ME-302 Ethical & Legal

Dimensions of Engineering

Course Instructor:
Engr. Dr. Ahmad Nawaz 1-1
 Lecture 2

Ethical Theories

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 Learning Objectives:

 Moral Autonomy

 Defining Profession

 Ethical Theories that are a matter of Concern

 Which theory to use?

 Classical case of Engineering Ethics

 Ethical Dilemmas

 Code of Ethics

 Code of Ethics – Resolving situations of conflict 1-3

 Moral Autonomy
 Autonomy means self-governing or self- determining, to Act
independently. Moral autonomy is the Independent attitude of a
person related to ethical Issues. Moral autonomy is, in other
words, the skill (ability) and the habit (practice) of thinking
rationally about ethical issues on the basis of moral concern.

 The decisions without fear and favor.

 This foundation of general responsiveness to moral values

derives primarily from the training we receive as children in
being sensitive to the needs and rights of others, as well as of
ourselves. When such training is absent, as it often is with
seriously abused children, the tragic result can be an adult
sociopath who lacks any sense of moral right and wrong.

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Defining Profession
 Professions are those occupations that both require advanced
study and mastery of a specialized body of knowledge, and
undertake to promote, ensure, or safeguard some aspect of
others’ well-being.

 Attributes of a profession

1. Work that requires sophisticated skills, the use of

judgment, and the exercise of discretion. Also, the work
is not routine and is not capable of being mechanized.

2. Membership in the profession requires extensive

formal education, not simply practical training or
apprenticeship.
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Ethical theories that are a
matter of concern

 There are four ethical theories that will be considered here,

each differing according to what is held to be the most
important moral concept.

 Utilitarianism seeks to produce the most utility, defined as a

balance between good and bad consequences of an action,
taking into account the consequences for everyone affected.

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Cont’d
 A different approach is provided by duty ethics. Duty ethics
contends that there are duties that should be performed (for
example, the duty to treat others fairly or the duty not to
injure others) regardless of whether these acts lead to the
most good.

 Rights ethics emphasizes that we all have moral rights, and

any action that violates these rights is ethically unacceptable.
Like duty ethics, the ultimate overall good of the actions is
not taken into account.

 Finally, virtue ethics regards actions as right that manifest

good character traits (virtues) and regards actions as bad
that display bad character traits (vices); this ethical theory
focuses on the type of person we should strive for to be.
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Cont’d
 Utilitarianism – Utilitarianism holds that those actions are
good that serve to maximize human well-being. emphasis in
utilitarianism is not on maximizing the well-being of the
individual, but rather on maximizing the well-being of society
as a whole, and as such it is somewhat of a collectivist
approach.
 An example of this theory that has been played out in this
country many times over the past century is the building of
dams.
 Dams often lead to great benefit to society by providing
stable supplies of drinking water, flood control, and
recreational opportunities. However, these benefits often
come at the expense of people who live in areas that will be
flooded by the dam and are required to find new homes, or
lose the use of their land. Utilitarianism tries to balance the
needs of society with the needs of the individual. 1-8
Criticism of Utilitarian approach

 Sometimes what is best for everyone may be bad for a

particular individual or a group of individuals.

 Another objection to utilitarianism is that its implementation

depends greatly on knowing what will lead to the most good.
Frequently, it is impossible to know exactly what the
consequences of an action are.

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Cost–Benefit Analysis in Engg.
 In cost–benefit analysis, the costs of a project are assessed,
as are the benefits. Only those projects with the highest ratio
of benefits to costs will be implemented. This principle is
similar to the utilitarian goal of maximizing the overall good.

 The Pitfalls of Cost-benefit analysis for example, from a pure

cost–benefit discussion, it might seem that the building of a
dam is an excellent idea. But this analysis won’t include other
issues such as whether the benefits outweigh the loss of a
scenic wilderness area or the loss of an endangered species
with no current economic value. Finally, it is also important to
determine whether those who stand to reap the benefits are
also those who will pay the costs. It is unfair to place all of
the costs on one group while another reaps the benefits.

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Duty Ethics
 Two other ethical theories—duty ethics and rights ethics—are
similar to each other and will be considered together. These
theories hold that those actions are good that respect the
rights of the individual. Here, good consequences for society
as a whole are not the only moral consideration.

 A major proponent of duty ethics was Immanuel Kant (1724–

1804), who held that moral duties are fundamental. Ethical
actions are those actions that could be written down on a list
of duties: be honest, don’t cause suffering to other people,
be fair to others, etc.

 These actions are our duties because they express respect for
persons, express an unqualified regard for autonomous moral
agents, and are universal principles [ Schinzinger and Martin,
2000]. 1-11
Criticism of Rights and Duty
Ethics

 First the basic rights of one person (or group) may conflict
with the basic rights of another group. How do we decide
whose rights have priority? Using our previous example of
the building of a dam, people have the right to use their
property. If their land happens to be in the way of a proposed
dam, then rights ethics would hold that this property right is
paramount and is sufficient to stop the dam project.

 A single property holder’s objection would require that the

project be terminated. The second problem with duty and
rights ethics is that these theories don’t always account for
the overall good of society very well.

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Virtue Ethics

 Virtue ethics is interested in determining what kind of people

we should be. Virtue is often defined as moral distinction and
goodness. A virtuous person exhibits good and beneficial
qualities. In virtue ethics, actions are considered right if they
support good character traits (virtues) and wrong if they
support bad character traits (vices) [Schinzinger and Martin,
2000].

 Virtue ethics focuses on words such as responsibility,

honesty, competence, and loyalty, which are virtues. Other
virtues might include trustworthiness,fairness,caring,
citizenship, and respect. Vices could include dishonesty,
disloyalty, irresponsibility, or incompetence.

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Cont’d

 We can use virtue ethics in our engineering career by

answering questions

 Is this action honest? Will this action demonstrate loyalty to

my community and/or my employer? Have I acted in a
responsible fashion? Often, the answer to these questions
makes the proper course of action obvious. To use virtue
ethics in an analysis of an ethical problem, you should
first identify the virtues or vices that are applicable to the
situation. Then, determine what course of action each of
these suggests. In using virtue ethics, it is important to
ensure that the traits you identify as virtues are indeed
virtuous and will not lead to negative consequences.

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McCuen’s Ethical Dimensions

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Which theory to use?

 Now that we have discussed four different ethical theories,

the question arises: How do we decide which theory is
applicable to a given problem?

 The good news is that in solving ethical problems, we don’t

have to choose from among these theories. Rather, we can
use all of them to analyze a problem from different angles
and see what result each of the theories gives us. This allows
us to examine a problem from different perspectives to see
what conclusion each one reaches. Frequently, the result will
be the same even though the theories are very different.

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Cont’d
 Take, for example, a chemical plant near a small city that
discharges a hazardous waste into the groundwater. If the
city takes its water from wells, the water supply for the city
will be compromised and significant health problems for the
community may result.

 Rights ethics indicates that this pollution is unethical, since it

causes harm to many of the residents. A utilitarian analysis
would probably also come to the same conclusion, since the
economic benefits of the plant would almost certainly be
outweighed by the negative effects of the pollution and the
costs required to ensure a safe municipal water supply.
Virtue ethics would say that discharging wastes into
groundwater is irresponsible and harmful to individuals and
so shouldn’t be done. In this case, all of the ethical theories
lead to the same conclusion. 1-17
Classic case of engineering
Ethics

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Cont’d

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Well-being and Profession
 What is distinctive about the ethical demands professions
make on their practitioners is the combination of the
responsibility for some aspect of others’ well-being and the
complexity of the knowledge and information that they must
integrate in acting to promote that well-being.
Professional practice requires acquisition of the special
knowledge and skill peculiar to one’s profession and
application of that knowledge to achieve certain ends.

 The further requirement for an occupation to be a profession,

namely, that the ends it seeks are to preserve or promote
some aspect of human well-being, distinguishes
professions from disciplines, such as mathematics or
philosophy. Code of ethics are formulated to make sure that
professions clearly address aspects of human well-being.
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Engineering as a Profession

 Certainly, engineering requires extensive and sophisticated

skills. Otherwise, why spend four years in college/University
just to get a start in engineering? The essence of engineering
design is judgment: how to use the available materials,
components, and devices to reach a specified objective.

 Discretion is required in engineering: Engineers are required

to keep their employers’ or clients’ intellectual property and
business information confidential.

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Cont’d

 Engineering requires extensive formal training. Four years of

undergraduate training leading to a bachelor’s degree in an
engineering program is essential, followed by work under the
supervision of an experienced engineer. Many engineering jobs
even require advanced degrees beyond the bachelor’s degree.
The work of engineers serves the public good by providing
communication systems, transportation, energy resources, and
medical diagnostic and treatment equipment, to name only a
few.

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Ethical Dilemmas
 Ethical (or moral) dilemmas are situations in which moral
reasons come into conflict, or in which the applications of
moral values are unclear, and it is not immediately obvious
what should be done.

 Ethical dilemmas arise in engineering, as elsewhere, because

moral values are many and varied and can make competing
claims. Yet, although moral dilemmas comprise the most
difficult occasions for moral reasoning, they constitute a
relatively small percentage of moral choices, that is, decisions
involving moral values.

 Code of ethics serve as guide for resolving ethical dilemmas.

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Code of Ethics

 Codes of ethics are not limited to professional organizations.

They can also be found, for example, in corporations and
universities as well.

 These codes express the rights, duties, and obligations of the

members of the profession. Primarily, a code of ethics
provides a framework for ethical judgment for a professional.

 Codes serve as a starting point for ethical decision making.

A code defines the roles and responsibilities of professionals
[Harris,Pritchard, and Rabins, 2000 ].

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Cont’d

 We might divide ethical dilemmas into two broad categories.

On the one hand, many dilemmas have solutions that are
either right or wrong.

 “Right” means that one course of action is obligatory, and

failing to do that action is unethical (immoral). In most
instances a code of ethics specifies what is clearly required:

a. Obey the law and heed engineering standards,

b. Do not offer or accept bribe.
c. Speak and write truthfully, maintain confidentiality, and
so forth.

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Cont’d

 On the other hand, some dilemmas have two or more

reasonable solutions, no one of which is mandatory, but one
of which should be chosen. These solutions might be better
or worse than others in some respects but not necessarily in
all respects.

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Code of Ethics – Resolving
situations of conflict
 Codes of ethics play at least eight essential roles:

1. serving and protecting the public,

2. providing guidance,
3. offering inspiration,
4. establishing shared standards,
5. supporting responsible professionals,
6. contributing to education,
7. deterring wrongdoing, and
8. strengthening a profession’s image.

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Cont’d

1. Serving and protecting the public.

Engineering involves advanced expertise that professionals have

and the public lacks, and also considerable dangers to a
vulnerable public. Accordingly, professionals stand in a fiduciary
relationship with the public: Trust and trustworthiness are
essential. A code of ethics functions as a commitment by the
profession as a whole that engineers will serve the public
health,safety, and welfare. In one way or another, the remaining
functions of codes all contribute to this primary function.

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 Cont’d
2. Guidance.

Codes provide helpful guidance by articulating the main obligations of

engineers. Because codes should be brief to be effective, they offer mostly
general guidance. Nonetheless, when well written, they identify primary
responsibilities. More specific directions may be given in supplementary
statements or guidelines, which tell how to apply the code.

3. Inspiration.

Because codes express a profession’s collective commitment to ethics,

they provide a positive stimulus (motivation) for ethical conduct. In a
powerful way, they voice what it means to be a member of a profession
committed to responsible conduct in promoting the safety, health, and
welfare of the public. Although this paramount ideal is somewhat vague, it
expresses a collective commitment to the public good that inspires
individuals to have similar aspirations. 1-29
 Cont’d
4. Shared standards.

The diversity of moral viewpoints among individual engineers makes it

essential that professions establish explicit standards, in particular
minimum (but hopefully high) standards. In this way, the public is assured
of a standard of excellence on which it can depend, and professionals are
provided a fair playing field in competing for clients.

5. Support for responsible professionals.

Codes give positive support to professionals seeking to act ethically. A

publicly proclaimed code allows an engineer, under pressure to act
unethically, to say: “I am bound by the code of ethics of my profession,
which states that . . .” This by itself gives engineers some group backing
in taking stands on moral issues. Moreover, codes can potentially serves
legal support for engineers criticized for living up to work-related
professional obligations.
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 Cont’d

6. Education and mutual understanding.

Codes can be used by professional societies and in the classroom

to prompt discussion and reflection on moral issues. Widely
circulated an officially approved by professional societies, codes
encourage a shared understanding among professionals, the
public, and government organizations about the moral
responsibilities of engineers. A case in point is NSPE’s BER, which
actively promotes moral discussion by applying the NSPE code to
cases for educational purposes.

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 Cont’d

7. Deterrence and discipline.

Codes can also serve as the formal basis for investigating unethical
conduct. Where such investigation is possible, a deterrent for
immoral behavior is thereby provided. Such an investigation
generally requires paralegal proceedings designed to get at the
truth about a given charge without violating the personal rights of
those being investigated. Unlike the American Bar Association and
some other professional groups, engineering societies cannot by
themselves revoke the right to practice engineering in the United
States. Yet some professional societies do suspend or expel
members whose professional conduct has been proven unethical,
and this alone can be a powerful sanction when combined with the
loss of respect from colleagues and the local community that such
action is bound to produce.
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 Cont’d

8. Contributing to the profession’s image.

Codes can present a positive image to the public of an ethically

committed profession. Where warranted, the image can help
engineers more effectively serve the public. It can also win greater
powers of self regulation for the profession itself, while lessening
the demand for more government regulation. The reputation of a
profession, like the reputation of an individual professional or a
corporation, is essential in sustaining the trust of the public.

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Questions???

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