DJJ40132

ENGINEERING & SOCIETY

CHAPTER 3.0 Professional Ethics

ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY focuses on the introduction
to professional ethics, theory and philosophy of ethics,
values in professional ethics, engineering bylaws and
standards, issues in professional ethics and sustainability.
It also relates towards IR 4.0 introduction and green
engineering.
 In this topic students should
be able to

 3.0 Professional Ethics

 3.1 Determine engineering professionalism

 3.2 Discover the philosophy of ethics and ethical
theory
 3.3 Explore the values and issues in professional
ethics
 3.0 Professional Ethics

 3.1 Determine engineering professionalism

 3.1.1 Find engineering ethics definitions
 3.1.2 Classify the importance of ethics in science and
engineering
 3.1 Determine engineering
professionalism

 3.1.1 Find engineering ethics definitions

Engineering – What is it? The Engineer – who is he/she?

Engineering is the profession in which a Engineers turn ideas into reality; i.e.
knowledge of the mathematical and they create useful products and
natural sciences, gained by study, systems (through design and
experience, and practice, is applied manufacturing/construction) •
with judgment to develop ways to Engineers apply creativity - playing with
utilise, economically, the materials and imagination and possibilities, leading to
forces of nature for the benefit of new and meaningful connections and
mankind. outcomes while interacting with ideas,
people, and the environment. This is
what engineers do (another possible
definition of engineering) - in regard to
the man-made environment.
What is engineering?
 Ethics - also called moral philosophy the discipline
concerned with what is morally good and bad, right
and wrong. The term is also applied to any system or
theory of moral values or principles.
from Encyclopedia Britannica
 morality is the right or wrong (or otherwise) of an
action, a way of life or a decision
 ethics is the study of such standards as we use or
propose to judge such things
 include practices and behaviors that are good
or bad
Ethics is relevant to you in your everyday life as at some point in
your professional or personal life you will have to deal with an
ethical question or problem, e.g. what is your level of
responsibility towards protecting another person from threat, or
whether or not you should tell the truth in a particular situation?
 Two Key Branches of Ethics
• Descriptive ethics involves describing, characterizing
and studying morality
– “What is”
• Normative ethics involves supplying and justifying moral
systems
– “What should be”
 Major areas of study in ethics include:
• Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and
reference of moral propositions and how their truth
values may be determined;
• Normative ethics, about the practical means of
determining a moral course of action;
• Applied ethics, about how moral outcomes can be
achieved in specific situations
Engineering ethics definitions

 Engineering ethics is the field of system of moral

principles that apply to the practice of engineering.
The field examines and sets the obligations by
engineers to society, to their clients, and to the
profession. As a scholarly discipline, it is closely related
to subjects such as the philosophy of science, the
philosophy of engineering, and the ethics of
technology.
 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_ethics
Engineering Ethics

 Study of human morality

 Determining values in human conduct
 Deciding the “right thing to do” based upon a set of
norms
 In engineering:
dealing with colleagues
dealing with clients
dealing with employees
dealing with users
dealing with public
Acceptable
Safety
risk

Typical
compliance confidentiality ethical
issues that
engineer
Environmental
health
Data
integrity encounter

Societal
fairness
impact
Factor affect ethics

family friend

environment
 3.1.2 Classify the importance of ethics in science and
engineering

One can and should evaluate the potential impacts of

scientific/technical development, research, and
implementation from many perspectives, including:

 Health and safety concerns

 Environmental impact
 Socio-political-economic effects to affected
organizations, regions, or nations
 Interactions with prevailing cultural (or institutional) norms
and values
 Ethics is part of engineering for two main reasons.
a) Engineers need to be socially
responsible when building products and
processes for society.
b) Social responsibility requires
professional responsibility.
The norm systems governing the behaviour of a professional are:

• Individual morality Refers to individual values of a specific person and what they
believe to be right. Individual morality is influenced by how a person was raised. It
is their personal value system. The sanction for disobeying one‟s individual
morality is a guilty conscience.

• Positive morality This set of norms represents what is considered “right” in society
at a particular time. The sanction for failure to obey positive morality is social
sanction.
Law (Legal Norms) Laws protect society and prevent anarchy by
regulating behavior.
Public Law – also referred to as criminal law: between the state and
individual.
Private Law – also referred to as contractual law and focuses on the
relationship between persons. Formal Law and Common Law find
expression in the reported judgments of courts.

• Professional Ethics Professionals are a group of people who earn a

living by undertaking a common activity and who regulate most of
this themselves. Firstly they must form a constitution, e.g. SAIMechE,
and secondly they must publish a professional code 21 of rules or an
ethical code of conduct. This code must be in line with the law and is
often more restrictive than the law.
There are several other ethical issues that engineers may face. Some
have to do with technical practice, but many others have to do with
broader considerations of business conduct. These include:

 Relationships with clients, consultants, competitors, and contractors

 Ensuring legal compliance by clients, client's contractors, and
others
 Conflict of interest
 Bribery and kickbacks, which might include: o Gifts, meals, services,
entertainment and recreation opportunities o Treatment of
confidential or proprietary information o Consideration of the
employer‟s assets
 Outside employment/activities (moonlighting
DISCUSS
 3.2 Discover the philosophy of ethics and ethical
theory
What Is Philosophy?
Philosophy is both an activity and a body of knowledge.
Philosophers are rarely content to accept the status quo
at face value
Who are the philosophers?
3.2.1 Manage of ethical theories and its
applications

Why ethical theories are needed

 Follow the golden rule.

 Doesn’t cover when others have different desires.
 Follow your own conscience.
 Some people think it all right to fly airplanes into towers.
3.2.1 Manage of ethical theories and its
applications

Consequence based ethical theories

 Bentham (1748-1832) and Mill (1806-1873)

 What results from an act
 The ends justify the means
 Principle of social utility measured by the resulting
amount of happiness
 3.2.1 Manage of ethical theories and its applications
Theories of Ethics
Four major theories of ethics in the Western world
1) • Utilitarianism: You should consider the consequences of an action
before deciding whether it’s right or wrong.
2) • Kantianism: Every person is equally valuable, and when you
interact with other people you should always respect them as
rational beings.
3) • Social contract theory: We should collectively promote human
rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, and property.
4) • Virtue ethics (TELEOLOGICAL)-kelakuan: You can count on a good
person to do the right thing at the right time in the right way.
And many more……
1. Utilitarianism
 Act utilitarianism – Act is good if it results in the
greatest good for the greatest number.
 What happens to minority?
 Rule utilitarianism – Act is good if it comes from
following rules that bring good to greatest number.
 Should we base ethics on happiness and pleasure?
2. Duty-based ethical theories
Deontological theories
 Kant (1724-1804) – Duties and obligations that people
have to one another.
 People have rational natures
 People should never be treated as means to the ends
of others
 Each individual has the same moral worth as every
other.
Rule deontology
Kant’s categorical imperative

 Rules that all individuals should be treated as ends in

themselves and not means to an end.
 Rules that can be universally binding for all people.
 One person or group should not be privileged over all
others.
Act deontology

 Ross (1930) - Problem if two conflicting moral

duties
 When conflict, consider individual situations
 Prima facie (self-evident) duties.
 Honesty, justice, helpfulness
 Actual duty – What to do when have
conflicts.
 Use rational intuitionism.
 Weigh evidence to decide course of action
in particular case
3. Contract-based ethical
theories
 Hobbes(1588-1679) – Premoral state
 state of nature where all free to do as like
 People establish formal legal code
 In each person’s self-interest to develop system with
rules
 Objections – Depends only on formal legal rules
 Difference between ‘doing no harm’ and ‘doing
good’.
4. Rights-based contract
theories
 Jefferson (1776) and Aquinas (1225-1274)
 Natural rights or inalienable and self-evident rights
 Legal rights – positive rights and negative rights
 Negative rights
 Privacy, no interference in right to vote
 Positive rights
 Education (in US through 12th grade)
5. Character-based ethical
theories
 Virtue ethics - Plato (427?-327 BCE) and Aristotle
(384-322 BCE)
 Development of good character traits and habits
 Be a moral person rather than just follow rules
 Agent-oriented rather than action or rule-oriented
 Develop character traits such as kindness,
truthfulness, honesty, trustworthiness, helpfulness,
generosity, and justice
 More likely to work in homogeneous societies rather
than our pluralistic one
 Consequences often should be taken into account
6. Single comprehensive
theory
 Rawls (1971) and Moor (1999) – Just-
Consequentialist Theory
 Start with core values – ‘Do no harm’
 Support justice, rights, and duties – ‘Do your
duty’
 Settle conflicts – two steps
 Consider situation impartially without regard to
specific case – choice between ethical vs.
unethical policies
 Consider consequences of specific case –
choice between better vs. worse policies
 Consider whether problem is disagreement
about facts rather than value differences
Moor’s ethical framework

 Deliberate from an impartial point of view

 Does it cause any unnecessary harm?
 Does it support individual rights, duties?
 Select the best policy from the set
 Weigh the good and bad consequences
 Distinguish between disagreements about facts vs.
disagreements about values
Lets see an example….
The Reluctant Donor Case: Suppose that you are
famous transplant surgeon, and that your transplants
always work. You have five patients, each of whom
needs a transplant. One needs a heart, one a brain,
two need one lung each, and one needs a liver. You
have a patient named “Mr. Ang” who has come in
today to find out the results from some lab work. You
know from the results of the lab work that Mr. Ang
would be a perfect donor for each of your five other
patients, and you know that there are no other
available donors. So you ask Mr. Ang if he would be
willing to be cut up and have his organs distributed. He
declines your kind offer. But you then realize that you
could cut Mr. Ang up without his permission during
some minor surgery he has already consented to. Is it
permissible for you do so?
 3.3 Explore the values and issues in professional ethics
3.3.1 Analyze ethical and decision-making
3.3.2 Link ethical leadership in engineering and
society
3.3.3 Explore moral and ethical dilemmas
 Engineers, within their communities and professions
contribute to technological process, as managers,
business entrepreneurs, corporate consultants,
academics and government officials they provide many
forms of leadership in developing and implementing
technology. Leadership can be understood as success in
moving a group collectively, towards goals.

 Moral leaders, are the individuals who direct, motivate,

organize, creatively manage, or in other ways move
groups towards morally valuable goals. Leaders might be
in position of authority within a corporation, or they might
not be. Leadership can be shown by individuals
participating at all levels of organizations.
 In communities and groups, the issues that bother and
that are important should be informed to everyone.
But the stronger obligations arise for those who by
professional background are well grounded in specific
issues as well as for those who have time to train
themselves as Public advocates. It shows that there is
certainly a need for moral leadership in identifying
and expanding the areas of possible good that can
be achieved.
Sample Code of Conduct
 The professional societies for engineers have formulated few
codes of ethics which are expected to be followed by an
engineer of the particular discipline. Following are a few
societies that look into the discipline in Engineering −

 NSPE − National Society of Professional Engineers

 IEEE − The Institute of Electrical and Electronics engineering
 AIChE − American Institute of Chemical Engineers
 ASCE − American Society of Civil Engineers
 ASME − American Society of Mechanical Engineers
 ACM/IEEE/CS − Joint Task Force on Software Engineering
Ethics and Professional Practices
 Issue 1:
 Should the Malaysian Health Organization sell medical
information as a way of gaining additional income?

 Issue 2:
 Should an engineer asked for ‘extra payment’ to
approve some project?

 Issue 3:
 Should an engineer make a decision based on their
own opinion without refer others for a solution?
 https://www.slideshare.net/aissamouinou/engineer-in-
society
 https://www.slideshare.net/monicasetty/responsibilitie
s-of-young-engineers-to-society-53556047
 https://slideplayer.com/slide/14168994/