Covenant University Module 5: Ethical Cycle 2023-2024 PDF

www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng GEC 217--Engineer-In- Society Raising a new Generation of Leaders Module 5 - Ethical Cycle  Ethical Cycle Engineers will encounter in their professional life some difficult moral situations. Such situatio...

www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng GEC 217--Engineer-In- Society Raising a new Generation of Leaders Module 5 - Ethical Cycle  Ethical Cycle Engineers will encounter in their professional life some difficult moral situations. Such situations call for moral judgment. However, moral judgment is not a straightforward or linear process in which you simply apply ethical theories to find out what to do. Instead it is a process in which the formulation of the moral problem, the formulation of possible ‘solutions’, and the ethical judging of these solutions go hand in hand. This messy character of moral problems, however, does not rule out a systematic approach 2  Ethical Cycle Moral problem solving is a difficult and complex process because moral problems are usually ill-structured. They do not have a clear- cut problem formulation, need to satisfy different,often conflicting, moral constraints and have not one best solution. In these respects moral problems are like design problems. Solving moral problems therefore does not only require analysis but also synthetic reasoning (devising new options) and creativity. 3  Ethical Cycle The complex nature of moral problem-solving includes a systematic approach. The approach is called the ethical cycle. It consists of five basic steps: Moral problem statement Problem analysis Options for actions Ethical evaluation Reflection-feedback 4 Ethical Cycle 5  Ethical Cycle 1. Formulating the moral problem: The start of the ethical cycle is the formulation of a moral problem.A characteristic of a moral problem is that there are two or more positive moral values or norms that cannot be fully realized at the same time. 2. Problem analysis: Analyzing the problem in terms of stakeholders and their interests, values and facts;during the problem analysis step, the relevant elements of the moral problem are described. Three important elements can be distinguished: the stakeholders and their interests, the moral values that are relevant in the situation and the relevant facts. 6  Ethical Cycle 3. Options for actions: Identifying and devising options for action with the help of strategies such as the: black-and-white strategy and the cooperation strategy; In this black-and-white-strategy only two options for actions are considered, doing the action or not, other actions are simply not considered. is a synthetic step that followed in which possible solutions for action are generated in the light of the formulated problem analysis. 7  Ethical Cycle 4. Ethical evaluation of the various options for action with the help of various ethical frameworks: In this step, the moral acceptability of the various options for action is evaluated. This can be done on the basis of both formal and informal moral frameworks. Formal moral frameworks are based on professional ethics: the codes of conduct, and the main ethical theoretical backgrounds: utilitarianism, Kant's theory and virtue ethics. 5. Reflection: on the outcomes of the evaluation phase, resulting eventually in a well-argued choice for one of the options for action. Central to the reflection step is argumentation. Arguments for or against ethical frameworks can be positioned at two levels. One level is the general criticism of the ethical frameworks. 8  Ethics and Morality Ethics is a process of searching for the right kind of morality. Morality is defined here as the totality of opinions, decisions, and actions with which people express what they think is good or right. This roughly agrees with the often used definition of morality as the totality of norms and values that actually exist in society. 9  Ethics and morality cont’d The study of ethics can be both of a descriptive or normative nature. Descriptive ethics is involved with the description of the existing morality, including the description of customs and habits,opinions about good and evil, responsible and irresponsible behaviour,and acceptable and unacceptableaction. By definition, Normative ethics is not value-free;it judges morality.It considers the following main question: do the norms and values actually used conform to our ideas about how people should behave? 10  Ethics and morality cont’d Normative ethics does not give an unambiguous answer to this question,but in its moral judgment, various arguments are given based on various ethical theories. These ethical theories provide viewpoints from which we can critically discuss moral issues One central question in normative ethics is ‘What is the right opinion, decision, or action?' To answer this question a judgment has to be made.This is a normative judgment because it says something about what 'correct behavior' or the 'right way of living' is. Normative judgments are value judgments but not descriptive judgments. 11  Ethics and morality cont’d Descriptive judgments are related to what is actually the case (the present), what was the case (the past), or what will be the case (the future). Descriptive judgments are true or false.The assertion that 'the Challenger shuttle met all safety standards of the time' is a descriptive judgment: the assertion is true or false. 12  Ethics and morality cont’d Value judgments indicate whether something is good or bad, desirable or undesirable; they often refer to how the world should be instead of how it is. Such kinds of value judgments often refer to moral norms and values. An example of moral judgment is 'the Challenger rocket shuttle should never have been launched‘. 13  Values Values help us determine which goals or states of affairs are worth striving for. Moral values are related to a good life and a just society. Moral values are lasting convictions or matters that people feel should be strived for in general and not just for themselves to be able to lead a good life or to realize a just society. 14  Values A distinction can be made between intrinsic and instrumental values. A n intrinsic value is an objective in and of itself.A n instrumental value is a means to realizing an intrinsic value. E.g., The value of money for Scrooge M c D u c k is intrinsic. He values money independently of what you can do with money. For Mother Theresa,however,money was an instrumental value to realize a higher end: helping the poor.A person can consider his work to be both of intrinsic and instrumental value 15  www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders Normative Ethic  Norms Norms are rules that prescribe what concrete actions are required, permitted, or forbidden. These are rules and agreements about how people are supposed to treat each other. Values are often translated into rules so that it is clear in everyday life how we should act to achieve certain values. Moral norms are indications for responsible action. Next to moral norms are other kinds of norms, such as legal norms (such as traffic rules) and precepts of decorum (for example, ‘you should not talk when your mouth is full’). 17  Norms The difference between values and norms can be described as; Values are abstract or global ideas. It is what people eventually wish to achieve. Norms, however, are the means to realize values. They are concrete, specific rules that limit action. Without an interpretation, the objective cannot be achieved. Take, for example, the need for traffic regulations to guarantee traffic safety. So one can imagine that the norm 'all bicycle bells must be blue' will be largely ignored. The norm has no meaning – there is no underlying value. i.e why must all the bells be blue? These differences are summarized in the following table 18  Norms Values Norms Ends Means Global Specific Hard to achieve without norms Ineffective without values Ethical Values “Among the universal ethical values are honesty, integrity, promise-keeping, fidelity, fairness, respect for others, responsible citizenship, pursuit of excellence and accountability.” Michael Josephson 19  Virtues Next to values and norms we have another moral point of departure:virtues. Virtues are human characteristics or qualities that have the following five features: 1. They are desired characteristics and they express a value that is worth striving for; 2. They are expressed in action; 3. They are lasting and permanent – they form a lasting structural foundation for action; 4. They are always present but are only used when necessary; 5. They can be influenced by the individual. The last statement suggests that people can learn virtues.It is a matter of the shaping of a person’s character or personality. This occurs during our upbringing or our learning process within an organization. Examples of virtues are justice,honesty,courage,loyalty,creativity,and humor. 20  Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is characterized by the fact that it measures the consequences of actions against one value: human pleasure, happiness or welfare. In consequentialism, the consequences of actions are central to the moral judgment of those actions. An action in itself is not right or wrong; it is only the consequence of an action that is morally relevant. 21  Utilitarianism The only moral criterion for good and bad lies in the utility principle. This principle is the only and sufficient ground for any action – both for individuals and collectives (e.g. companies or government). It gives us a reason to act morally. We need to count the pleasure and pain of all individuals. Moral terms like ‘proper’, ‘responsible’, and ‘correct’ only are meaningful if they are used for actions that are in agreement with the utility principle. To find out which action leads to the most happiness for the greatest number of people, 22  Utilitarianism To deal with this problem, John Stuart Mill (1859) formulated the freedom principle: "Everyone is free to strive for his/her own pleasure, as long as they do not deny or hinder the pleasure of others." Mill illustrates this principle using the example of drunkenness. The right to interfere with someone who is drunk only arises when the person who is drunk starts to do harm to others. The freedom principle is also known as the no-harm principle: "One is free to do what one wishes, but only to the extent that no harm is done to others." 23  Utilitarianism However, the principle can hardly ever be applied in full since any moral problem involves possible harm to others, or at least the risk of harm, Say, for example, that an engineer is asked to falsify the measurements he gave in a report by the party commissioning the work because the correct measurement results would have major negative consequences, such as the payment of damages or bankruptcy. ▪ According to the traditional utilitarian view, known as act utilitarianism (Bentham's utilitarianism), this behaviour would be justified in a certain situation, because it judges the consequences of individual acts. 24  Utilitarianism A solution to this problem is proposed by one variant of utilitarianism: rule utilitarianism, which recognizes the existence of moral rules, if only because life would be very complicated without them. For each situation, we would have to judge whether it was morally correct or not because each situation is slightly different from another. Rule utilitarianism looks at the consequences of rules (in contrast with actions) to increase happiness. 25  Utilitarianism ▪ Though the falsifying of measurements may increase societal utility in a specific situation, a rule utilitarian will not allow it because the rule ‘measurement data should be presented correctly’ generally promotes happiness within society. If such a rule withstands the test of promoting happiness then it turned into a moral rule. 26  Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics focuses on the nature of the acting person. This theory indicates which good or desirable characteristics people should have, or develop and how people can achieve this. It is not exclusively aimed at reason but is more a mixture of ethics and psychology emphasizing developing character traits. It is based on a notion of humankind in which people’s characters can be shaped by proper nurture and education and by following good examples. The central theme is the development of persons into morally good and responsible individuals to lead good lives. To this purpose, developing good character traits (virtues), both intellectual and personal character traits, areessential. 27 Virtue ethics They not only indicate how to lead a good life but also what a good life is. Virtue ethics stems from a long tradition and was already popular in ancient Greece with philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Aristotle was the first to define virtue ethics as a field of inquiry in itself. According to Aristotle, the final goal of human action is to strive for the highest good: eudaimonia. This can be translated as 'the good life' (or as 'welfare' or 'happiness').This does not refer to a happy circumstance that brings pleasure (the goal of classical utilitarians), but a state of being a good person. 28 Virtue ethics Aristotle believed that people know what they want instinctively but not what they should do. However, people are not powerless in finding the middle course. The intellectual virtue, practical wisdom is aimed at making the right choices for action concerning what is good and useful for a successful life. Practical wisdom implies a capacity for moral judgment, which is the middle course. Moral virtues and intellectual virtues go hand in hand 29  www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF ENGINEERS  Role-Responsibility The two ways ethical issues can apply to one’s life are bas e d on role- and responsibilities. We all have different roles that we play in life. Responsibility is often linked to the role that you have in a particular situation. An engineer is expected to carry out his work in a competent way. E. g. the role of a parent, a friend , employe e. Each role brings with it certain responsibilities. 31  Differences between role and responsibility Role Responsibilities Friend --- Look out for the interests of your friend. Employee --- Perform the duties of your job. Parent--- Look after your children and their interests Employer--- Compensation-for-service 32  Responsibility Any Definition? Professional responsibility is the task that is based on your role as a professional engineer in as far it stays within the limits of what is morally allowed. Professional responsibilities are not just passive but they also contain an active component 33 Rights and Responsibilities of Engineers The Key Professional responsibilities demanded from engineers are: 1. Confidentiality and Proprietary Information: A hallmark of the profession is the requirement that members of the profession keep certain information of their client secret or confidential. 2. Conflict of Interest: Avoiding conflict of interest is important in any profession, and engineering is no exception 34  Rights and Responsibilities of Engineers 3. Competitive Bidding Historically, the codes of ethics of the engineering societies included a prohibition on competitive bidding for e n g ineering services. This ban mirrored similar prohibitions in the codes of ethics of other professions such as law and medicine and forbid engineers to compete for engineering work ba se d on submitting price proposals rather than soliciting work and charging customers base d on a fixed fee structure. 35 Rights and Responsibilities of Engineers ❖ Right to form and express professional judgment (right of professional conscience): Pursuing professional responsibilities empowers one to form and exercise professional judgment. ❖ Right to refuse to participate in unethical activities. ❖ Right to fair recognition and to receive remuneration for professional services. ❖ Right to warn the public about dangers: This should b e done without damaging the reputation of the employer. The views can b e expressed through professional society to get a backing 36  Types of Responsibilities Social Responsibility Passive responsibility Active Responsibility 37 Types of Responsibilities Social Responsibility: This requires taking into consideration the needs of society. The main connection between ethics and engineering comes from the impact of engineering products and processes have on society. Engineers have to think about designing, building, and marketing products that benefit society. It is important to know that risk and safety of citizens as a social responsibility is a prime concern of an engineer. 10 38  PassiveResponsibility Typical for passive responsibility is that the person who is held responsible must b e able to provide an account of why he followed a particular course of action and why he made certain decisions. We call this type of passive responsibility accountability. Passive responsibility often involves not just accountability but also blameworthiness. Blameworthiness means that it is proper to blame someone for his/her actions or the consequences of those actions. 39  PassiveResponsibility Usually four conditions need to apply: 1. Wrong-doing. Whenever one blames a person or institution one usually maintains that in carrying out a certain action the individual or the institution in question has violated a norm or did something wrong. This can be a legal or moral norm, or that is common in the organization. 2. Causal contribution. The person who is held responsible must have made a causal contribution to the consequences. 3. Foreseeability. A person who is held responsible for something must have been able to know the consequences/harm of his or her actions. 4. Freedom of Action. The one who is held responsible must have had freedom of action, i.e. he or she must not have acted under compulsion. 4 40 QUESTIONS 41