ENGINEERING

ETHICS
Bakrie University
.
SEMESTER I - 2015/2016
Session-1
INTRODUCTION TO
ENGINEERING ETHICS

Ethics and Philosophy (1):

Philosophy
What
Whatisis
philosophy
philosophy
??
Philosophy
Philosophy
of
ofwhat?
what?

Philosophy:
Philosophy:philo(phillein)-sophy(sophia)
philo(phillein)-sophy(sophia)=
=love
loveof
of
wisdom
wisdom
all
allintellectual
intellectualendeavors
endeavors
(ancient
(ancientGreek)
Greek)
Philosophy
Philosophy is
is aa discipline
disciplinethat
that aims
aims at
at radically
radically
acquiring
acquiring knowledge
knowledgeof
of anything
anythingby
by
systematically
systematically applying
applying rational
rational means
means
(a
(atentative
tentativedefinition)
definition)

Philosophy
Philosophyisisnot
notaascience,
science,but
butnot
notunscientific!
unscientific!

In
In philosophy,
philosophy, there
there is
is no
no reference
reference other
other than
than
rationality.
rationality.
2

Aristotle Book-1/chapter-3
We must be content, then, in speaking of
such subjects and with such premises to
indicate the truth roughly and in outline, and
in speaking about things which are only for
the part true for it is the mark of an
educated man to look for precision in each
class of things just so far as the nature of the
subject admits; it is evidently foolish to
accept
probable
reasoning
from
a
mathematician and to demand from a
rhetorician scientific proofs.
3

Ethics and Philosophy (2):

Ethics as a Branch of Philosophy
What
Anything
Whatisis
Anythingisiscovered!
covered!
the
Epistemology
thescope
scope
Epistemology++
of
from
interaction
Philosophy
of
from
interaction
Philosophyof
ofscience
science
philosophy
philosophy
??
knowledge
Bein
knowledge
Ontology
Ontology++g
(is)
Metaphysics
Metaphysics

value
value

beauty
beauty
moral
moralgoodness
goodness(ought
(oughtto)
to)
Ethics
Ethics(moral
(moralphilosophy)
philosophy)

Aesthetics
Aesthetics

Ethics and Philosophy (3):

Moral versus Ethical

So,
So,ItIt
seems
ETHICS
seems
ETHICSisisaabranch
branchof
ofphilosophy
philosophythat
thatstudies
studiesthe
the
that
thatethics
ethics nature
natureof
ofmorality
moralityand
andmoral
moralchoices.
choices.
isisaabranch
branch
Morality
of
Moralityrefers
refersto
tostandards
standardsof
of
of
good
philosophy
goodand
andbad
badhuman
humanbeings
beings qua
quahuman
humanbeings.
beings.
philosophy
..
Ethics
Ethicsisisthus
thusconcerned
concernedwith
withhow
howto
tobe
be
aagood
goodhuman
humanbeing
beingqua
quahuman
humanbeing.
being.
ItItexamines
examinesthose
thosestandards
standardsbelieved
believedto
tobe
betrue
trueby
byan
an
individual
individualor
oraasociety.
society.

Here,
Here,ethics
ethicsand
andmorality
moralityare
arenot
notquite
quitethe
thesame.
same.

Moral
Moralproblem
problem
violation
violationof
ofthe
thenorms
norms(standards)
(standards)of
ofgood
good
human
humanbeings.
beings.
Ethical
Ethicalproblem
problem
internal-conflict
internal-conflictamong
amongthe
thenorms
normsand
and
interpersonal-conflict
interpersonal-conflictamong
amongthe
thenorms
normsof
ofdifferent
differentpeople.
people.

IfIfmorality
moralityisis music,
music,ethics
ethicsisismusicology.
musicology.
5

ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY (4):

ETHICS COVERS MORAL AND ETHICAL PROBLEMS
Imagine
Imaginethis
thissketch!
sketch!

ETHICS
Ethical
theories

ETHICAL
ETHICALDILEMMAS
DILEMMAS
MORAL
PROBLEMS
MORAL PROBLEMS

Glek!
Glek!

DILEMMA
DILEMMA

ETHICAL
ETHICALPROBLEMS
PROBLEMS

TEMPTATION
TEMPTATION

Choices
Choices
Choices
Choicesinvolve:
involve:
Choicesinvolve:
involve:
Choices
involve:
involve:
truth
evaluation
violations
truthvs.
vs.loyalty;
loyalty;
evaluationof
ofthe
the
violationsof
of
the
the
individual
moral
moral
individualvs.
vs.community;
community;
moralstandards
standards
moral
standards
standardsshort
shortterm
termvs.
vs.long
longterm;
term; and
andseeking
seeking
prevalent
prevalentin
inthe
the
justice
rational
society.
justicevs.
vs.mercy.
mercy.
rationaljustification
justification
society.
for
forparticular
particularactions.
actions.

Ethics and Philosophy (5):

Ethical versus Other Values

Ehm
Ehm then
then II understand
understand now
now
that
that ethics
ethics deals
deals with
with the
the
word
word good
good in
in aa rather
rather
absolute
absolute sense,
sense, namely
namely
good
good without
without qualification.
qualification.
ItItcan
canbe
beeasily
easilycontrasted
contrastedwith
withthe
the
word
wordgood
goodthat
thatmeans
meanssomething
something
like
likegood
goodfor
foraaparticular
particularperson
personor
or
entity
in
some
particular
respect
entity in some particular respect
(good
(goodwith
withqualification),
qualification),e.g.
e.g.ititisis
good
goodfor
forme
meto
toeat
eatmore
morefruit
fruitthan
than
meat
meatififI Iam
amreally
reallyconcerned
concernedwith
with
the
thelevel
levelof
ofcholesterol
cholesterolin
inmy
mybody
body
and
my
healthiness.
and my healthiness.

Exactly!
Exactly! There
There are
are many
many
different
different type
type of
of values
values or
or
goodness,
goodness, each
each refers
refers to
to
beliefs
beliefs or
or standards
standards that
that
incline
incline us
us to
to act
act or
or choose
choose
in
in one
one way
way rather
rather than
than
another.
another. There
There are
are
financial,
financial, religious,
religious,
historical,
historical, nutritional,
nutritional,
social,
social, political,
political, scientific,
scientific,
and
and aesthetic
aesthetic values.
values.
So,
So,you
yousee
seehow
howethics
ethicsdeals
deals
with
withaavery
veryfundamental
fundamentalvalue.
value.
7

Ya
Ya
but
but
how
how

fundament
fundament
al
al is
is

that?
that?

Ethics and Philosophy (6):

Ethics, Ethos, Etiquette
As
As II said,
said, ethics
ethics deals
deals with
with how
howto
tobe
beaagood
goodhuman
human

being
beingqua
quahuman
humanbeing.
being. For
ForSocrates,
Socrates,ititdeals
dealswith
withno
no
small
smallthing,
thing,but
butwith
withhow
howwe
weought
oughtto
tolive.
live.ItItisisabout
about
human
humanwell-being!
well-being!
Thus,
Thus,in
inone
oneway
wayor
oranother
anotherititdiffers
differsfrom
fromethos
ethosand
andetiquette.
etiquette.
IfIfethos
ethosrefers
refersto
tocustomary
customaryor
orconventional
conventionalvalues
valuesin
inaa
certain
certainculture,
culture,i.e.
i.e.one
oneisisto
toobey
obeythe
theconventions
conventionsand
andrules
rulesof
of
ones
onessociety
societyor
orto
toconform
conformto
towhat
what isisusually
usuallydone,
done,then
then
ethics
ethicswould
wouldbe
beidentical
identicalto
toethos.
ethos.But
Butethics
ethicsisismore
morethan
than
ethos
ethosin
inthat
thatethics
ethicsrequires
requiresus
usto
toreflect
reflectcritically
criticallyupon
upon
whether
whetherwhat
whatisisusually
usuallydone
doneshould
should(ought
(oughtto)
to)be
bedone.
done.
Ethics
Ethicsaims
aimsat
atdiscovering
discoveringWHAT
WHATSHOULD
SHOULDBE.
BE.Ethos
Ethosisis
closed
closedto
tomorality;
morality;its
itsdifference
differencefrom
fromethics
ethicsisiswhat
whatI Ihave
have
explained
explainedearlier.
earlier.
Etiquette
Etiquetterefers
refersto
tocustomary
customaryvalues
valuesthat
thatare
aremore
moresocial
social
than
thanmoral,
moral,as
asfor
forexample:
example:politeness
politenessand
andmanners.
manners.The
The
impact
impactof
ofthe
theviolation
violationof
ofetiquette
etiquetteon
onhuman
humanwell-being
well-being((e.g.
e.g.
happiness
happiness))is
isusually
usuallynot
notas
assignificant
significantas
asthat
thatof
ofethics.
ethics.
8

ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY (7):

ETHICS AND LAWS

Law
Lawand
andethics
ethicsare
arenot
notquite
quitethe
thesame.
same.Law
Lawisissimilar
similarto
toethics
ethics
because
it
also
tries
to
define
proper
and
improper
behavior,
because it also tries to define proper and improper behavior,i.e.
i.e.itit
formalizes
formalizeswhat
whatconstitutes
constitutesright
rightand
andwrong
wrongconducts.
conducts.
(1)
The
law
itself
requires
ethical
analysis
for
many
(1) The law itself requires ethical analysis for manyof
ofits
itsdecisions.
decisions.
Cant
we
rely
on
Cant we rely on One
Onecannot
cannotalways
alwaysrely
relyon
onthe
thelaw
lawto
todecide
decidewhat
whatisisright
rightor
or
he
imposition
of
the imposition of wrong
wrongbecause
becausethe
thelaw
lawisisnot
notalways
alwaysunambiguous.
unambiguous.
aws
to
prevent
(2)
Written
rules
of
law
cannot
capture
all
laws to prevent (2) Written rules of law cannot capture allof
ofwhat
whatethics
ethicsisis
unethical
concerned
unethical
concernedwith.
with.Ethics
Ethicsis
ismore
morecomplex
complexthan
thanwritten
writtenrules
rules
of
law.
behaviors
of law.
behaviorsto
to
(3)
occur?
(3) Written
Writtenrules
rulesof
oflaw
lawisisaaproduct
productof
ofpolitical
politicalmechanism
mechanismwhile,
while,as
as
occur?
we
weknow,
know,political
politicalmechanism
mechanismisismuch
muchinvolving
involvingpower
powerplay.
play.
What
is
legal
is
not
necessarily
ethical,
and
what
is
ethical
What is legal is not necessarily ethical, and what is ethicalisisnot
not
necessarily
legal.
necessarily legal.
Nevertheless,
Nevertheless,written
writtenrules
rulesof
oflaw
lawmay
maysometimes
sometimesgive
givean
anavenue
avenue
for
settling
disputes
that
arise
from
different
ethical
points
of
for settling disputes that arise from different ethical points ofview.
view.
And
Andethical
ethicalreflection
reflectionmay
maygive
givevaluable
valuableinsight
insightto
topoliticians
politiciansfor
for
making
makingwritten
writtenrules
rulesof
oflaw.
law.Law
Lawand
andethics
ethicsintersect
intersectin
insome
some
way.
way.
You
Youmay
maythen
thenwonder
wonderwhy
whythere
thereare
arestill
stillvarious
variousillegal
illegalbehavior
behaviorss
even
eventhough
thoughmany
manywritten
writtenrules
rulesof
oflaw
lawhave
havebeen
beenimposed.
imposed.

Ethics and Philosophy (8):

Why Study Philosophical Ethics?
IIam
am
wondering
wondering
why
whywe
westill
still
need
needto
to
study
study
philosophic
philosophic
al
alethics
ethics
while
whilewe
we
have
havebeen
been
thought
thought

As
AsIIhave
havesaid,
said, in
inphilosophy,
philosophy,no
noreference
referenceother
other
than
thanrationality.
rationality.
IIhave
havesaid
saidalso
alsothat
that ethics
ethicsrequires
requiresus
usto
toreflect
reflect
critically
criticallyupon
uponwhether
whetherwhat
whatisistypically
typicallydone
done
should
should(ought
(oughtto)
to)be
bedone.
done.

Philosophical
Philosophicalethics
ethicsisiscritical
criticalin
inthe
thesense
senseof
ofdemanding
demanding
reason
reasonfor
foreach
eachdecision;
decision;ititneed
neednot
notbe
becritical
criticalin
inthe
the
sense
of
rejecting
or
disagreeing
what
is
typically
sense of rejecting or disagreeing what is typicallydone.
done.
ItItjust
justrequires
requiresaaconscious
consciousreflection
reflectionand
andanalysis
analysisof
ofthe
the
beliefs
beliefsand
andvalues
valuesupon
uponwhich
whichwe
weact.
act. ItItrejects
rejectsthe
theview
view
that
thatblinds
blindsobedience
obedienceto
toauthority
authorityor
orto
tocustomary
customarynorms.
norms.

religious
religious
ethics
Assuch,
such,each
eachof
ofwhat
whatwe
weact
actisisreally
reallyours.
ours.ItItisisour
our
ethicssince
since As

we
we were
were
very
very
young?
young?

intention,
intention,judgment
judgmentand
anddecision
decisionto
toact
actthat
thatway,
way,not
not
elses.
elses.We
Weare
arethus
thusnot
notaaslave
slaveof
ofmorality,
morality,but
butrather
rather
the
themaster
masteror
orsubject
subjectof
ofmorality.
morality.Moreover,
Moreover,the
theworld
world
Intuition
isis
has
become
so
complicated
that
religious
ethics
may
Intuition
has
become
so
complicated
that
religious
ethics
may
indispensa
indispensa
have
ble
havedifficulty
difficultyto
tocapture.
capture.Philosophical
Philosophicalethics
ethicshelp
helpus
us
blehere
here
to
tosharpen
sharpenwhat
whatwe
webelieve
believeto
tobe
betrue
truein
inreference
referenceto
to
10
religious
ethics.
religious ethics.

Ethics and Philosophy (9):

Five Characteristics to Point Out
So
Sowhat
whatare
are 1.
1. Ethics
Ethicsisisconcerned
concernedwith
withmatters
mattersthat
thatare
areseen
seenas
as
the
seriously
the
seriouslyinjure
injureor
orbenefit
benefithuman
humanbeings.
beings.
characterist
characterist 2.
2. Those
Thoseconcerned
concernedwith
withare
arenot
notestablished
establishedor
or
ics
changed
icsof
ofwhat
what
changedby
bydecisions
decisionsby
bylaws
lawsor
orlegislature.
legislature.
ethics
Their
ethicsisis
Theirvalidity
validityrest
restupon
uponthe
theadequacy
adequacyof
ofthe
the
concerned
reasons
concerned
reasonsthat
thatare
aretaken
takento
tojustify
justifythem.
them.
with?
3.
with?
3. Those
Thoseconcerned
concernedwith
withshould
shouldbe
bepreferred
preferredover
over
to
toother
othervalues.
values.
4.
4. Those
Thoseconcerned
concernedwith
withare
arebased
basedon
onimpartial
impartial
consideration,
consideration,or
or goes
goesbeyond
beyondpersonal
personalinterest.
interest.
5.
5. Those
Thoseconcerned
concernedwith
withare
areassociated
associatedwith
withspecial
special
feelings.
feelings.

Intuition
Intuitionisis
indispensa
indispensa
ble
blehere
here
11

Ethics and Philosophy (10):

Four Areas to be Addressed
What
Whatlevels
levels ..
at
atwhich
which
ethical
ethical
issues
issuesmay
may
be
be
addressed?
addressed?

SOCIETAL AND GLOBAL LEVEL

SECTORAL LEVEL
ORGANIZATIONAL
LEVEL
PERSONAL
LEVEL

Intuition
Intuitionisis
indispensa
indispensa
ble
blehere
here
12

Ethics and Philosophy (11):

Engineering Ethics as an applied
(Philosophical) Ethics

Engineering
Engineering ethics
ethics is
is an
an applied
applied ethics
ethics in
in the
the field
field of
of
engineering.
engineering.

Its
Itsaim
aimisisto
todescribe,
describe,examine,
examine,and
andevaluate
evaluateethical
ethicalissues
issuesthat
that
arise
arisein
inengineering
engineeringpractice
practiceand
andresearch:
research:ititstudies
studiesthose
those
standards,
standards,values,
values,and
andprinciples
principlesthat
thatoperate
operatein
inthe
thefield
fieldof
of
engineering
engineeringas
aswell
wellas
asseeks
seeksto
to articulate
articulateand
anddefend
defend the
theones
ones
that
thatought
oughtor
orshould
shouldoperate
operatein
inthe
thefield
fieldof
ofengineering.
engineering.
FIRST
SECOND
FIRSTGOAL
GOAL((knowledge
knowledge):
):
SECONDGOAL
GOAL((ability
ability))
GOAL
GOAL((inspiration
inspiration))
Language
Languageof
ofengineering
engineeringethics
ethics Responsible
Responsiblereasoning
reasoning
Inspiring
Inspiringright
rightactions
actions
(concepts,
(concepts,principles,
principles,values)
values)
(self-introspection)
Teaching
(self-introspection)

THIRD
THIRD

(fact,
(fact,accurate,
accurate,listen,
listen,logical)
logical)

Teaching
criminals
criminalsin
in
business
businessIS THE PROCESS OF ETHICAL REASONING RATHER
WHAT
ethics
WHATMATTERS
MATTERS
ethicsisis IS THE PROCESS OF ETHICAL REASONING RATHER
indeed
THAN
13
indeed
THANANSWERS.
ANSWERS.
useless!
useless!

Ethics in Engineering (1)

..

Why
Whybe
bemoral
moral
in
in
engineering?
engineering?
Why
Whystudy
study
engineering
engineering
ethics?
ethics?

Because
Becauseititisisimportant!
important!Ethics
Ethicsin
inengineering
engineering
contributes
contributesto
tosafe
safeand
anduseful
usefulproducts
productsand
andgives
gives
meaning
meaningto
toengineers
engineersendeavors.
endeavors.
By
Bystudying
studyingengineering
engineeringethics,
ethics,engineers
engineersmay
may
increase
increase
moral
moralautonomy
autonomy (self-determining),
(self-determining),i.e.
i.e.the
theability
ability
or
orthe
theskill
skillto
toindependently
independentlyundertake
undertakereflection
reflection
(thinking
(thinkingrationally)
rationally)about
aboutethical
ethicalissues
issuesand
andto
todeal
deal
effectively
effectivelywith
withsuch
suchissues.
issues.
The
Theskill
skillincludes:
includes:moral
moralawareness
awareness
cogent
cogentmoral
moralreasoning
reasoning
moral
moralcoherence
coherence&&reasonableness
reasonableness
moral
moralimagination
imagination&&communication
communication
respect
respectfor
forperson
person
tolerance,
tolerance,diversity
diversityand
andmoral
moralhope
hope
integrity
integrity(personal
(personal&&professional)
professional)
14

Ethics
in Engineering
(2)
Intellectual virtues
according
to
Aristotle:
2

Episteme (scientific knowledge)

Nous (intuitive reason)
purely intellectual knowledge
Sophia (philosophical wisdom)
Phronesis (practical wisdom)
acting (praxis) ETHICS
Techne (art) making (poiesis)
TECHNOLOGY

History of Engineering

CORPS DI GENIE (Military, Louis XIV 1661)

Civil engineers (Non-military)
Engineer: (1) better trained in mathematics and physics
(2) pay attention to reliability, speed and
practicalities
(3) be disciplined to bear responsibility within
NEW POWER
large organizations

VALUES IN ENGINEERING
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

Striving for: efficiency

Designing: labor saving systems
Designing: control into the system
Favoring: spectacularity

IN THE WORLD:

Decisive &
significant effects
on human beings
and welfare

Ethics in Engineering (3)

Progression of engineering tasks:

(1)Initiation of task
(2)Design (concept, pre-design, analysis, prototype, spec. of materials,
shop drawings)
(3)Manufacture (scheduling, material tests, fabrication,
construction/assembly, QC)
(4)Implementation (shipping, installation, field service, commissioning,
as- built drawing)
(5)Final task (after sales service, wastes)

Potential moral problems:

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)

Lack of vision
Incompetence
Lack of proper materials
Compartementalized information
Insufficient concerns for safety
Improper use or disposal of the products
Dishonesty
Inattention to how the product performing
when used.

Ethics in Engineering (4)

Thus,
Thus,
PROFESSION:
aa form
of
work
involving:
PROFESSION:
form
of
work
involving:
engineering
is
engineering is
(1)
(1) advance
advance expertise
expertise
aapowerful
powerful
(2)
profession?
(2) self-regulation
self-regulation
profession?

(3)
(3) concerted
concerted service
service to
to the
the public
public

good
good
Obviously,
Obviously, engineering
engineering is
is aa profession
profession and
and
thus
thus needs
needs CODES
CODES OF
OF ETHICS
ETHICS that
that its
its
effective
effective
functioning
functioning would
would maintain
maintain PUBLIC
PUBLIC
TRUST.
TRUST.
Professional
Professional Responsibilities
Responsibilities::

(1)
(1) Protection
Protectionof
ofpublic
publicsafety
safety
(2)
(2) Technical
Technicalcompetence
competence
(3)
(3) Timely
Timelycommunication
communicationof
ofnegative
negative &&positive
positive
results
results

Ethics in Business (5)

Still
Still
engineers
engineers
ETHICAL DILEMMAS:
often
often face
face an
an ETHICAL DILEMMAS:
(1)
ethical
(1) Public
Public safety
safety versus
versus welfare
welfare
ethical
dilemma:
(2)
dilemma:
(2) Data
Data integrity
integrity versus
versus

representation
representation
(3)
(3) Trade
Trade secrets
secrets versus
versus industrial
industrial
espionage
espionage
(4)
(4) Gift
Gift giving
giving versus
versus bribery
bribery
(5)
(5) Principle
Principle of
of informed
informed consent
consent
(6)
(6) Conflict
Conflict of
of interests
interests
(7)
(7) Accountability
Accountability to
to clients
clients and
and
customers
customers
(8)
(8) Fair
Fair treatment
treatment