When The Average Person Thinks Of Qualities That Describe

The cardinal virtues are seven virtues that help guide us to have good morality. Prudence is the first virtue and is having the common sense enough to think about what you are doing and what are the consequences. Temperance is finding moderation in your lifestyle. Justice includes traits like honesty, the ability to give-and-take, keeping promises, and so on. Fortitude includes two kinds of courage: the

Character is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, though morality is subjective, in today’s society it is predominantly agreed upon that someone who is of good character has certain qualities that contribute to their decision making, trustworthiness, and intelligence. I previously mentioned prudence, which is the ability to govern oneself by the use of reason to make good judgements that allow you to avoid troublesome situations, which allows one to face the adversities of life while only encountering necessary risks. This is the ultimate show of genuine character, those who can judge for themselves and aren’t afraid to admit their faults, or

Ethics is more about doing what is morally right as opposed to what is legal. At times the law falls short, making engineers use their own judgment referring to ethics as a higher authority. In this particular case, selling the faulty product, Gee-Whiz Mark 2, in some countries is deemed legal. However, having the background knowledge of the malfunctioned devices makes engineers accountable for the lives at risk. Having the title of an engineer means the public relies on engineers to promote the wellbeing of others. Belonging to the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), a set of rules or code of ethics must be taken into consideration prior to any final action executed by the professional engineers. Consequently, we are left with

Virtue Theory relies heavily on the character of the person rather than the circumstances in which the individual acts. The virtue theory deemphasizes rules and regulations and instead focuses on the internal character of the act in question. The virtue theory is not concerned with the intentions of the act. Nor is it concerned primarily with the consequences of the act. Instead the virtue theory relies on moral virtues. If the individual is of good character or not is the primary concern with virtue theory. What is difficult to ascertain however, is the question of what constitutes character? How can one appropriate establish the contents of one's character? A person's character traits are the compesition of his character traits. These traits can either be good (virtuous) or bad (vices). In both instances, the virtue theory establishes and emphasized these two

Benjamin Franklin came up with these things called Virtues. Virtues are behaviors showing high moral standards. He had thirteen virtues that he chose to live by. He describes what each virtue means, why he chose to do that, and how he is going to incorporate it into his life in his book, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography.

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores virtues as necessary conditions for being happy. A virtuous person is a person with a disposition toward virtuous actions and who derives pleasure from behaving virtuously. Aristotle distinguishes between two types of human virtue: virtues of thought and virtues of character. Virtues of thought are acquired through learning and include virtues like wisdom and prudence; virtues of character include bravery and charity, which are acquired by habituation and require external goods to develop. As a consequence, not all people can acquire virtues of character because not all people have the external goods and resources required to develop that disposition.

He established two separate types of virtues: intellectual and moral. The qualities of intellectual virtue include wisdom, knowledge, rationality, and cognitive intelligence (book478). We learn intellectual virtues through “teaching and practice” (book478). The moral virtues are developed over time through practice. According to Broadie there are three types of Intellectual virtues: theoretical wisdom, practical wisdom and craft skill. Theoretical wisdom includes both scientific understanding and intelligence, and intelligence is also found in practical wisdom. Practical wisdom is the ability to make good choices in a rational way while avoiding bad.

With the constant discovery of scientific principles and new engineering designs, the responsibility often lies in the hands of engineers to decide what is in the best interest of the public. Millions of people around the world use products and structures developed by engineers, every day. Before accepting work from a client, it is important that engineers have a good understanding of their own personal limitations. If work is accepted that they are “not competent to perform by virtue of [their] training and experience” , there is a clear disregard for public welfare and potential for a serious safety hazard. It is again evident that the

Intelligence, wit, judgment, and the other talents of the mind, however they may be named, or courage, resolution, perseverance, as qualities of temperament, are undoubtedly good and desirable in many respects; but these gifts of nature may also become extremely bad and mischievous if the will which is to make use of them, and which, therefore, constitutes what is called character, is not good.

Character is defined as who we are in our word and deed. Our character defines our personality as a whole and shows other people what kind of person that we are. If we live by the cardinal and theological virtues, our character will resemble that of the virtues. If we chose not to live by the virtues, then our character will resemble that of vices. Vices are bad qualities that we do not want to acquire. In order to make a path for ourselves to Heaven, we must build up our character as good faithful servants of Christ.

The major reason why ethics is an important part of engineering is because it helps to enact safety measures. Humanity relies on engineering for transportation, production of food materials, consumer electronics and many more things. Virtually, engineers design and create all human made things in the world. The probability of accidents that result from overlooking manufacturing flaws in consumer products could be reduced by observing ethics in engineering. One good example that illustrates how the neglect of ethics in engineering could be hazardous to humanity is the well-known case of Columbia Shuttle (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum). The air space travelling bus exploded during re-entry because of a flaw in its O-rings that was ignored by its engineers during test flights. The result was the loss of seven astronauts, the spacecraft and billions of money that had been invested towards the completion of the project by the United States government.

When talking about engineering, people would probably have pictures in their mind of engineers using machines producing parts, drawing and sketching designs, or even doing some mathematical calculations. A more general answer to what engineers actually do would be that they solve social problems through the use of machines, devices, systems, materials and processes. They are all absolutely correct. But in reality, both the job and the role of an engineer are more complicated. They do not only have to work with machines and designs. Engineers are often involved in communications and negotiations. They have to work with different people and the responsibility that they have is massive. Important decisions are made by them and they have to use their own judgement. And very often, ethical considerations are already built into the decisions they make. In order to make the best decisions, they have to be understood in the context of their role in society and, moreover, they need to develop good ethical awareness and be able to deal with the dilemmas that they have to face every day.

This guide is available as an abridged published document, and as a full set of case studies available online, including an in-depth discussion of the place of ethics in engineering. It is our intention to update and add to the case studies over time, reflecting the changes in technology and society that affect engineering ethics. Ethics, like engineering, is a practical subject, and its exercise is in debate and discussion. We hope that these case studies are used to stimulate discussion between engineers, to help individuals, and the profession as a whole, to advance their understanding of the ethical issues in engineering. How to use this guide The purpose of this guide is to supplement the SEP with discussions, clarifications and illustrative personal experiences that will bring the ethical issues in engineering to life. The guide is also intended to

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

Practically every professional engineering organization has developed a code of ethics. Codes of ethics are formal declarations of an engineer’s professional obligations, and it is important to know expectations for oneself before pursuing and committing to a course of action. This paper is also a great opportunity to practice researching and writing skills which are necessary to almost every career.