Professional Ethics

Three Unhelpful Views about Technology 1. Technology is a good thing. It liberates human beings and brings about prosperity (utopia). 2. Technology is a bad thing. It is an autonomous force that threatens individuality, freedom, and the environment. 3. Technology s nt as important as the first two groups think. History has shown that people can and have adapted to changes in technology. All three of these views are oversimplifications that fail to grasp how technology causes social change and how it affects the future. Some Countervailing Considerations: 1. Informational technology has not been the boon it was supposed to be in education. 2. The range of possibility and human choice implicit in technology seems to go against pessimism about the effects of technology on human freedom. 3. Technology, the organization of knowledge for practical purposes, is a genuine matter of concern, since (with its pervasive influence) it has ma

Engineering ethics is the field of applied ethics which examines and sets standards for engineer’s obligations to the public, their clients, employers and the profession. This essay addresses the subject for both professional engineers and other engineers. Engineering does not have a single uniform system, or standard, of ethical conduct across the entire profession. Ethical approaches vary somewhat by discipline and jurisdiction, but are most influenced by whether the engineers are independently providing professional services to clients or the public if employed in governmental services; or if they are employees of an enterprise creating products for sale. In the United States the first are usually licensed Professional engineers, are governed by statute, and have fairly consistent codes of professional ethics. The latter, working as engineers in industry, are governed by various laws including whistleblowing, and product liability laws, and often rely on principles of

The Nineteenth Century and Growing Concern: As engineering rose as a distinct profession during the nineteenth century, engineers saw themselves as either independent specialists or technical employees of large enterprises. In the United States growing professionalism gave rise to the development of four founding engineering societies: ASCE (1851), the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) (1884), ASMF (1880), and the American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME) (1871). ASCE and AIEE were more closely identified with the engineer as learned professional, where ASME<> Turning of the Twentieth Century and Turning Point: As the nineteenth century drew to a close and the twentieth century began, there were a series of significant structural failures, including some spectacular bridge failures, notably the Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster (1851), Tay Bridge Disaster (1879), and the Quebec Bridge collapse (1907). These had a profound effect on engineers

Modern professional codes of ethics cover more relationships than the two basic ones covered by the Hippocratic code. In general they also include relationships between employees and employers and between the professional and the public in general. 1. Professional Relationships with Employers: a. Loyalty In general employees are expected to show loyalty to their employers – they are expected to recognize and help the employer achieve her ends. But there are limits to loyalty, for example the employee must retain the right to support the political party of their choice without threat of job loss, and they must not be expected to buy only company products, in preference to the competitor’s. b. Trade Secrets In a free labor market it is difficult to protect trade secrets. A company can afford to hire a competitor’s employee at a higher price than the competitor if the employee carries information that gives the company a market lead over its competitor. Co

In an engineering education, the fundamental purpose of the college/university years is to enable you in a short period to time, to learn of, and to profit by, the experiences, discoveries, and interpretations of the thousands who have gone before you in the application of nature’s laws and material for the use of mankind. For you, an engineering graduate at the threshold of a professional career, your total education has only begun. So, what is required of you as an engineer? An engineer must consciously develop some very specific and basic qualities. Professor William Wickenden, in his booklet A Professional Guide for Young Engineers, presents them as follows: 1. Courage and integrity are prime requisites for a successful engineer. Do not continue in engineering if you are afraid to take calculated risks and to make decisions on the basis of available information; very seldom will you know in advance the certain answer to any major engineering problem. You must be

Introduction: Engineers help to shape and impact our society. In this process, they are guided by professional codes of conduct. Professional engineers should internalize these codes. Viewing the ethical codes as static statements made by other people limits an engineer’s investment in the codes. For in reality, codes of conduct are dynamic and the ability to understand and apply the codes should be an integral part of the engineering process. Engineering is a scientific discipline in that it requires the study of scientific principles and methodology. However, science in and of itself is generally done to develop knowledge and understanding of the physical universe. Thus the pursuit of science is not driven by societal needs. Scientific study is somewhat of a “curiosity-driven process” and societal values do not necessarily direct the scope or limit the bounds of scientific curiosity. We can envision the base of scientific knowledge as an amoebae-like structure that

Contemporary technologically advanced civilization has made massive changes in the environment. Western society has tended to conceive of nature as passive, as the fit object of human manipulation and control. This view of nature as passive is amply reflected in our language about the nature world. Land is to be “developed.” “Raw” land is to be “improved.” Natural resources are to be “exploited” and “consumed.” Trees are to be “harvested.” The rivers are to be “harnessed” to produce electrical power. The wilderness must be “managed.” Nature, like the rest of the non-human world, is to be subservient to human purposes. The environmental movement, so influential during the last twenty-five years, is a reaction against this attitude toward nature, but there is still a question as to whether the concern for non-human nature should be a part of professional engineering ethics rather than an engineer’s personal ethics. What are some of the arguments for and against including a concern

Applied Ethics is the branch of ethics that asks relatively concrete questions about the morality of specific actions and policies. The following branches focus on various issues of applied ethics: · Medical Ethics (euthanasia, abortion, human cloning, genetic engineering etc.) · Business Ethics (corporate responsibility; rights and obligations of employees etc.) · Legal Ethics (responsibilities of individuals working in the criminal justice system) Common Good Approach: The ethical action is the one that contributes most to the achievement of a quality common life together. In this approach, we focus on ensuring that the social policies, social systems, institutions and environments on which we depend are beneficial to all. Examples of goods common to all include affordable health care, effective public safety, and peace among nations, a just legal system and an unpolluted environment. The common good is a notion that originated more than 2