Chapter 3

Engineering Ethics
 Introduction
• Engineering is the process of coming up with relevant solutions
to problems with the help of technology with the intention of
making life easier, safer and more comfortable.

• Ethics are the principles and standards accepted by the society.

• Engineering Ethics is the study of decisions, policies and values

that are morally desirable in engineering practice and research.

• An engineer with ethics, can help the society in a better way.

 Morals and Ethics
Morals
• The word “Morality” originates from the Latin word “mos”
meaning “custom”.
• Morals are the principles or habits with respect to right or
wrong of one’s own conduct.
• They are not imposed by anyone.
• Morals are what you think is good and bad personally.
• Depending on a few factors, our mind filters things as good or
bad.
• These are the ideas that help frame our personality.
 Morals and Ethics
Morals
A moral is the code of conduct that you develop over time and set
for yourself to follow, just like
• Being good to everyone
• Speaking only the truth
• Going against what you know is wrong
• Avoid cheating
• Being nice to others etc.

Morals can be changed according to one’s beliefs (they are

completely dependent on one’s perception for ethical values).
 Morals and Ethics
Ethics
• The word “Ethics” originates from the Greek word “ethos”
meaning “character”.

• Ethics are a set of rules or principles (standards/ good and bad/

right and wrong) which are usually imposed by an external
group, a society, a profession or so.

• It can be understood as the rules of conduct proposed by a

society or recognized with respect to a particular class of
human actions or a particular group or culture.
 Morals and Ethics
Ethics
• Ethics are dependent on others definition.
• A best example that can explain ethics is utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism is the philosophy which explains that the happiness or pleasure

of the greatest number of people in the society is considered as the greatest
good.

• According to this philosophy, an action is morally right if its consequences

leads to happiness of the people and wrong if the action leads to their
unhappiness.
• This theory moves beyond the scope of one’s own interests and considers
the interests of others.
 Ethics in Engineering
• Engineering Ethics is the study of related questions about
morality, character, policies and relationships of people and
organizations involved in engineering activities.

• It shows the attempt of professional engineers to define proper

course of action in dealing with each other, their clients and
employees, and the general public.

• An engineer has to go through some ethical issues, mostly under,

conceptualization of a product, design and testing departments,
or may be on manufacturing, sales and services.
 Ethics in Engineering
• Engineering Ethics is very important because it affects most of
our day-to-day life (doctors and lawyers affect one person at a
time, while engineers may affect hundreds if not thousands of
people at the same time).

Eg.
How safe are the products or services?
Do they benefit the people?
How do they affect the profession and the industry?
How do they affect the environment?
 Ethical Reasoning
The following are some important skills for ethical reasoning:

Moral Reasonableness− the ability and willingness to be morally reasonable

while dealing with issues.
Respect for Persons− treating people with genuine respect.
Tolerance of diversity− having a broader perspective towards people’s ethnic
and religious differences.
Moral hope− better communication and rational dialogue to solve moral
conflicts.
Integrity− Being honest and having strong moral principles.
 Moral Issues

A moral issue can be understood as an issue to be resolved not

only by considering the technical stuff but also by keeping moral
values in mind.
To be more precise, let us consider the definition in general.

“Moral issue is an issue of moral concern that is presented as any

issue with the potential to help or harm anyone, including
oneself.”
 Types of Moral Issues
There are mainly two types of Moral issues that we mostly come across
while keeping the ethical aspects in mind to respond. They are:

Micro-ethics
• This approach stresses more on the problems that occur on a daily
basis in the field of engineering and its practice by engineers.

Macro-ethics
• This approach deals with social problems which are unknown.
• However, these problems may unexpectedly face the heat at both
regional and national levels.
 Examples of Moral Issues

Example 1

After a recent collapse of a structure in which many people died,

an Engineer came to know about a bridge which is marginally safe.
He informed his superior who asked him to stay calm and not to
discuss with anyone, while waiting for the next year budget
sessions to get some financial help for the repair required.
What should the engineer do?
 Examples of Moral Issues

Answer

If the engineer listens to his superior and keeps quiet from saying
anything about the unsafe bridge, more people might die on his
watch.
Instead of waiting for a year to repair the bridge, he should inform
management that the bridge is high risk, and it should be closed
until it is fixed.
 Examples of Moral Issues
Example 2

A mechanical engineer did not make all the necessary calculations

when making the final check on a test of car breaks. Fortunately for
him, the car passes the test without any troubles and it is ready to be
put into the market. He knows his carelessness is putting people’s lives
and the company’s reputation in a major risk. It will also cost the
company a lot of money to pay for any damage. However, if he lets his
superiors know, he will probably lose his job.
What should he do?
 Examples of Moral Issues

Answer

He should definitely report the problem because he has to face the

consequences of his action instead of letting people die and
putting the company in a great risk.
 Examples of Moral Issues
Example 3

A construction engineer, who is responsible for the construction of

fifteen floors building suddenly became really sick and had to stay in
bed for one month. The general manager replaced him by another
engineer to continue the work. The new engineer discovered that the
reinforcement steel doesn’t agree with the design.
• Should he continue the work without telling anyone so that he won’t
harm his colleague?
• Should he tell the general manager that the previous engineer was
dishonest?
 Examples of Moral Issues
Answer

• If the new engineer lets the first one go with his actions and
makes the necessary changes himself, he would commit a
terrible ethical mistake because he let the dishonest engineer go
unpunished. The previous engineer may continue such actions
again in other projects.
• He would also be risking peoples lives by continuing the
construction work on an unsafe building.
• He should definitely tell the general manager what he found.
 Examples of Moral Issues

• These are the few examples just to understand the kind of moral
issues/dilemmas.
• There might be one or more correct answers at times.
• There can be some other way around to deal with the issue,
which one can’t easily notice.
• However, the decisions have to be made by following a slow and
clear process in order to avoid further problems and to solve this
in a manner that leads to no regrets.
 Dealing with Moral Issues
When engineers face issues, they must deal with them in patience and some
moral goals must be kept in mind.

Moral Awareness− One should be able to recognize the moral problems and
issues that occur in Engineering.
Analysis of the problem is necessary to differentiate and judge according to
ethics and the rules to follow.

Logical Moral Reasoning− In order to conclude on an issue, the argument

must be assessed and comprehended.
The argument on both sides should be considered with all the probabilities in
a logical manner.
 Dealing with Moral Issues
Moral Coherence− After having gone through all the logical and moral facts,
consistent and comprehensive viewpoints are to be formed based upon a
consideration of relevant facts.

Moral Imagination− The moral issues and the practical issues must be dealt
separately.
Alternative responses are to be found out for dealing with moral issues while
creative solutions should be found out for practical difficulties.

Moral Communication− The language to communicate about one’s moral

views should be so precise and clear, that the expression or words should not
alter the original meaning.
 Types of Inquiries
• The issues can be resolved by following an investigation
procedure, step by step in order to have a clear understanding
towards the issue.
• Judging the issues has to be followed by a systematic procedure
to avoid any flaws.
• Engineering ethics involves investigations into values, meanings
and facts.
• Here we have three different types of inquiries.
 Types of Inquiries
Normative Inquiries
• Refers to the description ‘what one ought to do’ under a specific
circumstance.
• Identifies and justifies the morally desirable nature for guiding individuals
or groups.
• This includes the responsibility of engineers to protect the public safety
and how they should respond under such dangerous practices.
• Normative inquiries also quote the laws and procedures that affect the
engineering practice on moral grounds.
• They refer to the thought process where the moral rights are to be
implemented in order to fulfill their professional obligations.
 Types of Inquiries
Conceptual Inquiries

• Refers to the description of the meaning of concepts, principles and issues

related to engineering ethics.
• The ethics that an engineer should possess to protect the safety, health and
welfare of the public, etc. are described under conceptual inquiries.
• It describes what safety is and mentions the marginal issues of safety
along with the precautions an engineer should take to avoid risk.
• Conceptual inquiries mention the moral aspects of bribery and its effects,
along with the professional ethics and professionalism.
 Types of Inquiries
Factual and Descriptive Inquiries

• Help to provide the facts for understanding and finding solutions

to the value-based issues.
• The engineer has to conduct factual inquiries by using scientific
techniques.
• This helps in providing the information regarding the business
realities such as engineering practice, the procedures to be
adopted when assessing risks and psychological profiles of
engineers.
 Moral Dilemma
• At times, the situations occur where one cannot make
immediate decisions as the moral reasons come into conflict.
• The moral reasons can be rights, duties, goods or obligations,
which make the decision-making complex.

• Complexities (the difficulties in arriving to a solution, when

segregated) can be divided into the following three sections.
• Vagueness
• Conflicting Reasons and
• Disagreement
 Moral Dilemma
Vagueness
• Refers to the condition where the doubt lies in whether the action refers to good
or bad.
• Sometimes includes the unwritten rules like being loyal, having respect,
maintaining confidentiality, etc.
Conflicting reasons
• When you have more than one solution, the making of better choice among the
ones you have, will be the internal conflict.
• Fixing the priorities depends upon the knowledge and the moral values one has.
Disagreement
• When there are two or more solutions and none among them is mandatory, the
final solution selected should be best suitable under existing and the most
probable conditions.
 Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas

• Whenever a person is faced with a moral dilemma, the issue is to

be solved with a stepwise approach as this will generate a better
output.

• The steps include the following:

 Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas
Identification
The step of identification involves the following:

• The issue has to be thoroughly understood.

• The duties and the responsibilities of the persons involved are
to be clearly known.
• The moral factors related to the issue are to be understood.
• The conflicting responsibilities, the competing rights and the
clashing ideas involved are to be identified.
 Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas
Ranking

• The considerations in the issue are to be listed down.

• Then they have to be ranked according to the priorities.
• The moral aspect has to be considered to rank the issues.
• The advantages of a single person should never be given any
importance unless any moral reason is there behind it.
• No partiality (unfair bias) is allowed.
 Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas
Inquiries

• The inquiry of details involved in the issue is to be completely

made.
• All the facts related to the issue are brought into light.
• Considering the alternative courses of action for resolving and
tracing, full implications are also needed.
 Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas
Discussions

• Discussions are to be made with other members, as different

minds look at the issue in different views to give different
solutions.
• The complete analysis of a problem gives chances to different
viewpoints, perspectives and opinions from which a better
solution can be drawn.
 Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas
Final Solution

• After analyzing different perspectives and considering the facts

and reasons based on the truths and understanding the flaws
which lead to the issue, a final solution has to be drawn out.

• This solution will add value to the whole analysis, in all aspects.
Thank You!