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UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS 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 – Uses of Ethical Theories

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Page 1: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS

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 – Uses of Ethical

Theories

Page 2: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

WHAT IS ENGINEERING ETHICS?• The study of moral issues and decisions confronting

individuals and organizations involved in engineering.

• The study of related questions about moral ideals,

character, policies and relationships of people and

organizations involved in technological activity.

ETHICS- moral principles that govern a person's or group's

behavior.

Page 3: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

ETHICS AND ENGINEERING• Where the ethical issues can arise:– Conceptualization, Design, Testing,

Manufacturing, Sales, Service– Supervision and Project Teams• Project timelines and budgets• Expectations, opinions, or judgments

– Products: Unsafe or Less than Useful• Designed for obsolescence• Inferior materials or components• Unforeseen harmful effects to society

Page 4: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

ETHICS AND ENGINEERING• Impacts of an engineer’s ethical decisions:

– The Products & Services (safety and utility)

– The Company and its Stockholders

– The Public and Society (benefits to the people)

– Environment (Earth and beyond)

– The Profession (how the public views it)

– The Law (how legislation affects the profession and

industry)

– Personal Position (job, internal moral conflict)

Page 5: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

SENSES OF ETHICS• Ethics is an activity and area of inquiry. It is the activity of

understanding moral values, resolving moral issues and the area

of study resulting from that activity.

• When we speak of ethical problems, issues and controversies,

we mean to distinguish them from non moral problems.

• Ethics is used to refer to the particular set of beliefs, attitudes

and habits that a person or group displays concerning

moralities.

• Ethics and its grammatical variants can be used as synonyms for

morally correct.

Page 6: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

WHAT IS MORALITY?

• The term ‘morality’ concerns with

(a) what ought or ought not to be done in a given

situation?

(b) what is right or wrong in handling it?

(c) what is good or bad about the persons, policies and

principles involved in it?

If an action is said to be morally right it should had some

moral reasons.

Page 7: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

MORAL REASONSMoral reasons include

• Respecting others and ourselves,

• Respecting the rights of others,

• Keeping promises,

• Avoiding unnecessary problems to others

• Avoiding cheating and dishonesty,

• Showing gratitude to others and encourage them to work

Page 8: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

VARIETIES OF MORAL ISSUES

• MICRO-ETHICS This approach stresses more about

some typical and everyday problems which play an

important role in the field of engineering and in the

profession of an engineer

• MACRO-ETHICS This approach deals with all the

social problems which are unknown and suddenly

burst out on a regional or national level.

Page 9: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

Where and How do Moral Problems arise in Engineering?

• Inspite of the engineers’ full attention and care, sometimes the product or project may be unsafe or less useful.

This may be due to some reasons 1) The product or project may be designed for early

obsolescence 2) Due to under pressure because of running out of

time, budgetary etc 3) By ignorance on the size of the project 4) Because of the large number of a products sold

on the mass market, people may be affected.

Page 10: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

TYPES OF INQUIRY

• Inquiry means an investigation- Engineering

ethics involves investigations into values,

meaning and facts.

1. Normative Inquiries

2. Conceptual Inquiries

3. Factual or Descriptive Inquiries

Page 11: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

NORMATIVE INQUIRIESThese are meant for identifying and justifying

some norms and standards of morally desirable nature for

guiding individuals as well as groups.

1. How do the obligations of engineers protect the public safety

in given situations?

2. When should an engineer have to alarm their employers on

dangerous practices?

3. Where are the laws and organizational procedures that affect

engineering practice on moral issues?

4. Where are the moral rights essential for engineers to fulfill

their professional obligations?

Page 12: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

CONCEPTUAL INQUIRIESThese are meant for describing the meaning of

concepts, principles, and issues related to Engineering Ethics.

1. What is the safety and how it is related to risk?

2. What does it mean when codes of ethics say engineers

should protect the safety, health and welfare of the

public?

3. What is a ‘bribe’?

4. What is a ‘profession’ and ‘professional’?

Page 13: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

FACTUAL / DESCRIPTIVE INQUIRIES• These help to provide facts for understanding

and finding solutions to value based issues. • The engineer has to conduct factual inquiries by

using scientific techniques. • These help to provide information regarding the

business realities such as engineering practice, history of engineering profession, the effectiveness of professional societies, the procedures to be adopted when assessing risks and psychological profiles of engineers.

Page 14: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

MORAL DILEMMA

Why study engineering ethics? – Engineering ethics is not only teaching moral

behaviour in knowing about immoral and amoral in a set of beliefs, but also increasing the ability of engineers and other professionals to face boldly with the moral problems arising from technological advancements, changes and other related activities.

Page 15: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

MORAL DILEMMA• Dilemmas are certain kind of situations in

which a difficult choice has to be made.• Moral dilemmas have two or more foldings -

moral obligations, duties, rights, goods or ideals come into disagreement with each other.

• One moral principle can have two or more conflicting applications for a particular given situation.

Page 16: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

TYPES OF COMPLEXITIES

• Vagueness- தெ�ளி�வற்ற

• Conflicting reasons- முரண்பா�டா�ன கா�ரணங்காள்

• Disagreement-காருத்து வேவறுபா�டு

Page 17: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

STEPS / PROCEDURES IN FACING MORAL DILEMMAS

1) Identifying the relevant moral factors and reasons: i.e. Finding solutions for (i) the conflicting responsibilities (ii) the competing rights and (iii) the clashing ideals involved.

2) Collecting and gathering all the available facts which are relevant to the moral factors while resolving.

3) Ranking the moral considerations or principles on the basis of importance as applicable to the situation.

4) Considering alternative courses of action for resolving the problems and tracing the full implications of each. i.e. conducting factual inquiries.

5) Having talked with the colleagues, friend about the problem getting their suggestions and alternative ideas on resolving that dilemma.

6) Arriving at a careful and reasonable judgment or solution by taking into consideration of all important moral factors and reasons on the basis of the facts or truths.

Page 18: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

MORAL AUTONOMY• Autonomy means self-governing or self-

determining i.e act independently. • Moral autonomy means the right or the wrong

conduct which is of independent on ethical issues.

• Moral autonomy is concerned with the independent attitude of a person related to ethical issues.

• It helps to improve the self-determination among the individuals.

Page 19: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

SKILLS FOR IMPROVING MORAL AUTONOMY• Ability to distinguish and relate these moral problems with the

problems of law, economics, religions principles etc.

• Possess the skills of understanding, clarifying and assessing the arguments which are against the moral issues.

• Ability to suggest the solutions to moral issues, on the basis of facts. These suggestions must be consistent and must include all the aspects of the problem.

• Must have the imaginative skill to view the problems from all view points and also be able to suggest a proper alternative solution.

• Able to tolerate while giving moral judgments and decisions which may cause trouble. i.e. they have to understand the difficulties in making moral decisions.

Page 20: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

SKILLS FOR IMPROVING MORAL AUTONOMY• Must have adequate knowledge and

understanding about the use of ethical language so as to defend or support their views with others.

• Must have some better knowledge in understanding the importance of suggestions and better solutions while resolving moral problems and also about the importance of tolerance on some critical situations.

• Must understand the importance of maintaining the moral honesty.

Page 21: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

CONSENSUS AND CONTROVERSY

• Consensus – Agreement• Controversy – Disagreement

Page 22: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

PROFESSIONS AND PROFESSIONALISM• What is a profession? – ‘JOB’ or ‘OCCUPATION’ that meets the following

criteria from which a person earns his living.• Knowledge• Organization• Public good

• Who is a professional? – Obviously a member of a profession.

Page 23: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

DIFFERING VIEWS ON PROFESSIONALS• ‘Only consulting engineers who are basically independent

and have freedom from coercion can be called as professionals.’ -Robert L.Whitelaw

• ‘Professionals have to meet the expectations of clients and employers. Professional restraints are to be imposed by only laws and government regulations and not by personal conscience.’ -Samuel Florman

• ‘Engineers are professionals when they 1) attain standards of achievement in education, job performance or creativity in engineering and 2) accept the most basic moral responsibilities to the public as well as employers, clients, colleagues and subordinates.’ -Mike Martin & Roland Schinzinger

Page 24: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS• SAVIOR: a person who saves someone or

something (especially a country or cause) from danger

• GUARDIAN: Engineers know, the directions in which and pace at which, technology should develop.

• BUREAUCRATIC SERVANT: The engineer as the loyal organization person uses special skills to solve problems.

Page 25: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS• SOCIAL SERVANT: Engineers, in co-operation with management,

have the task of receiving society’s directives and satisfying

society’s desires.

• SOCIAL ENABLER AND CATALYST: Engineers play a vital role

beyond mere compliance with orders. They help management

and society understand their own needs and to make informed

decisions.

• GAME PLAYER: Engineers are neither servants nor masters of

anyone. They play by the economic game rules that happen to

be in effect at a given time.

Page 26: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

TYPES OF ETHICAL THEORIES

TYPES BASED ON• Virtue ethics-Virtues and vices• Utilitarianism-Most good for most people• Duty ethics-Duties to respect persons• Rights ethics-Human Rights

Page 27: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

FOUR MAIN VIRTUES(நல்தெ��ழுக்காங்காள்)

• Prudence (வி�வேவிகம்): to think about a moral problem clearly and completely

• Temperance (தன்னடக்கம்): control attraction to positive emotions

• Fortitude (மவேன�பலம்): control aversion for negative emotions

• Justice (நீத�): choose according to truth and fairness.

Page 28: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibilities based on• SELF DIRECTION VIRTUES• PUBLIC SPIRITED VIRTUES• TEAMWORK VIRTUES• PROFICIENCY VIRTUES

Page 29: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

UTILITARIANISM– Three approaches: • Cost/benefit – quantifiable approach. Maximize

positive utilities (benefits) against negative utilities (costs). • Act utilitarian – ‘Will the course of action

produce more good than any alternative course of action that I could take’? • Rule utilitarian – ‘Would utility be maximized if

everyone did the same thing in the same circumstances’? Adoption of commonly accepted rules.

Page 30: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

DUTY ETHICS (Immanuel Kant’s view)– be honest– keep promises– do not inflict sufferings on other people– be fair– make reparation when you have been unfair– how gratitude for kindness extended by others – seek to improve own intelligence and character– develop one’s talents– don’t commit suicide

Page 31: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

RIGHTS ETHICS (JOHN LOCKE – 1632-1704)• Everyone has inherent moral rights • Everyone has rights that arise from EXISTING• Other rights arise as a Consequence. • Duties arise because people have rights, not

vice versa. • Any act that violates an individual’s moral rights

is ethically unacceptable. • Rights ethics was highly individualistic.

Page 32: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

EVALUATION OF ETHICAL THEORIES• The theory must be clear and formulated with concepts that are

coherent and applicable.• It must be internally consistent in that none of its tenets

contradicts any other. • Neither the theory nor its defense can rely upon false

information. • It must be sufficiently comprehensive to provide guidance in

specific situations. • It must be compatible with our most carefully considered moral

convictions about concrete situations.

Page 33: UNIT-II ENGINEERING ETHICS Senses of ‘Engineering Ethics’ – Variety of moral issues – Types of inquiry – Moral dilemmas – Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory

USES OF ETHICAL THEORIES• Ethical theories aid in identifying the moral considerations or reasons that

constitute a dilemma. • They provide a precise sense of what kinds of information are relevant to

solving moral development. • They sometimes, offer ways to rank the relevant moral considerations in

order of importance and provide a rough guidance in solving moral problems.

• The theories help us identify the full moral ramifications of alternative courses of action, urging a wide perspective on the moral implications of the options and providing a systematic framework of comparing alternatives.

• The theories augment the precision with which we use moral terms and they provide frame works for moral reasoning when discussing moral issues with colleagues.

• By providing frame works for development of moral arguments, the theories strengthen our ability to reach balanced and insightful judgments.