Engineering : Ethics And Moral Ethics Of Engineering

This paper is going to discuss Ethics and Ethical Theories. It will include an introduction to ethical theories, virtue ethics, and care ethics. There will be sections discussing absolutism versus relativism, consequentialism versus deontological ethics, and lastly, free will versus determinism. It will also include a discussion about the study of morality and identify which of the approaches (Scientific, Philosophical, or Theological/Religious) are closest to my own personal beliefs. There will be a discussion regarding the three sources of ethics

Katz next explains a term Jack Sammons, a legal scholar, uses to explain what a technical professional must do to be ethical. This term is known as rebellious ethics, which is when one rebels “against the expectations and practices of one’s profession” (56). The expectation for engineers being that one must solely focus on efficiency and not let moral interests interfere. Sammons continues to say that to be good at your profession you have to take into consideration the needs of the people your project is meant for. Katz used this to transition from the idea of doubling to the idea of Nazi ideology.

As time goes by, ethical and moral issues have been brought up for long periods of time and these issues are recently becoming the rising problem to be discussed in society, business area and daily life. Most of people generally understand that the general meaning of ethics equals to the meaning of moral. However, moral is basically a matter of individual conscience without forcibleness, but ethics are related to social system with forcibleness. The academic definition of ethics is described as a stem of philosophy which raises moral questions and is demonstrated what is the main characteristic of morality and the way in which moral standards are decided (Gray & Webb, 2010).

​We live in a society where we must fit and understand social justice. Its justice in terms of how wealth is distributed and the different opportunities and privileges amongst the people. Viewing things in an ethical manner allows people to make decisions based on position of self and society. People all over transpire from many different ethnic backgrounds leaving the world very diverse. What people fail to realize is that not everyone can be the same. If that was the case it would be unusual to see different races, gender, and language. The things that make up our community is what makes us unique and stand out as a nation. People must not become blind to the things that make

There are a variety of different ethical systems that have developed of the course of millennia. However, even though the subject has been covered so thoroughly, it is still heavily debated. The varieties of ethical systems that are in existence look at various ethical problems from different perspectives and can be applied differently in different circumstances. Because of the subjective aspects to applying ethics, they can be as much an art as they are a science. Ethics are something that must be practiced and really cannot be perfected. In this way, studying ethics is a continual process that does not really stop. This paper will argue that ethics are the most important subject that an individual can pursue.

The Hippocratic Oath and Engineering code of ethics have both been regarded as the standard for medical and engineering professionals to conduct themselves morally, and professionally to assure that the decisions and activities made are guided by certain principles and values. (Hendon and French, 2016) Both the Hippocratic Oath and Engineering code of ethics emphasize the importance of the duties and responsibilities of professionals in regards to the safety and health of humans, providing services within areas of expertise, being truthful, hold confidential information, and being accountable for professional services provided.

Industrial Engineers often face the ethical dilemma of attempting to balance costs with quality and safety. Company management pressures Industrial systems engineers to design processes that are cost efficient, time constrained, and produce a high quality output. This puts the engineer in a tricky balancing act in which they are trying to make every stakeholder happy. Taking risks in order to create cost efficient solutions is not specific to only industrial engineers but applies to all disciplines of engineering, making this topic a relevant discussion. However, this conflict is especially true in a manufacturing setting where industrial engineers thrive, machine operators are often overworked, companies make products in high stakes, large batches, and the range of quality acceptance is growing ever smaller. A relevant example is the engineer who was designing a chemical plant in Mexico. In order to achieve the correct viscosity of the paint stripper, the engineer asked the plant operator to babysit the chemical mixture and manually release the valve when necessary. Engineering management’s decision puts the plant worker at a safety risk in order to achieve a tighter quality and standardization of the chemical stripper production process. Ultimately, this resulted in the catastrophic death of the plant worker and the destruction of the plant.

“And Hansel said to Gretel; let us drop these bread crumbs so that together we can find our way home, because losing our way would be the cruellest of things” (The Tide That Left and Never Came Back: One Tree Hill 2005). The construction industry lost its way, over the years the industry has faced many accusations for undertaking in unlawful practices and performing unethical behaviour. This is detrimental to our nation as a whole as Australia’s growth and development is dependent on the performance and wellbeing of the construction industry. The industry is responsible for satisfying the needs of our ever expanding society by contributing to the growth of our economy, the creation of our infrastructure and improving the standards our everyday lives. To live up to these responsibilities the industry must understand the importance of the work it does and do it in a way that is ethically right, the problem is how do we determine whether the decisions the industry makes justify as ethical? Ethical practice in the construction industry “is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling” (Valdemar W. Setzer, 2006). The industry operates in both the public and private sectors which employs many people who all have different morals and values which influences the decisions they make and how they perceive them. This creates a rift in the industry as what is deemed as acceptable varies between person to person

Rashomon was an amusing film about different perspectives. Each person involved in the crime had a different viewpoint on what had just happened. We were introduced to four different perspectives that all could have been true. It just so happened the last person who told his story, the woodcutter lied to the authority, but ultimately admitted what happened to the strangers at the gate. He hid the facts about what he saw to the authority because he had done something wrong as well. He stole the dagger from the scene of the crime due to its high value. The priest lost all hope in humanity when the woodcutter admitted to stealing the dagger and the stranger stole the orphan’s belongings. It was only restored when the woodcutter decided to take

There are many ethical dilemmas that an industrial engineer may face throughout their career. One major dilemma would be having to lay someone off because of a change you may have made to a process to make it more efficient. Industrial engineers are always trying to find a more efficient way of doing something, whether it’s in a factory, in an office, or the route of a delivery driver. Sometimes these things aren’t always as simple as they may seem. There are often consequences to these seemingly simple changes. People can and do get laid off because of a change to a process.

Ethics is the moral behavior that guides our actions; it motivates us in our personal behavior and is relevant in a business setting as well. Many organizations have set forth a set of guidelines known as a “Code of Ethics”. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, being one of these organizations, has set forth their code as a requirement for students and engineer members to adhere to. Heading towards a career in electrical engineering I choose this organization to elaborate on for my ethics project.

Indeed, engineering can be enriched by paying more attention to ethics. This guide uses cases drawn from real engineering situations, in order to allow engineers to practice ethical reasoning as it applies to these situations. However, in terms of developing better ethical awareness and reasoning skills, there is no substitute for dealing with the dilemmas and decisions that each of us faces daily. The first step is recognising these when they arise. Analysing them and responding effectively goes to the heart of personal and professional identity.

The following outline will help me write my essay about how engineers are faced with the ethical and moral issues of bribery in the industry. I chose this issue because it is a topic that speaks close to me. I have been put into many situations at work and during internships where I ask myself whether it is a bribe or if it is just networking. This essay will not only discuss the issue of bribery in the industry but help me further understand how to analyze certain scenarios if I am offered something else in the future.

Ethics by definition are defined as a set of moral rules of conduct that are accepted by general public and should be obeyed by everyone. Ethics are essential to the architecture of a modern dynamic society and play a vital part in engineering or any other businesses. Ethics provide guidance to humans to pursue a course of action correctively in specific situations, and prevent us from the ones that would have negative or drastic consequences. Ethics clarifies what is good and bad on the basis of moral principle or values. Regardless of which particular field the engineer is in (e.g. civil, electrical or mechanical), their main liability and responsibility are to ensure the health, safety, and general welfare of the public are protected to the highest level possible. Since almost the work done by engineers can have great impact on almost all aspects of our daily life, any design schemes or implementations that are made by engineers must meet the highest standard to ensure that no damages or potential damages to any resource, people, organization or environment will exist. Many organizations, like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) have established a set of code of ethics to

Engineering is a pylon of human development and technology,having a significant impact on people’s daily lives. Engineering has improved humanity in every aspect (e.g. transportation, communication, medicine) and it has the potential to overcome the challenges that mankind still faces. However, engineers have responsibility for their actions and they must learn to follow a set of ethical principles relating to their work. All of which have to be followed to the letter otherwise there can be severe consequences.