ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Week 2: Ethical Theories

Dr. Thomas Martin

Prof. Saleh Al-Araji

Information Security Research Group

Khalifa University

thomas.martin@kustar.ac.ae
September 13, 2014

Outline

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Introduction

Ethics in Engineering
Ethical problems arise in engineering in a variety of dierent (and
sometimes unexpected ways). Take the case of Germany's Heidelberg University. In 1993, it was disclosed that they had used over
200 corpses in automobile crash tests, including 8 children.

Their

rational was that the use of corpses was necessary for constructing
several types of instrumented dummies, ranging in size from infants
to adults, that can simulate dozens of human reactions in a crash.
This data, they claimed, saved many lives.
Outcry from the public, and religious organizations, demanded the
testing stop, that even the dead deserve human dignity. Both sides
have valid arguments, but which should prevail? What are criteria
that should govern use of cadavers in testing?
Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Introduction

Introduction
This case shows that:

1 Technology raises moral and social issues of considerable

importance

2 Reference to professional codes and general concepts of

professionalism may not be sucient to resolve the issues

We will look at several methods for thinking about and trying to nd
solutions to moral issues. Each of these can be considered as tools,
but not every tool can be applied in every situation.

Analyzing a

moral problem, breaking it into its component parts, and resolving it

correctly takes skill, judgment, and some experience.

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Introduction

Determining the Facts

It is important to have a clear understanding of the facts before any
reasonable discussion of any moral issue can begin. These are the

factual

issues:

what

the facts are and which are

relevant

to a moral

decision.
Moral disagreements often turn out to be disagreements over
the relevant facts

Is there important information to be obtained, and can it only

be got from testing with corpses?
Factual issues are sometimes very dicult to resolve

How can we know the impact any change will have on

automobile accident deaths?
Sometimes we must decide important moral issues in the light
of irresolvable factual uncertainty.
Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Introduction

Clarifying Concepts
Beyond a knowledge of the relevant facts, we also need to have a clear
understanding of the meaning of the key concepts. Common terms
that come up in Engineering Ethics include: public health, safety,
and welfare, conict of interest, bribery, extortion, condentiality', trade secret, loyalty. But these terms are not always clear
cut, and there can sometimes be subjectivity involved in deciding
when they do or do not apply.
It would be nice to have an objective denition of these terms, but
too many of them are open to interpretation.

Instead, it helps to

think of clear-cut examples of each concept.

Try to imagine an

uncontroversial case of a given term (one that no-one would object

to), and try to derive the dening characteristics.
Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Introduction

Application Issues
An

application issue

is where there is a claim about whether a given

term or expression applies to a person, an individual action, or a general practice. For example, does is the concept of honoring human
dignity at odds with the practice of using cadavers for crash testing?
Disagreements over either the meaning of a concept or the facts of
a particular case can result in application issues, so it can be either
a factual issue, or a conceptual issue (or even both). Consequently,
application issues can be resolved by making sure the relevant facts
are clearly agreed and everyone is working from the same denitions
of the relevant concepts.

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Deciding Moral Issues

Line Drawing
We have discussed some ways of looking at moral issues and suitable
terminology to describe and categorize them. We will now look at
some techniques that can be helpful in resolving them, starting with

line drawing.

If you are trying to determine if a particular case of an undesirable

situation (e.g. conict of interest, bribery, extortion), line drawing
involves looking at the two extremes.

Write down the properties

that would exist if the situation absolutely were to be undesirable in

this way. Write down the corresponding properties that would exist
if it were not. Draw lines between the two and place a mark between
them to represent where the current situation lies.

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Deciding Moral Issues

Line Drawing
Example (2.5 in Engineering Ethics - Harris et. al.)
Victor is an engineer in a large construction rm.

He has been

assigned the task of being the sole person to recommend rivets for
the construction of a large apartment building. After some research
and testing, he decides to recommend ACME rivets for the job, which
he determines are of the lowest cost and highest quality. On the day
after Victor's decision was made, an ACME representative visits him
and gives him a voucher for an all-expense-paid trip to the annual
ACME Technical Forum, which meets in Jamaica. The trip will have
considerable educational value, but will also provide day trips to the
beach and other points of interest.

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Deciding Moral Issues

Line Drawing
What properties depict a case that is clearly a bribe? What properties
depict a case that is clearly not a bribe? Where does the situation
with Victor t between the two?

Feature

Gift size
Timing
Reason
Responsibility
Product quality
Product cost

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Paradigm
(Bribery)

Large
Before decision
Personal gain
Sole
Worst
Highest

Test Case

Paradigm
(Not Bribery)

Small
After decision
Educational
None
Best
Lowest

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Deciding Moral Issues

Line Drawing
This technique can help in trying to determine if a particular concept
applies to a given situation, i.e. to help in application issues.
However, just because a particularly situation fails to be classied as
something that is undesirable (such as bribery as in this case), does
not mean it should be readily accepted.
How will accepting the oer inuence future decisions?
What would it mean for the company image?
Would accepting the oer violate company policy?

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Deciding Moral Issues

Creative Middle Way Solutions

Ethical dilemmas rarely have a single correct solution. But neither is
it always the case that there is only a binary choice. There are often
many possible options that can be considered to try to mitigate the
various concerns.
In the previous example, Victor had several alternative options beyond accept/reject the gift:
Suggest a fellow employee go in his place
Suggest a company policy that employees may not accept
vendor rewards for buying the vendor's product
If accepted, make sure the conditions under which the decision
was made is disclosed
Suggest his rm split the expenses with the vendor
Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Virtues
Common morality is the stock of common moral beliefs to which
most of us adhere. Simple techniques such as line drawing or nding
a creative middle way may be sucient in certain situations, but
more complex issues (such as those involving society at large) require
a more sophisticated approach. Studying common morality can help
us develop suitable approaches.
Most of our ideas of common morality stem from a set of virtues:
character traits that motivate morally desirable actions. Virtues that
are important in engineering work include:
Honesty

Striving for excellence

Courage

Respect for the natural world

Loyalty

Compassion or benevolence

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Virtues
Virtues can consist of many dierent elements.

We can analyze a

virtue by breaking it down into four components:

1 A virtue has a
1

or

emotional

component

E.g. An honest person will be appalled by lying and have a

positive reaction to honesty

2 A virtue has a
1

aective

dispositional

component

E.g. An honest person will be strongly inclined to act honestly

3 A virtue has a

cognitive

component, consisting of

expectations, believes about things, people and future events

E.g. An honest person may believe that honest promotes one's

self-interest, or that integrity in technology requires honesty.

4 A virtue has an
1

identity

component

E.g. Thinking of oneself as an honest person is strongly

connected with many of our self-identities.

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Virtues
There are many ways in which virtues can be useful in discussions of
practical ethics. While most of the time we will be concerned with
the proper course of actions (the right thing to do), sometimes it
is important to morally evaluate the individual. The terminology of
virtues is central to examining the character of an individual.
Promoting ethical behavior requires more than legal or professional
sanctions against unethical actions. It should also encourage charitable behavior and seless actions. Motivation for such activities must
be rooted in character traits, i.e. virtues.
Using the terminology of virtues can be necessary for analyzing the
moral aspects of a situation.
Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Virtues
Common morality is often formulated in terms of rules or duties.

1 dened a list of basic duties or obligations, and called

W.D. Ross

them conditional.
Duties resting on our previous acts

Duties of delity
Duties of reparation
Duties of gratitude
Duties of justice
Duties of benecence
Duties of self-improvement
Duties not to injure others
1

http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/ethics/rossethc.htm

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Virtues
Conversely, Bernard Gert

2 derived a list of ten moral rules in an

attempt to contain the basic elements of common morality:

Do not kill
Do not cause pain
Do not disable
Do not deprive of freedom
Do not deprive of pleasure
Do not deceive
Keep your promise
Do not cheat
Obey the law
Do your duty
2

http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/24798-common-morality-deciding-what-to-do/

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Virtues

Ross's duties and Gert's rules have considerable overlap, specically

in terms of avoiding injury to others and lying. The dierence lies
in the emphasis. Ross's duties are positive, and as such aspirational.
Gert's rules are negative and prohibitive.
Neither formulations are absolute. Exceptions can always be argued
to exist. The important point is that any exception should have a
justication, a good reason for doing so.

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Intent
We use dierent criteria to evaluate actions than we do to evaluate
the person who performed an action.

We typically use rules and

duties as previously described when considering actions.

However,

intent is of supreme importance when we consider people. Common

morality holds that one should never do what he or she considers
to be wrong (violating their conscience), even if the action is not
wrong by the precepts of common morality.
This raises an interesting question in engineering ethics. Codes and
rules tend to say very little on the subject of intention.

Should a

right of conscience', a right to refuse to do something that violates

one's conscience, be included in common engineering codes?

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Case Study
Brad works in a engineering design rm, although he has good knowledge in Designs, he has limited experience.He is concerned that his
work is not adequately checked by his superiors. He is worried, that
his mistakes will kill someone. What should he do:

1 Brad should talk to his supervisor and ask for his due diligence
in checking his work properly

2 He might talk to other in organization and persuade his

supervisor to take a closer look at his work

3 He should tell his supervisor his inability to continue work and

change jobs

4 He nds a new job and inform the state registration board

5 He could go public about this issue and blow the whistle
6 Find a new job and keep his mouth shut
7 He should continue his current role, without protest
Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Introduction

Deciding Moral Issues

Common Morality

Common Morality

Assignment Due 21st September

Write a brief report about the code of ethics of the professional

society in your discipline
Example: The electrical and computer engineers should write about
IEEE professional code of ethics
The document you are writing is NOT COPY AND PASTE. You
must write information in your own words from the references. You
can get more references if needed.
Information such as what the organization is, its history, objectives,
societies and activities must be included.

Thomas Martin
ENGR390 Engineering Ethics

Information Security Research Group

Thank you

Any Questions?