Lecture-2:

Types of Ethics
and
Moral Development

Scientific Ethics and

Safety
ENGR / SCI 304
Sherif H. El-Gohary , Phd
Assistant Professor,Biomedical Engineering
shamdy@zewailcity.edu.eg
What Is Ethics?
Josephson Institute of Ethics
Ethics refers to standards of
conduct . . . that indicate how one
should behave based on . .
.principles of right and wrong. As
a practical matter, ethics is about
how we meet the challenge of
doing the right thing
Why study ethics?
• When students enter the professional
world, they will be expected to follow an
explicit or implicit ethical code.
• To responsibly confront moral issues
raised by technological activity
• How to deal with ethical dilemmas in
their professional lives?
• To achieve moral autonomy
Forms of ethics

 Descriptive ethics (what morals people follow)

 Metaethics (what is good? etc)
 Normative ethics (what should we do?)
 Applied ethics (how do we apply ethics to work and
lives?)
 Moral psychology (the biological and psychological
bases)
Moral Theory
Moral Philosophy include the sub-disciplines:
1. Normative ethics
Which is the study of moral standards, general
principles, concepts, values, and theories.
2. Applied ethics
Which is the study of ethical dilemmas, choices,
and standards in various occupations, professions,
concrete (particular, not general) situations, and
the application of moral theories and concepts in
particular contexts. Such as “medical ethics” have
mentioned above.
3. Meta-ethics
Which studies the nature and justification of
moral standards, values, principles, and theories
and the meaning of moral concepts and terms.
Such as “is morality objective?” and “why should
we obey moral obligations?”
Different or similar…
Ethics Morals
What is it? The rules of conduct recognized in Principles or habits with
respect to a particular class of respect to right or wrong
human actions or a particular conduct. It defines how things
group, culture, etc. it defines how should work according to an
thing are according to the rules. individual’ ideas and
principles.
Source Social system/ external Individual / internal
Why we do it? Because society says it is the right Because we believe in
thing to do. something being right or
wrong.
What if we don’t do We will face peer/ societal Doing something against one’s
it? disapproval, or even be fired from morals and principles can have
our job. different effects on different
people, they may feel
uncomfortable, remorse,
depressed etc.
Flexibility Ethics are dependent on others Usually consistent, although
for definition. They tend to be can change if an individual’s
consistent within a certain beliefs change.
context, but can vary
How Ethical Decisions are
Made
• Throughout your life, you will face many
ethical problems

• Feelings and Opinions

• The Greatest Good
• The Golden Rule
How Ethics works inside..

Good or
Taken Bad,
Decided by Leads to Series of together Right or
Character Conduct
of a man of a person Actions Considered As wrong,
Moral or
Immoral

By which
we can
Known as
Judge
Moral
again
Judgement

Moral
Standards Requires
Sources of Ethical Norms
Fellow Regions of
Workers Country

Family Profession
The Individual
Conscience
Friends Employer

The Law Religious Society at

Beliefs Large
Practical Ethics
• Engineering ethics
• Ethics of science
• Bioethics
• Medical ethics
• Environmental ethics
• Public ethics
• Media ethics
• Political ethics
10
“Objective”
• Note two things about these sentences:
• Each of these sentences is either true or
false.
• The truth or falsity of these sentences does
not depend at all on who makes the claim,
when the claim is made or where the claim
is made.
• When a sentence has these properties, we‟ll
say that it makes an objective claim.
 Cultural Relativism
• Eskimos
• Are polygamous
• Indulge in „wife-lending‟
• Commit infanticide
• Leave their elderly parents in
the snow to die…
Ethical Dilemmas

An ethical dilemma is a situation a person

faces in which a decision must be made
about appropriate behavior.
Rationalizing
Unethical Behavior

Everybody does it.

If it’s legal, it’s ethical.

Likelihood of discovery and consequences

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas

1. Obtain the relevant facts.

2. Identify the ethical issues from the facts.

3. Determine who is affected.

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas

4. Identify the alternatives available to the

person who must resolve the dilemma.

5. Identify the likely consequence of each

alternative.

6. Decide the appropriate action.

Relevant Facts
A staff person has been informed that
he will work hours without recording
them as hours worked.

Firm policy prohibits this practice.

Another staff person has stated that

this is common practice in the firm.
Ethical Issue

Is it ethical for the staff person to work hours and

not record them as hours worked in this situation?

Who is affected? How are they affected?

What alternatives does the staff person have?

How to Evaluate Solutions:
Some Theories
• Stakeholder/utilitarian theory: greatest good
to the greatest number
• Rights Theory: Respecting and protecting
individual rights to fair and equal treatment,
privacy, freedom to advance, etc.
• Justice Theory: fair distribution of benefits and
burdens: can harm to individual be justifiable?
• Categorical Imperative: “what if everyone took
such action?”
• “Front Page Test:” What if my decision was
reported on the front page of the Los Angeles
Times?
19
 A Doctor's
Dilemma

• You are a doctor at a top hospital. You have six

gravely ill patients, five of whom are in urgent
need of organ transplants. You can‟t help them,
though, because there are no available organs
that can be used to save their lives. The sixth
patient, however, will die without a particular
medicine. If s/he dies, you will be able to save
the other five patients by using the organs of
patient 6, who is an organ donor.
What do you do?
A. Keep patient 6 comfortable, but do not
give him the medical care that could save
his life in order to save the other five
patients.

B. Save patient 6 and let the other five die;

it‟s unfortunate, but that‟s not your call to
make.
Results
Major Ethical Theories
• Ancient/Religious
• Major religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, etc.
• Indigenous belief systems
• What they share with one another.
• Virtue ethics
• Based on the thoughts of the Greek, systematized by
Aristotle
• Emphasis on development of character.
Major Ethical Theories
• Modern
• Immanuel Kant - deontological ethics
• ‘deontos’ is Greek for ‘duty’
• Emphasis on the role of duty and conforming to rational ideal.
• J. S. Mill - utilitarianism, or consequentialist ethics
• “Greatest good for the greatest number”
• Calculation of goods and utilities.
• What these two theories share in common.
Major Ethical Theories
• ‘Postmodern’ theories
• F. Nietzsche - ‘revaluation of all values’; ‘genealogy of
morals’
• Basic assumption of the postmoderns - distrust in the
power of reason, belief that true objectivity cannot be
found, ‘truth’ is a construction.
• What this means for applied ethics.
 Cheating is a persistent problem in
classrooms. How students think about this
problem and how teachers should respond to it
depend on students’ levels of moral
development.
 Scenario 1
The Heinz 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
let him pay later. But the doctor scientist refused.

Should Heinz break into the laboratory to steal the

drug for his wife? Why or why not?
 Kohlberg’s
Stages of Moral Development
• Stage 1 – Punishment-Obedience Orientation
LEVEL I • Stage 2 – Instrumental Relativist Orientation

• Stage 3 – Good Boy – Nice Girl Orientation

LEVEL II • Stage 4 – Law and Order Orientation

• Stage 5 – Social Contract Orientation

LEVEL III • Stage 6 – Universal Ethical Principle Orientation
 Kohlberg’s
Stages of Moral Development
Level and Age Stage What determines right and wrong?

Preconventional: Punishment & Obedience Right and wrong defined by what they get punished for. If
you get told off for stealing then obviously stealing is
Up to the Age of 9 wrong.

Instrumental - Relativist Similar, but right and wrong is now determined by what
we are rewarded for, and by doing what others want. Any
concern for others is motivated by selfishness.

Conventional: Interpersonal concordance Being good is whatever pleases others. The child adopts a
conformist attitude to morality. Right and wrong are
Most adolescents determined by the majority
and adults
Law and order Being good now means doing your duty to society. To this
end we obey laws without question and show a respect
for authority. Most adults do not progress past this stage.

Postconventional: Social contract Right and wrong now determined by personal values,
although these can be over-ridden by democratically
10 to 15% of the agreed laws. When laws infringe our own sense of justice
over 20s. we can choose to ignore them.

Universal ethical principle We now live in accordance with deeply held moral
principles which are seen as more important than the
laws of the land.
LEVEL I

Pre-conventional
Morality
4 – 10 yrs. old people at this stage
do not really
understand the
conventions / rules
of a society.
Pre-conventional Level
1. Punishment-
Obedience It’s bad to steal...because you’ll get
punished (Kohlberg, 1958)

He asked first and he only stole

something small and he won’t go to
prison.

Egocentric
Right or wrong depends on consequences
Right or wrong is determined by an outside
authority - punishment "proves" that disobedience
is wrong
We avoid breaking rules for fear of punishment
”.
2. Instrumental-Relativist

Maybe they had children and he might need

someone at home to look after them. But maybe he
shouldn't steal it because they might put him in
prison for more years than he could stand
(Colby and Kaufman 1983, p. 300 in Crain 1985)

Different individuals have different viewpoints.

“Right” is relative, so each person can pursue
our own interests – “what’s in it for me?”
Punishment is a risk we want to avoid.

”.
LEVEL II 10 – 13 yrs. old

Conventional
Morality

People at this
stage conform to
the conventions /
rules of a society.
Conventional Level
3. Interpersonal Concordance
It was really the druggist's fault, he was unfair, trying to
overcharge and letting someone die. Heinz loved his wife and
wanted to save her. I think anyone would. I don't think they
would put him in jail. The judge would look at all sides, and see
that the druggist was charging too much (Kohlberg, 1963)

People should live up to family/ community

expectations.
“Good” behaviour = good motives: (love,
empathy and compassion for others).
We should maintain the rules that support
good behaviour.

”.
4. Authority & Social Order
Maintenance
If everybody did as he wanted to do, set up his own beliefs as
to right and wrong, then I think you would have chaos. The
only thing I think we have in civilization nowadays is some sort
of legal structure which people are sort of bound to follow
Gibbs et al., 1983

 Moral decisions take society as a whole into

account.
Laws stand above individual opinions and
should be upheld unless a very good reason.
Following the law guarantees social order.

”.
LEVEL III
Post-Conventional
Morality
The moral principles
that underline the
conventions of a
society are
understood.
Post-conventional Level
5. Social Contract, Legalistic
It is the husband's duty to save his wife. The fact that her
life is in danger transcends every other standard you might
use to judge his action. Life is more important than property.
Usually the moral and legal standpoints coincide. Here they
conflict. The judge should weight the moral standpoint more
heavily but preserve the ... law in punishing Heinz lightly.
(Kohlberg 1976)

The law forms a social contract for everyone’s

welfare.
BUT rights like the right to life and liberty must
also be upheld regardless of the law.
We should change unjust laws and settle
disputes through democratic means.

”.
6. Universal Ethical Principle

Heinz should steal the drug when a choice must be

made between disobeying a law and saving a life,
one must act in accordance with the higher
principle of preserving and respecting life
(Gross 2001)

The law forms a social contract for everyone’s

welfare, but certain rights transcend law
 Democratic processes may not be enough to
change unjust laws
 Civil disobedience may be the only answer.

”.
 Kohlberg’s Moral Stages
Level and Age Stage What determines right and wrong?

Preconventional: Punishment & Obedience Right and wrong defined by what they get punished for. If
you get told off for stealing then obviously stealing is
Up to the Age of 9 wrong.

Instrumental - Relativist Similar, but right and wrong is now determined by what
we are rewarded for, and by doing what others want. Any
concern for others is motivated by selfishness.

Conventional: Interpersonal concordance Being good is whatever pleases others. The child adopts a
conformist attitude to morality. Right and wrong are
Most adolescents determined by the majority
and adults
Law and order Being good now means doing your duty to society. To this
end we obey laws without question and show a respect
for authority. Most adults do not progress past this stage.

Postconventional: Social contract Right and wrong now determined by personal values,
although these can be over-ridden by democratically
10 to 15% of the agreed laws. When laws infringe our own sense of justice
over 20s. we can choose to ignore them.

Universal ethical principle We now live in accordance with deeply held moral
principles which are seen as more important than the
laws of the land.
Classify the responses to this dilemma according
to Kohlberg’s stages

Lydia’s parents often A. Yes, if she cheats and does well,

become angry when she gets her parents will think she is a good
bad grades. daughter and will be proud.

She has not been doing very B. No, because if she gets caught she
well at school recently and is will be punished.
considering cheating on an
upcoming test. C. No, because cheating is against
school rules.
Should she cheat?
D. No, because cheating is unfair to
A = Stage 3 other students . A person should
B= Stage 1 complete her own work.
C= Stage 4
D= Stage 5 E. Yes, because if she cheats and gets
E= Stage 2 a good grade on her test, she may hey
a reward.