S

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO ENGİNEERİNG ETHİCS AND

ENGINEERING ETHICS EDUCATION

Prof. Dr. Günay Kocasoy

MEF UNIVERSITY
Tel : (0212) 359 44 76
(0532) 546 28 08
mail:kocasoyg@mef.edu.tr

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 What Is ethics?

Definitions of ethics
 a rule of conduct
 principles on which to base one’s actions
 TRADITIONAL WESTERN ETHICS

 Anthropocentric - human centered.

 Humans have higher value than non-humans
 Aristotle – “nature has made all things specifically for
the sake of man”
 Bible, Book of Genesis – “…and have dominion over
fish of the sea, and fowl over the air, and over every
living creature that moveth upon the earth”.
FOLLOW-UP MORAL RULES
AND CODE OF ETHIC

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Obvious but important distinction
between morality and professional ethics

Morality standards of conduct that apply to everyone

not only to the members of a special
group 5
Basic moral rules such as,
don’t lie, don’t kill, don’t cheat;
don’t steal, keep your promises
There are exceptions to these rules such as;
“ except in self defense” for “don’t kill” 6
Professional ethics that every member of profession
wants every other member to follow

Applies to members of a group simply

because they are members of that group

 Medical ethics
 Business ethics
 Engineering ethics 7
Special standards of engineering codes
are formulated in different codes of ethics

Informally it is passed from

older generation to new engineers 8
 Main aim of engineeerin ethics education is
to develop

CRITICAL THINKING

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Engineering ethics safety testing/procedures
designing for reliability, durability and economy

Engineering ethics thinking like an engineer

Teaching engineering ethics teaching engineering

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Why should we teach engineering ethics?

Answer: list of tragedies such as

disasters and
scandals
They are news for the media

Examples: DC – 10 crashes
Bhopal disaster
Ümraniye Hekimbaşı Landfill Explossion

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WHY?
National survey result:
Still society place engineers
near the top of the list
in regard to the public’s confidence
in the ethics of the professions
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HOW CAN ENGINEERS
DESERVE THAT TRUST?

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BY THE APPLICATION OF THE
CODE OF ETHICS
OF THE
ENGINEERING PROFESSION
THROUGH EDUCATION

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Young professionals are suprised
When they face with an ethical problem
in their profession
Then they can not handle it properly
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Analyse key ethical concepts and principles
(that are relevant to the particular profession)

And also some others

WHAT ARE THEY?

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Many of these concepts are “massy”
engineers should learn to deal with
ethical disagreements
ambiguity and
vagueness 17
Engineering is not just a technical or
theorethical enterprise
Engineers should take
ethical responsibility seriously
Ethical responsibility should be the
central concern of the
engineering profession and practice18
Teaching ethics increases the student sensitivity to

ethical issues
They will be aware that engineers will have to
resolve certain ethical
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problems
Teaching engineering ethics increases
student knowledge of relevant standards
Thus students understand the rational of
these
standards
(especially consequences of departing from them) 20
Taking into economy of designing a product
Teaching engineering ethics improves
students’ ethical will – power and
ethical
judgement
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HOW?

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  INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES
 Ethics education in the form of both
courses and workshops

Courses → useful for students

Workshops → useful for faculty

 Workshops can reach more people than the course

 Courses can explore more in depth

 Interactive instruction has more positive results

than some other approaches

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