the two genders as Carol Gilligan suggests
2.When given moral dilemmas, do both groups of children, male
and female, follow Lawrence Kohlbergs stages of development?
3.Are females more inclined to choose care over justice and
males justice over care?
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

26. Consider this case:
Case
Joe is a fourteen-year-old boy who wanted to go to camp very
much. His father promised him he could go if he saved up the
money for it himself. So Joe worked hard at his paper route
and saved up the forty dollars it cost to go to camp, and a lit-
tle more besides. But just before camp was going to start, his
father changed his mind. Some of his friends decided to go on
a special fishing trip, and Joe’s father was short of the money it
would cost. So he told Joe to give him the money he had saved
from the paper route. Joe didn’t want to give up going to camp,
so he thinks of refusing to give his father the money.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

27. Dad Dilemma
Should Joe refuse to give his father the money? Why or
why not?
Does the father have the right to tell Joe to give him the
money? Why or why not?
Does giving the money have anything to do with being a
good son? Why or why not?
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

28. Consensus decision-making
Consensus
Consensus decision making is a group decision making in
which group members agrees to support a decision in the
best interest of the whole.
Consensus may be defined professionally as an accept-
able resolution, one that can be supported, even if not the
”favourite” of each individual.
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM

29. Controversy
Controversy
Controversy is the state of prolonged public dispute or debate,
usually concerniing a matter of conflicting opinion
Example
Border issues, Political issues, Scientific theories etc
Baskaran S UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM