Engineering Ethics Chapter 3 PDF

Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hamadan 1 and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah Spring 2021 Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by 2/6/2021 Mohamm...

Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hamadan 1 and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah Spring 2021 Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by 2/6/2021 Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah Ethical Theories Based on Philosophical Scholarship: 3.1 Utilitarianism 3.2 Rights Ethics 3.3 Duty Ethics 3.4 Virtue Ethics 3.5 Self-Realization and Self-Interest Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 2  An ethical theory is a comprehensive perspective on morality that clarifies, organizes, and guides moral reflection. A good ethical theory should provide a framework for making moral choices and resolving moral dilemmas – not a simple formula, but rather a comprehensive way to identify, structure, and integrate moral reasons. Ethical theories also ground the requirements in engineering codes of ethics by reference to broader moral principles. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail 2/6/2021 Shakfah 3  We will discuss five types of ethical theories (and traditions) that have been especially influential Utilitarianism Self-realization ethics a)Act-utilitarianism a)Egoistic Duty b)Rule-utilitarianism ethics a)Self-Realization and Personal Commitments Rights Virtue ethics ethics Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 4  Virtue Ethics emphasizes character more than duties and rights. Character is the pattern of: Virtues (morally desirable features) Vices (morally undesirable features) in individual. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 5  Virtue Ethics : We should develop and manifest good characters as defined by the virtues-desirable habits or tendencies in action, commitment, motive, attitude, emotion, ways of reasoning and ways of relating to others. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 6  The most important virtue is practical sense, that is, morally good judgment, which enables us to discern the mean for all the other virtues. The most comprehensive virtue of engineers is Responsible ________________________. Professionalism Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 7  The most comprehensive virtue in engineering is responsible professionalism. We know from previous topics that this idea of professionalism involves several criteria: Vocation Expertise Self-governance Public duty Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 8  Types (umbrella) of virtues Ethics: 1) Public well-being: Public-spirited virtues 2) Professional competence: Proficiency virtues 3) Cooperative practices: Teamwork virtues 4) Personal integrity: self governance virtues Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 9  Public well-being: Public-spirited virtues: Virtues focused on the good of clients and the wider public, including not harming others (general); actively preventing or removing harm to others and promoting public safety (professional); generosity in volunteering and helping others (community); and promoting justice in corporations and government (social) Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 10  Professional competence: Proficiency virtues: Virtues involved the mastery of the technical skills that characterize good engineering; these obviously contribute to engineering competence and excellence, but they also have moral implications: competence, preparation, diligence, and creativity are ways of morally activating technical proficiency – virtues. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 11  Cooperative practices: Teamwork virtues: Virtues that are especially important in enabling professionals to work successfully with other people: collegiality, cooperativeness, loyalty, and respect for legitimate authority, leadership, responsible exercise of authority, ability to motivate others. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 12  Personal integrity: self governance virtues: Virtues required to exercise moral responsibility: self- understanding, good judgment, commitment, application, self- discipline, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, trustworthiness Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 13  As with the previous ethical theories (rights ethics, duty ethics, and utilitarianism), there are several forms of virtue ethics. Among other things Samuel Florman, for example, focuses on loyalty to employers while Aristotle (next section) focuses on loyalty to community.  For Florman, the essence of engineering is found in the virtue of being conscientious. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 14 A. Conscientiousness:  On this view, engineers who do their jobs well are morally good engineers. As such they have the following virtues: competence, reliability, inventiveness, loyalty to employers and respect for laws and democratic processes. Engineers should be accountable to laws and regulations, not to their own personal consciences. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 15  This means performing with requisite skill and experience, which means exercising due care, persistence, diligence, attention to detail, and often also creativity and innovative thinking Competence Florman says that 98% of engineering failures re caused by incompetence; 2%%  Florman believes that are caused by greed, fraud, dishonestly, and other ‘everyday’ wrongdoing, often competence and loyalty are combined with sloppiness. the two most important of these virtues: This means working in the best interests of the employer, since it is competition among corporations that makes Loyalty technological progress possible … and there is no viable competition without engineers working loyally inside a corporation. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 16 B. Problems  In the end, Florman believes that duty to employers comes before everything else, including professional codes that require engineers to hold paramount public safety, health and welfare. Besides the problem that engineers following this approach would have their licenses revoked in certain cases, such an attitude can encourage engineers to passively accept any company directive and relying on the law alone to protect the public Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 17  Defined the moral virtues as habits of reaching a proper balance between extremes in conduct, emotion, desire, and attitude. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 18 a) Golden mean:  Aristotle defined the moral virtues as habits of reaching a proper balance between extremes of conduct, emotion, desire and attitude. The ‘golden mean’ is this balance between excess (too much) and deficiency (too little).  What would ‘truthfulness’ be? It would be the middle ground between revealing everything in violation of tact and confidentiality) and revealing nothing (being secretive or lacking in candor) Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 19 b) Practical wisdom  This is the virtue Aristotle thought was most important: practical wisdom is morally good judgment which lets you determine the ‘golden mean’ for all the other virtues. Practical wisdom basically comes out of the development of good habits as achieved through proper training within families and communities. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 20 c) Community and self  If we have these virtues, then we can help the community achieve the public good it needs, and also fulfill our personal needs as human beings (i.e. find the golden mean of ‘happiness’ between community needs and our own needs) Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 21 d) Social practices  Recently Alasdair MacIntyre has applied Aristotle’s ideas to the idea of professions as valuable social activities engaged in social practices – cooperative human activities through which good is realized by trying to achieve relevant standards of excellence. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 22 Some definitions: Good things that are so essential to a social activity that they basically define it (e.g. the products, activities, and experiences related Internal goods to engineering) public goods benefits provided to the community personal goods benefits connected with meaningful work Goods that can be earned through engaging in social practices: money, power, self- esteem, prestige these are important, but External goods they can also threaten internal goods: they may even corrupt institutions and undermine social practices Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 23 Some definitions: These enable internal goods to be achieved without compromising internal goods; in engineering these standards include technical guidelines (specify current ideas of best Standard of practice) and professional codes of ethics (which excellence apply to all engineers) these encourage engineers to keep high standards of practice and conduct, and usually include penalties for failure to perform to the standards Human progress is made possible though social practices, as these practices (including those in progress engineering) expand our understanding, improve human life, and more generally let us achieve public and private goods Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 24 e) Problems  No ethical theory is without flaws, and virtue ethics needs to be refined to take care of two basic challenges I. (Dis-) unity of the virtues: this is the idea that all virtues consistently spring from the single virtue of ‘wisdom’. But we know that virtues can come into conflict, so they are not unified at all (the virtue of honesty can conflict with the virtue of sensitivity, if telling someone something might hurt there feelings). also, in reality, we all have strengths in certain virtues (e.g. we are very honest) and weaknesses in other ones (maybe we are not so self- disciplined), so again virtues are not unified Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 25 e) Problems  No ethical theory is without flaws, and virtue ethics needs to be refined to take care of two basic challenges II. Incompleteness: virtue ethics is too vague if used by itself – if the virtues are not spelled out with rough guidelines, they do not provide much practical guidance. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 26  Although all ethical theories leave a certain amount of room for self-interest, self-realization ethics makes doing good for oneself and developing personal commitments the most important ethical concerns. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 27  Utilitarianism: says that self-interest should enter into our calculations of the overall good.  Rights ethics says we have rights to pursue our legitimate interests.  Duty ethics: says we have duties to ourselves.  Virtue ethics: links our personal good with participating in communities and social practices.  Self-realization ethics: says right actions consists in seeking self- fulfilment. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 28  Two versions of Self-Realization Ethics & Self-Interest :  Ethical egoism: is a more individualistic version of self- realization ethics that says each of us ought always and only to promote our self-interes  Community-oriented: the self to be realized is understood in terms of caring relationships and communities. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 29  Ethical egoism says that each of us should promote only our own self-interest – our sole duty is to maximize our own well- being a) long-term  Self interest is understood to mean what is best for our long term well-being (good, happiness), rather than why is simply immediate and short-term (instant gratification like eating too much at a party) b) conflict with engineering  Ethical egoism does not imply or assume community interest or caring for others; in engineering this would mean only thinking about oneself … which makes this an impractical ethical theory for a discipline that must serve the public good as its first priority Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 30  Argument (1): self‐respect, and then portrayed altruism toward others as incompatible with valuing oneself.  This argument contains important truth: includes  Independence is a value of great importance. Self-respect recognition of our vulnerabilities and interdependencies, and certainly it is compatible with caring about other persons as well as about ourselves Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 31  Argument (2): the world would be a better place. Heroic individuals who by pursuing their self‐interest indirectly contribute to the good of others.  This argument contains important truth:  Nevertheless, this argument does not support ethical egoism since it indicates that the ultimate goal is the good of others. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 32  Argument (3): psychological egoism and that all people are always and only motivated by what they believe is good for them in some respect.  This argument contains important truth: based on  It is difficult to refute however most of this view is seductive and simple confusion. Also many action have multiple motives. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 33  One practical reality that follows from ethical egoism is that self- interest is indeed a very strong motive. However, self-interest isn’t all that people care about. Everyone’s motives (including those of engineers) involve both self and other, since even our self-interest includes love, friendship, and community involvement. a) Predominant egoism  Ethical egoism reminds us that the strongest desire of most people is to take care of themselves before others Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 34  b) Mixed motives  however, while self-interest is important, most of the time people believe in helping others, so actions are usually involve a combination of self- concern and concern for others as engineers we have various types of motives: 1) Proficiency motives, center on excellence in meeting the technical standards of a profession, together with related aesthetic values of beauty. 2) Compensation motives are for social rewards such as income, power, recognition, and job or career stability. 3) Moral motives include desires to meet ones responsibilities, respect the rights of others, and contribute to the well-being of others. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 35 Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 36  This theme is expressed by F. H. Bradley (1826-1924): "The 'individual' apart from the community is an abstraction. It is not anything real, and hence not anything that we can realize.... I am myself by sharing with others." Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 37  Another branch of self-realization ethics takes this ‘community’ idea into account more fully than ethical egoism does. This version says that each individual should pursue self-realization, but it emphasizes the importance of caring relationships and communities in defining the ‘self’ to be fulfilled. a) linkage to communities  since we are social beings, our identities and meaning are linked to communities Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 38 b) Particular commitments  An individual’s character is partly formed and defined by the relationships and commitments they enter into (humanitarianism, environmental, religious, political, aesthetic, family, etc.); c) Limits to commitments  In professional life, there are limits to how these commitments are exercised; major limitations are provided by codes of ethics, but also by basic ideals of justice and decency. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 39 d) Professional issues  All these commitments play a role in everyday life, but we often forget that they also affect the way we do our jobs or practice our profession (we may have certain ideas about weapons development that would tell us to refuse or embrace weapons engineering; we may believe in volunteering our professional skills to community work, etc.) Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 40  For many people, religious beliefs and spiritual attitudes are the most important personal commitments, and they are relevant to all aspects of our lives, including professional work. a) Specific religious commitments  Principles of engineering design might be derived from a religious perspective. The Dutch Calvinist beliefs of Egbert Schuurman suggested to him that beyond functional, technical or broadly social requirements, the following issues should be considered in design: openness, harmony, stewardship, justice, caring, trustworthiness.  Mark Pesce who invented the dial-up networking. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 41 b) General implications  Religious beliefs can support morally responsible conduct in other general ways: I. motivation for acting ethically II. stimulating moral reflection III. offering practical guidance IV. setting a high standard for conduct  (ihsan, piety and/or pursuit of excellence, in Islam) Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 42  Ethical theories are attempts to provide clarity and consistency, systematic and comprehensive understanding, and helpful practical guidance in moral matters. Sound ethical theories succeed in meeting these aims. 1. Clear and coherent. They rely on concepts (ideas) that are sufficiently clear to be applicable, and their various claims and principles are internally consistent. 2. Organize basic moral values in a systematic and comprehensive way 3. Provide helpful guidance that is compatible with our most carefully considered moral convictions Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 43  How to choose?  All the theories discussed here generally meet these criteria, although they differ on what they emphasize. Like codes of ethics, these theories are only resources or guides, not absolutes. What we have to do is not decide which one is best overall, but use them collectively to help our moral reasoning in concrete situations. Prepared by Dr. Omar Alkhatib, Dr. Mohammed Hmadan and Jon, Modified by Mohammed Esmaail Shakfah 2/6/2021 44