UNIT I – HUMAN VALUES

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VALUES

1. Values are individual in nature.

2. Values are comprised of personal concepts of responsibility, entitlement and respect.
3. Values are shaped by personal experience, may change over the span of a lifetime and may be influenced by
lessons learned.4. Values may vary according to an individual’s cultural, ethnic and/or faith-based background.

“Never change your core values.”

In spite of all the change around you, decide upon what you will never change: your core values.
Take your time to decide what they are but once you do, do not compromise on them for any reason.
Integrity is one such value.
MORALS
1. Morals are guiding principles that every citizen should hold.
2. Morals are foundational concepts defined on both an individual and societal level.
3. At the most basic level, morals are the knowledge of the difference between right and wrong.
PERSONAL ETHICS
1. Simply put, all individuals are morally autonomous beings with the power and right to choose their values, but it
does not follow that all choices and all value systems have an equal claim to be called ethical.
2. Actions and beliefs inconsistent with the Six Pillars of Character - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility,
fairness, caring and citizenship - are simply not ethical.

PERSONAL ETHICS - everyday examples

• Software piracy
• Expense account padding
• Copying of homework or tests
• Income taxes
• “Borrowing” nuts and bolts, office supplies from employer
• Copying of Videos or CD’s
• Plagiarism
• Using the copy machine at work
RELIGION AND ETHICS
• The “Golden Rule” is a basic tenet in almost all religions: Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Confucian, Buddhist,
Muslim.
• “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
• “Treat others as you would like them to treat you” (Christian).
• “Hurt not others with that which pains you” (Buddhist)
• “What is hateful to yourself do not do to your fellow men” (Judaism)
• “No man is a true believer unless he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself” (Islam)
MORALITY AND ETHICS
 Concerns the goodness of voluntary human conduct that affects the self or other living things
 Morality (Latin mores) usually refers to any aspect of human action
 Ethics (Greek ethos) commonly refers only to professional behavior
 Ethics consist of the application of fundamental moral principles and reflect our dedication to fair treatment
of each other, and of society as a whole.
 An individual’s own values can result in acceptance or rejection of society’s ethical standards because even
thoughtfully developed ethical rules can conflict with individual values.
ASPECTS OF ETHICS
There are two aspects to ethics:
1.The first involves the ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil and propriety from impropriety.
2. The second involves the commitment to do what is right, good and proper. Ethics entails action.
Work ethic :
Work ethic is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of
work and its ability to enhance character. A work ethic may include being reliable, having initiative, or pursuing new
skills. Workers exhibiting a good work ethic in theory should be selected for better positions, more responsibility
and ultimately promotion. Workers who fail to exhibit a good work ethic may be regarded as failing to provide fair
value for the wage the employer is paying them and should not be promoted or placed in positions of greater
responsibility. Work ethic is not just hard work but also a set of accompanying virtues, whose crucial role in the
development and sustaining of free markets.
Benjamin Franklin wrote: ‘Remember, that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his
labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or
idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides.
... Remember, that money is the prolific, generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget
more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six, turned again is seven and three pence, and so on, till it becomes a
hundred pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker and
quicker. He that kills a breeding sow, destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a
crown, destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds.’
Civic virtue :
Civic virtue is the moral underpinning of how a citizen behaves and is involved in society. It is a
standard of righteous behavior in relation to a citizens’ involvement in society. A individual may exhibit civic virtue
by voting, volunteering and organizing other community activities. Without an understanding of civic virtue, citizens
are less likely to look beyond their families, friends and economic interests. They are less likely to help others in the
community, to volunteer their time, to give to nonprofit organizations or to participate in group activity that benefits
society. Related ideas for civic virtue are citizenship, philanthropy, public good, voluntarism and social capital.
Valuing Time:
A first step in good time management is to understand the value of your time. If you are employed by
someone else, you need to understand how much your employer is paying for your time, and how much profit he or
she expects to make from you. If you are working for yourself, you should have an idea of how much income you
want to bring in after tax. By working these figures back to an hourly rate, this gives you an idea of the value of your
time. By knowing the value of your time, you should be able to tell what tasks are worthwhile to perform, and which
tasks give a poor return. This helps you cut away the low value jobs, or argue for help with them.
Respect for others :
Respect for others is based on self-respect. It really is following the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you
would have others do unto you. Being a polite and courteous person makes one a rare individual in today's world.
Politeness, and a genuine concern for the rights and feelings of others in our society seems to have slammed the door
in our faces. A culture of rudeness has become a feature of modern society. Whether it's loud cellphone
conversations, line cutting, or terrible customer service by staff people, finding politeness in the world is on the
decline. You can very easily find people who view politeness and good manners as weakness and as character flaws
to be overcome. They argue that rudeness succeeds and common courtesy is a mark of failure. They view rudeness
to others as a sign of their superiority as people, and a badge of their status. They couldn't be more wrong. Politeness
and common courtesy are more likely to achieve success, in business and in life, than a selfish, bullying attitude.
Commitment and cooperation:
Commitment means acceptance of the responsibilities and duties and cooperation means help and
assistance. By developing team commitment and cooperation in a work team you are assisting the team to meet its
goals and objectives. Work teams that are committed and cooperative are more likely to achieve the goals the
business has set. There are a number of signals that indicate the work team is committed and cooperating.
These include:
• maintaining or increasing quality
• reaching or exceeding production targets
• decreasing complaints from team members
• limited conflict between team members
• fewer workplace injuries.
There are degrees of team involvement in decision making. Your knowledge of the skills and abilities of the team
members will guide your decision about the extent supported employees can contribute to making a decision. There
are no rules for when and how team members should be involved. It is a matter for your judgement.

Empathy
 Empathy is the ability to mutually experience the thoughts, emotions, and direct experience of others. The
ability to understand another person’s circumstances, point of view, thoughts, and feelings is empathy. When
experiencing empathy, you are able to understand someone else’s internal experiences.

Self-confidence
Self-confidence relates to self-assuredness in one's personal judgment, ability, power, etc., sometimes
manifested excessively. Being confident in yourself is infectious if you present yourself well, others will want to
follow in your foot steps towards success. Promise yourself, no matter how difficult the problem life throws at you,
that you will try as hard as you can to help yourself. You acknowledge that sometimes your efforts to help yourself
may not result in success, as often being properly rewarded is not in your control

Spirituality:
Spirituality is the concept of an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality, an inner path enabling a person to
discover the essence of his/her being; or the "deepest values and meanings by which people live. Spiritual practices,
including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life. Spiritual
experiences can include being connected to a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; joining with other
individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm. Spirituality is often
experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life. It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or
experiences of the immanent or transcendent nature of the world.

UNIT II - ENGINEERING ETHICS

“ENGINEERING ETHICS is:

• the study of moral issues and decisions confronting individuals and organizations involved in engineering and

• the study of related questions about moral ideals, character, policies and relationships of people and
organizations involved in technological activity.

TRAINING IN PREVENTIVE ETHICS

• Stimulating the moral imagination

• Recognizing ethical issues

• Developing analytical skills

• Eliciting a sense of responsibility

• Tolerating disagreement and ambiguity

IMPEDIMENTS TO RESPONSIBILITY
• Self-interest.

• Fear.

• Self-deception.

• Ignorance.

• Egocentric tendencies.

• Microscopic vision.

• Groupthink.

QUESTIONABLE ENGINEERING PRACTICES

• Trimming – “smoothing of irregularities to make data look extremely accurate and precise”
• Cooking – “retaining only those results that fit the theory and discarding others”.

• Forging – “inventing some or all of the research data…”

• Plagiarism – misappropriating intellectual property.

• Conflicts of interest (such as accepting gifts.)

– actual

– potential

– apparent

CLEARLY WRONG ENGINEERING PRACTICES

• Lying

• Deliberate deception

• Withholding information

• Failing to adequately promote the dissemination of information

• Failure to seek out the truth

• Revealing confidential or proprietary information

• Allowing one’s judgment to be corrupted

SENSES OF EXPRESSION OF ENGG. ETHICS

1. Ethics is an activity and area of inquiry. It is the activity of understanding moral values, resolving moral issues
and the area of study resulting from that activity.

2. When we speak of ethical problems, issues and controversies, we mean to distinguish them from non moral
problems.

3. Ethics is used to refer to the particular set of beliefs, attitudes and habits that a person or group displays
concerning moralities.

4. Ethics and its grammatical variants can be used as synonyms for ‘morally correct’.

VARIETIES or APPROACHES OF MORAL ISSUES

MICRO-ETHICS emphasizes typically everyday problems that can take on significant proportions in an engineer’s
life or entire engineering office.

MACRO-ETHICS addresses societal problems that are often shunted aside and are not addressed until they
unexpectedly resurface on a regional or national scale.

MORAL PROBLEMS IN ENGINEERING

(SOME EXAMPLES)
4.1. An inspector discovered faulty construction equipment and applied a violation tag, preventing its use. The
supervisor, a construction manager viewed the case as a minor abrasion of the safety regulations and ordered the
removal of the tag to speed up the project. When the inspector objected to this, he was threatened with disciplinary
action.

4.2. An electric utility company applied for a permit to operate a nuclear power plant. The licensing agency was
interested in knowing what emergency measures had been established for humans safety in case of reactor
malfunctioning. The utility engineers described the alarm system and arrangements with local hospitals for
treatment. They did not emphasize that this measures applied to plant personnel only and that they had no plans for
the surrounding population. When enquired about their omission, they said it was not their responsibility.

4.3. A chemical plant dumped wastes in a landfill. Hazardous substances found their way into the underground water
table. The plant’s engineers were aware of the situation but did not change the method of disposal because their
competitors did it the same cheap way, and no law explicitly forbade the practice.

4.4. Electronics Company ABC geared up for production of its own version of a popular new item. The product was
not yet ready for sale, but even so, pictures and impressive specifications appeared in advertisements. Prospective
customers were led to believe that it was available off the shelf and were drawn away from competing lines.

TYPES OF INQUIRIES

1. NORMATIVE INQUIRY

These are about ‘what ought to be’ and ‘what is good’. These questions identify and also justify the morally
desirable norms or standards.

Some of the questions are:

A. How far engineers are obligated to protect public safety in given situations?

B. When should engineers start whistle blowing on dangerous practices of their employers?

C. Whose values are primary in taking a moral decision, employee, public or govt?

D. Why are engineers obligated to protect public safety?

E. When is govt justified in interfering on such issues and why?

2. CONCEPTUAL INQUIRY:

These questions should lead to clarifications on concepts, principles and issues in ethics. Examples are:

A) What is ‘SAFETY’ and how is it related to ‘RISK’

B) ‘Protect the safety, health and welfare of public’-What does this statement mean?

C) What is a bribe?

D) What is a ‘profession’ and who are ‘professionals’?

3. FACTUAL (DESCRIPTIVE) INQUIRIES

These are inquiries used to uncover information using scientific techniques. These inquiries get to information about
business realities, history of engineering profession, procedures used in assessment of risks and engineers
psychology.

Why study ENGINEERING ETHICS

ENGINEERING ETHICS is a means to increase the ability of concerned engineers, managers, citizens and others to
responsibly confront moral issues raised by technological activities.

MORAL DILEMMMA
There are three types of complexities.

1,. VAGUENESS: This complexity arises due to the fact that it is not clear to individuals as to which moral
considerations or principles apply to their situation.

2. CONFLICTING REASONS: Even when it is perfectly clear as to which moral principle is applicable to one’s
situation, there could develop a situation where in two or more clearly applicable moral principles come into
conflict.

3. DISAGREEMENT: Individuals and groups may disagree how to interpret, apply and balance moral reasons in
particular situations.

Steps in confronting MORAL DILEMMAS:

i) Identify the relevant moral factors and reasons.

ii) Gather all available facts that are pertinent to the moral factors involved.

iii) Rank the moral considerations in the order of their importance as they apply to the situation.

iv) Consider alternative course of action, tracing the full implications of each, as ways of solving dilemma.

v) Talk with colleagues, seeking the suggestions and perspectives of the dilemma.

vi) Arrive at a carefully reasoned judgment by weighing all the relevant moral factors and reasons in light of
facts.

MORAL AUTONOMY

• This is viewed as the skill and habit of thinking rationally about ethical issues on the basis of moral concerns
independently or by self-determination.

• Autonomous individuals think for themselves and do not assume that customs are always right.

• They seek to reason and live by general principles.

• Their motivation is to do what is morally reasonable for its own sake, maintaining integrity, self-respect, and
respect for others.

One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that
an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty… is in reality
expressing the highest respect for the law.” Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963.

A person becomes morally autonomous by improving various practical skills listed below:

i) Proficiency is recognizing moral problems and issues in engineering.

ii) Skill in comprehending, clarifying and critically assessing arguments on opposing sides of moral issues.

iii) The ability to form consistent and comprehensive viewpoints based upon consideration of relevant facts.

iv) Awareness of alternate responses to issues and creative solutions for practical difficulties.

v) Sensitivity to genuine difficulties and subtleties

vi) Increased precision in the use of a common ethical language necessary to express and also defend one’s views
adequately.

vii) Appreciation of possibilities of using rational dialogue in resolving moral conflicts and the need for tolerance of
differences in perspective among orally reasonable people.

viii) A sense of importance of integrating one’s professional life and personal convictions i.e. maintaining
one’s moral integrity.

KOHLBERG’S THEORY
STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

• Pre-conventional Level
Whatever benefits oneself or avoids punishment. This is the level of development of all young children. -Avoid
punishment & Gain Reward

• Conventional Level
Uncritical acceptance of one’s family, group or society are accepted as final standard of morality. Most adults do not
mature beyond this stage. -1.Gain Approval & Avoid Disapproval & 2. Duty & Guilt

• Post-conventional Level
Motivation to do what is morally reasonable for its own sake, rather than solely from ulterior motives, with also a
desire to maintain their moral integrity, self-respect and the respect of other autonomous individuals. They are
‘Morally autonomous’ people. -1. Agreed upon rights & 2. Personal moral standards

GILLIGAN’S THEORY
 Pre-conventional Level
This is the same as Kohlberg’s first level in that the person is preoccupied with self centered reasoning, caring for
the needs and desires of self.
 Conventional
Here the thinking is opposite in that, one is preoccupied with not hurting others and a willingness to sacrifice one’s
own interests in order to help or nurture others (or retain friendship).
 Post-conventional Level
Achieved through context-oriented reasoning, rather than by applying abstract rules ranked in a hierarchy of
importance. Here the individual becomes able to strike a reasoned balance between caring about other people and
pursuing one’s own self-interest while exercising one’s rights.

Differences between the TWO THEORIES

KOHLBERG GILLIGAN

I. Ethics of rules and rights Ethics of care

II. Studies based on well educated, white male’s Studies included females and colored peoples
only, tending male bias.

III. Application of abstract rules ranked in the order Application of context-oriented reasoning.
of importance

IV. Studies were hypothesized for both the genders Study was conducted on both genders and it was found, men
even though the study was conducted mostly on based their reasoning on ‘justice’ and women based theirs on
males ‘care’
 HEINZ’S DILEMMA
The famous example used by Kohlberg was called “Heinz’s dilemma”. A woman living in Europe would die of
cancer unless she was given an expensive drug. Her husband, Heinz, could not afford it. But the local pharmacist,
who had invented the drug at only one tenth of the sale price refused to sell it to Heinz who could only raise half the
required money from borrowings. Desperation drives Heinz to break into the pharmacy and steal the drug to save his
wife.

When respondents were asked whether and why Heinz should or should not steal a drug to save his wife from a life-
threatening illness. The responses of the individuals were compared with a prototypical response of individuals at
particular stages of moral reasoning. Kohlberg noted that irrespective of the level of the individual the response
could be same, but the reasoning could be different.

For example, if a child reasoning at a ‘preconventional’ level might say that it is not right to steal because it is
against law and someone might see you.

At a ‘conventional’ level, an individual might argue that it is not right to steal because it is against law and laws are
necessary for society to function.

At a ‘postconventional’ level, one may argue that stealing is wrong because is against law and it is immoral.

CONSENSUS AND CONTROVERSY

CONTROVERSY:

• All individuals will not arrive at same verdict during their exercising their moral autonomy.

• Aristotle noted long ago that morality is not as precise and clear-cut as arithmetic.

• Aim of teaching engg ethics is not to get unanimous conformity of outlook by indoctrination, authoritarian and
dogmatic teaching, hypnotism or any other technique but to improve promotion of tolerance in the exercise of moral
autonomy.

CONSENSUS:

The conductor of a music orchestra has authority over the musicians and his authority is respected by them by
consensus as otherwise the music performance will suffer. Hence the authority and autonomy are compatible.

On the other hand, tension arises between the needs for autonomy and the need for concerns about authority. The
difference between the two should be discussed openly to resolve the issue to the common good.

PROFESSIONS AND PROFESSIONALISM

Engineers normally imagine that they are servants to organizations rather than a public guardian. Responsibility to
the public is essential for a professional.

Who is a professional?

• Obviously a member of a profession.

What is a profession?

‘JOB’ or ‘OCCUPATION’ that meets the following criteria from which a person earns his living.

 Knowledge – Exercise of skills, knowledge, judgment and discretion requiring extensive formal criteria.
 Organization - special bodies by members of the profession to set standard codes of ethics,
 Public good-The occupation serves some important public good indicated by a code of ethics.
Who is a professional engineer?

• Has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from an accredited school

• Performs engineering work

• Is a registered and licensed Professional Engineer

• Acts in a morally responsible way while practicing engineering

Differing views on Professionals

“Only consulting engineers who are basically independent and have freedom from coercion can be called as
professionals.” -Robert L.Whitelaw

“Professionals have to meet the expectations of clients and employers. Professional restraints are to be imposed by
only laws and government regulations and not by personal conscience.” -
Samuel Florman

“Engineers are professionals when they 1) attain standards of achievement in education, job performance or
creativity in engineering and 2) accept the most basic moral responsibilities to the public as well as employers,
clients, colleagues and subordinates.” -Mike Martin & Roland Schinzinger

MOTIVES FOR PROFESSIONALISM

 A desire for interesting and challenging work and the pleasure in the act of changing the world.
 The joy of creative efforts. Where a scientist’s interest is in discovering new technology, engineers interest is
derived from creatively solving practical problems.
 The engineer shares the scientist’s job in understanding the laws and riddles of the universe.
 The sheer magnitude of the nature – oceans, rivers, mountains and prairies – leads engineers to build engineering
marvels like ships, bridges, tunnels, etc., which appeal to human passion.
 The pleasure of being in the presence of machines generating a comforting and absorbing sense of a manageable,
controlled and ordered world.
 Strong sense of helping, of directing efforts towards easing the lot of one’s fellows.
The main pleasure of the engineer will always be to contribute to the well-being of his fellow-men.

MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

1. SAVIOR: The representative engineer is a savior who will redeem society from poverty, inefficiency, waste and
the drudgery of manual labour.

2. GUARDIAN: Engineers know, the directions in which and pace at which, technology should develop.

3. BUREAUCRATIC SERVANT: The engineer as the loyal organization person uses special skills to solve
problems.

4. SOCIAL SERVANT: Engineers, in co-operation with management, have the task of receiving society’s
directives and satisfying society’s desires.

5. SOCIAL ENABLER AND CATALYST: Engineers play a vital role beyond mere compliance with orders. They
help management and society understand their own needs and to make informed decisions.

6. GAME PLAYER: Engineers are neither servants nor masters of anyone. They play by the economic
game rules that happen to be in effect at a given time.
TYPES OF ETHICAL THEORIES
S.NO TYPES BASED ON

1 Virtue ethics Virtues and vices

2 Utilitarianism Most good for most people

3 Duty ethics Duties to respect persons

4 Rights ethics Human Rights

VIRTUE ETHICS
Virtue Ethics

• Focuses on the type of person we should strive to be

• Actions which reflect good character traits (virtues) are inherently right

• Actions which reflect bad character traits (vices) are inherently wrong

• Virtue ethics are tied more to individual behavior than to that of an organization (e.g. business,
government)

Virtue Too much Too less

(Golden mean between extremes)

Courage Foolhardiness Cowardice

Truthfulness Revealing all in violation of tact and Being secretive or lacking in

confidentiality candor

Generosity Wasting one’s resources Being miserly

Friendliness Being annoyingly effusive Sulky or surly

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Being morally responsible as a professional.
 Most basic and comprehensive professional virtue.
 Creation of useful and safe technological products while respecting the autonomy of clients and public,
especially in matters of risk taking.
This encompasses a wide variety of the more specific virtues grouped as follows:

1. SELF DIRECTION VIRTUES:

Fundamental virtues in exercising our moral autonomy and responsibility. e.g. self understanding, humility, good
moral judgment, courage, self discipline, perseverance, commitments, self-respect and dignity

2. PUBLIC SPIRITED VIRTUES:

Focusing on the good of the clients and public affected by the engineers’ work by . not directly and intentionally
harming others i.e. ‘nonmaleficence’.
Benificence, sense of community, generosity are other virtues falling in this category.

3. TEAMWORK VIRTUES:

Enables professionals to work successfully with others. E.g. collegiality, cooperativeness, the ability to
communicate, respect for authority, loyalty to employers and leadership qualities.

4. PROFICIENCY VIRTUES:

Mastery of one’s craft that characterize good engineering practice e.g. competence, diligence, creativity, self-
renewal through continuous education.

MORAL INTEGRITY

Moral integrity is the unity of character on the basis of moral concern, and especially on the basis of honesty. The
unity is consistency among our attitudes, emotions and conduct in relation to justified moral values.

SELF-RESPECT
1. Valuing oneself in morally appropriate ways.

2,. Integral to finding meaning in one’s life and work

3. A pre-requisite for pursuing other moral ideals and virtues.

4. Self-respect is a moral concept of properly valuing oneself but self-esteem is a psychological concept of
positive attitude towards oneself.

Self-respect takes two forms.

1. Recognition self-respect is properly valuing oneself because of one’s inherent moral worth, the same worth that
every other human being has.

2. Appraisal self-respect is properly valuing ourselves according to how well we meet moral standards and our
personal ideals.

VARIOUS SENSES OF RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibility ascribed by i) virtue, ii) obligations, iii) general moral capacities of people, iv) liabilities and
accountability for actions and v) blameworthiness or praiseworthiness.

1. By virtue: A person is said to be a responsible person when we ascribe a moral virtue to the person. We expect
that the person is regularly concerned to do the right thing, is conscientious and diligent in meeting obligations. In
this sense, professional responsibility is the central virtue of engineers.

2. By obligation: Moral responsibilities can be thought of as obligations or duties to perform morally right acts.

3. By general moral capacity: When we view a person as a whole rather than one with respect to a specific area,
we are actually thinking about the active capacity of the person for knowing how to act in morally appropriate ways
e.g. the capacity of children grow as they mature and learn.

4. By accountability: Responsibility also means being accountable, answerable or liable to meet particular
obligations. The virtue of professional responsibility implies a willingness to be accountable for one’s conduct.

5. By being blameworthy: When accountability for a wrongdoing is at issue, responsible becomes a synonym for
blameworthy. When right conduct is the issue, the context is praiseworthiness
.

CAUSAL AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Causal Responsibility: consists simply in being a cause of some event. E.g. lightning as being responsible for a
house catching fire.

Legal Responsibility: consists simply in being a cause for harm that was so unlikely and also unforeseeable that no
moral responsibility is involved.

UTILITARIANISM

• That which produces the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people (e.g. Democracy)

• Tries to achieve a balance between the good and bad consequences of an action

• Tries to maximize the well-being of society and emphasizes what will provide the most benefits to the largest
group of people

• This method is fundamental to many types of engineering analysis, including risk-benefit analysis and cost-
benefit analysis

Drawbacks:

1. Sometimes what is best for the community as a whole is bad for certain individuals in the community

2. It is often impossible to know in advance which decision will lead to the most good

Organizing Principles to Resolving Ethical Issues

3. Utilitarian thinking

– a standard that promotes those individual actions or rules that produce the greatest total amount of utility to those
affected.

– A code that enjoins engineers to promote the safety, health, and welfare of the public.

2. Preference utilitarianism

– promote those conditions that allow each individual to pursue happiness as he or she conceives it.

– Two conditions necessary for this: freedom and well-being.

– Practically, for engineers, this advocates cost/benefit analyses.

Problems with Utilitarianism

• Difficult to quantify benefits for ALL those affected.

• “Greatest good” difficult to apply to an all-inclusive population.

• Someone gets “shafted” – approach justifies perpetrating injustice on individuals, i.e., someone gets left out.

• Three approaches:

1. Cost/benefit – quantifiable approach. Maximize positive utilities (benefits) against negative utilities (costs).
2. Act utilitarian – “Will the course of action produce more good than any alternative course of action that I could
take”?

3. Rule utilitarian – “Would utility be maximized if everyone did the same thing in the same circumstances”?
Adoption of commonly accepted rules.

1. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS:

1. Assess the available options

2. Assess the costs and benefits of each option for the entire audience affected

3. Make the decision that is likely to result in the greatest benefit relative to cost.

2. ACT-UTILITARIANISM:

(professed by John Stuart Mills)

1. Focuses on individual actions, rather than general rules.

2. An act is right if it is likely to produce the most good for the most people involved in the particular situation.

3. Rules may be broken whenever doing so will produce the most good in a specific situation.

4 Happiness is the only ‘intrinsic’ good and all others are ‘instrumental’ goods that serve as the means of
happiness.

3. RULE-UTILITARIANISM:

(professed by Richard Brandt)

1. This regards moral values as primary.

2. We should follow the rules and avoid bribes, even when those acts do not have the best consequences in a
particular situation, because the general practice of following rules and not bribing produce the most overall good

3. Rules should be considered in sets called ‘moral codes’. A moral code is justified when followed, would
maximize the public good more than alternative codes would.

DUTY ETHICS (Immanuel Kant’s view)

Contends that certain acts (or duties) should be performed because they are inherently ethical such as:

 be honest,

 keep promises,

 do not inflict sufferings on other people,

 be fair,

 make reparation when you have been unfair,

 how gratitude for kindness extended by others

 seek to improve own intelligence and character,

 develop one’s talents,

 don’t commit suicide.

 Duties, rather than good consequences, is fundamental.

 Individuals who recognize their ethical duties will choose ethically correct moral actions

These duties should meet Kant’s 3 conditions i.e.

1. It should express respect for persons,

 People deserve respect because they have capacity to be autonomous and for exercising goodwill.

 Goodwill is the conscientious and honest effort to do what is right according to universal principles of duties.

 Moral motives and intentions play a prominent role in duty ethics rather than utilitarianism.

2. It is an universal principle

 Duties are binding on us only if they are applicable to everyone. They must be universalisable.

3.It expresses command for autonomous moral agents. Duties prescribe certain actions categorically, without
qualifications or conditions attached. Valid principles of duties are Categorical Imperatives. They contrast with non-
moral commands called Hypothetical Imperatives which are conditional.

The above ▬► ‘RESPECT for PERSONS’

Drawback of Kant’s duty ethics: It has failed to be sensitive to how principles of duty can conflict with each other
thereby creating Moral dilemmas.

Rawls Development on Kant’s Duty Ethics

Rawls argues that all rational people would agree to abide by two basic moral principles:

1. Each person is entitled to the most extensive amount of liberty compatible with an equal amount for others and

2. Differences in social power and economic benefits are justified only when they are likely to benefit everyone,
including members of most disadvantaged groups.

RIGHTS ETHICS (JOHN LOCKE – 1632-1704)

• Everyone has inherent moral rights

• Everyone has rights that arise from EXISTING (i.e. right to Life, maximum individual Liberty, and human
Dignity are Fundamental Rights).

• Other rights arise as a Consequence.

• Duties arise because people have rights, not vice versa.

• Any act that violates an individual’s moral rights is ethically unacceptable.

• Rights ethics was highly individualistic.

• Rights are primarily entitlements that prevent other people from meddling in one’s life. These are referred to
as Liberty Rights or Negative Rights that place duties on other people not to interfere with one’s life.

e.g. Individuals do not have rights to life because others have duties not to kill them. Instead, possessing the right to
life is the reason why others ought not to kill them.
Drawbacks

• How do we prioritize the rights of different individuals?

• Rights ethics often promote the rights of individuals at the expense of large groups/society

A.I.Melden’s version of Rights Ethics

 Human rights are intimately related to communities of people.

 This version is known as POSITIVE WELFARE RIGHTS and is defined as rights to community benefits for
living a minimally decent human life.

EVALUATION OF ETHICAL THEORIES

We are basically not interested in which of the ethical theories is the best. It is believed that there are areas in which
each theory complements others by how they differ.

Procedure for General Evaluation:

1. The theory must be clear and formulated with concepts that are coherent and applicable.

2. It must be internally consistent in that none of its tenets contradicts any other.

3. Neither the theory nor its defense can rely upon false information.

4. It must be sufficiently comprehensive to provide guidance in specific situations of interest to us.

5. It must be compatible with our most carefully considered moral convictions about concrete situations.

CUSTOMS and ETHICAL RELATIVISM

Relativism:

 Distinction between “morals” (“treatment of others”) and “mores” (“harmless customs”)

Cultural (Descriptive) Relativism:

 Factual Claims: “x is considered right in society y at time t” and “is considered wrong in society z at time t”

 Empirical Conclusion: Moralities are relative

 This is either true or false (anthropology –a study of mankind , its customs, beliefs, etc.can figure it out)

Normative (Ethical) Relativism:

 Normative Claim: “What is considered right in society x at time t is right for that society”

 A particular culture cannot be judged from outside of that culture.

 ‘Ethical Relativism’ says that actions are morally right when they are approved by law and custom.

 They are wrong when they violate laws and custom.

 Ethical egoism tries to reduce moral reasons to matters of self interest, ‘ethicalrelativism’ attempts to reduce
moral values to laws, conventions and customs of particular societies.

Consequences of Normative Relativism

 We cannot say other “morals” are inferior to our own society’s

 We decide the value of our actions based only on what our particular society thinks

 We should show a lot of tolerance for different customs and outlooks in a society in which we live in. It means
that customs can have moral significance in deciding how we should act. This view is called ‘ethical pluralism’.

Reasons for Acceptance Of Ethical Relativism

The reasons professed for acceptance of ethical relativism is threefold.

1. Laws seem so tangible and clear-cut. They provide a public way ending seemingly endless disputes about rights
and wrongs. But many times, moral reasons seem to be at variance with laws e.g. apartheid laws.

2. Moral standards vary dramatically from one culture to another. The only kind of objectivity possible is limited to
a given set of laws in a given society. Acknowledging this relativity of morality encourages the virtue of tolerance of
differences among societies.

3. Moral judgments should be made in relation to factors that from case to case, usually making it impossible to
formulate rules which are simple. Customs and laws are usually morally relevant factors that should be taken into
account.

RELIGION and DIVINE COMMAND ETHICS

Ethics and Religion:

Moral issues and religious belief are related in several positive ways.

 First, they are shaped over time from the central moral values of major world religions.

 Second, religious views often support moral responsibility by providing additional motivation for being
moral.

 Third, sometimes religions set a higher moral standard than is conventional.

 Societies often benefit from a variety of religions that make prominent particular virtues, inspiring their
members to pursue them beyond what is ordinarily seen as morally obligatory.

Divine Command Ethic:

 This says that an act which is right is commanded by god and the one which is wrong is forbidden by God.

 The difficulty in this is to know precisely what God’s commands are and in knowing whether God exists.

We can view that moral reasons are not reducible to religious matters, although religious belief may provide
an added inspiration for responding to them.

Uses Of Ethical Theories

1. Ethical theories aid in identifying the moral considerations or reasons that constitute a dilemma.

2. They provide a precise sense of what kinds of information are relevant to solving moral development.

3. They sometimes, offer ways to rank the relevant moral considerations in order of importance and provide
a rough guidance in solving moral problems.

4. The theories help us identify the full moral ramifications of alternative courses of action, urging a wide
perspective on the moral implications of the options and providing a systematic framework of comparing
alternatives.
 5. The theories augment the precision with which we use moral terms and they provide frame works for
moral reasoning when discussing moral issues with colleagues..