Engineering Ethics

Electrical Engineering Department

UMT

1
 Material till slide 15 (previous one) taken
from Engineering Ethics by Charles B.
Fleddermann (Book 1)
 Material in the next slides taken from
Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases by
Charles E. Harris, Jr. et al (Book 2)

2
Types of ethics or morality
 Common morality
 Personal morality
 Professional ethics

3
Preventive ethics
 What is the meaning of preventive ethics?

4
Preventive ethics

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Aspirational ethics
 What are aspirational ethics?

6
Positive engineering
 What could be examples of positive
engineering?

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Professionalism and Code of Ethics
 Chapter 2 of Book 1

8
Brief case study

9
Code of ethics
 We can develop a framework for
understanding ethical problems
 One part of the framework is code of ethics
developed by professional engineering
organizations
 These can guide engineers and give them
insight into ethical problems

10
Engineering as a profession
 Attributes of a profession

11
Engineering as a profession
 Note the words judgement and discretion in
attribute 1 in previous slide

12
Engineering as a profession
 We will consider engineering as a profession

13
Codes of ethics
 Codes express the rights, duties and
obligations of members of the profession

14
Codes of ethics
 Provide a framework for ethical judgement
for a professional
 Can only serve as starting point for ethical
decision making

15
Codes of ethics
 Is not a recipe for ethical behaviour
 Is never a substitute for sound judgement
 Is not a legal document
 You cannot be arrested for violating its
provisions, though expulsion from society may
result

16
Codes of ethics
 There are objections to code as well
 Engineers not aware of codes
 Have never read it
 Do not consult it
 There can be internal conflicts in codes
 How?

17
Understanding Ethical Problems
 Book 1, Chapter 3

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Case study

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Case study

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Understanding Ethical Problems
 In order to answer the question in the last
slide
 We need a framework for analysing ethical
problems
 What can be an example of such a framework?
 We also need to understand moral theories
 As a means for analysing ethical cases

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Ethical Thought
 How does ethical thought originate?

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Ethical theories
 What is a moral theory?
 It defines terms in uniform ways and links ideas
and problems together in consistent ways
 Same as scientific theories, which also organize
ideas, define terms, and facilitate problem
solving

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Four ethical theories
 Differ according to what is held to be the
most important moral concept
 Utilitarianism
 Duty ethics
 Rights ethics
 Virtue ethics

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Four ethical theories
 Utilitarianism
 Example of dam building

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Four ethical theories
 Utilitarianism
 WIPP example

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Four ethical theories
 Utilitarianism
 WIPP example

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Four ethical theories
 Utilitarianism
 WIPP example

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Four ethical theories
 Virtue ethics

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Personal vs. corporate morality
 Virtue ethics

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Personal vs. corporate morality
 Virtue ethics

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Which theory to use

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Which theory to use

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Which theory to use

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