HS 212 Professional Ethics

Week 01
Engineering Ethics
My name is Rabbia Zuberi
Teaching Engineering Ethics
Engineering Ethics
Why should I study Ethics?
What is Ethics?
What is Engineering?
What is Profession?
Some cases
Course contents
Course structures
Policies
Why should l study Ethics?
This course helps you to discover the purpose of your
existence….
You will be discovering your ……..OWN SELF.
What is the course objective?
Personality Transformation.
Change of mind set.
To make you realize that your existence should be
beneficial for the world.
Definition:
At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral
principles. ... Ethics is concerned with what is good
for individuals and society and is also described as
moral philosophy. The term is derived from the Greek
word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character
Morals refer to an individual's own principles
regarding right and wrong.
Ethics is a social science which deals with concepts
such as right or wrong, moral and immoral, good and
bad behaviour of dealing with one another.
Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong”
conduct. While they are sometimes used
interchangeably, they are different: ethics refer to
rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of
conduct in workplaces or principles in
religions. Morals refer to an individual's own
principles regarding right and wrong.
Daily life examples of Ethics
Ethics is the study of the principles relating to right
or wrong conduct.
Our daily lives have ample examples of personal and
societal ethics.
Playing any sports with the game spirit. You should
play that sport fairly. Cheating is against ethics.
Do not cheat in exams. It’s an example of ethics.
You are sitting in a caffee with a friend, on a table
that you like very much and that has the capacity for
5 people. A group of 4 or 5 people come and they have
no other table big enough for their group. You and
your friend can move to a smaller table and make the
life of the 4 or 5 people easier and more pleasant,
without sustaining any significant damage yourselves.
From saying ‘good morning’ with a smile to ending
our day with a polite ‘good night’
From obeying our elders to respecting decisions of
our siblings and friends.
To express right or wrong in a way so as to not hurt
others plus not compromising your self respect.
Helping people in small things, listening to
someone's problems without making fun of him/her,
encouraging and motivating someone for achieving
goals.
All these are daily examples of ethics, however it is
entirely up to person to person what they follow and
what not :)
The choices we make in daily life defines us as a
person.
In my opinion, I would consider these examples of
ethics.
Integrity in personal and professional matters(being
true to oneself is more important than anything else.)
Honesty, truthfulness and sincerity
Loyalty
Responsibility, reliability and dependability
Kindness
Empathy: being able to understand the others’
emotions and feelings. This is possible only when we
are aware of our own. Identifying our emotions can
help establish better control over our actions and
words. It assumes extreme relevance in leading a
successful life.
Self-discipline and acting with reasonable restraint
Restraint: Enjoy your life as much as you can, but
not at the expense of another's privacy or freedom.
Respect for others and their property
Knowing the distinction between right and wrong
and good and bad behavior
Ethical Decision Making
An ethical decision is one where one chooses how to
respond to a given situation based on values of
“good/right” and “bad/wrong”, as opposed to mere
expediency or efficiency.
For an example, imagine that you’re sitting in a diner,
and an incredibly loud and obnoxious individual
comes in, disturbing everyone’s dinner. How would
you respond?
a) beat up the jerk until he leaves or dies
b) threaten to beat him up
c) do your best to ignore him
d) get up and leave
e) politely explain how his actions are disturbing
others, and that you’ll complain to the manager if he
persists.
The last would be considered ethical in terms of
establishing a boundary of what is considered
“good/right” behavior, and the likely consequences of
continuing to violate that boundary.
What is engineering?

Your ideas here!

Engineering is a scientific field and job that involves
taking our scientific understanding of the natural
world and using it to invent, design, and build things
to solve problems and achieve practical goals. This
can include the development of roads, bridges, cars,
planes, machines, tools, processes, and computers.
The things engineers build are called technology.
Without technology, the modern world simply
wouldn't exist. We're surrounded by the work of
engineers practically every moment of our lives.
So
So as engineers, we are concerned with ethics
because these definitions apply to all of the choices an
individual makes in life, including those made while
practicing engineering.
What is Profession?
a paid occupation, especially one that involves
prolonged training and a formal qualification.
A lawyer is an example of a profession. When you
work as a teacher, this is an example of a situation
where education is your profession.
"profession is an occupation for which a person
should have good knowledge and expertise, to
provide services to others.
Occupation:a person's usual or principal work or
business, especially as a means of earning a living;
vocation:
Examples of Professions:
Physician, Lawyer, engineer, others
Examples of Non-professions:
Plumber, fashion model, sales clerk, others
What distinguish profession from other occupations?
Your ideas here
The main difference between occupation and
profession is that occupation is an activity undertaken
by the person to earn his livelihood. It can be business
or employment that a person undertakes to make
money whereas profession is an activity that needs
specialized training, knowledge, qualification, and
skills.
What is the difference between a profession and
a professional? Profession is an occupation;
whereas, professional is an individual who practices
the profession with accumulated knowledge and
skills.
What are the characteristics of
profession
Qualities like honesty
 punctuality
a spirit of service, the ability to meet deadlines
Reliable
Competent
advanced specialized knowledge and skills
dealing with its problems primarily on an intellectual
plane rather then on a physical or a manual labor plane.
Communicator
Poised
Ethical.
and many others are also essential. Without them,
a professional, no matter how talented, will find it
difficult to work with others, and in the end, his
technical skills will be largely wasted
Why do professionals have special
ethical responsibility?
Professional have clients, not customer (what is the
difference)
Clients must trust professionals
Code of ethics: special responsibilities of professionals
Integrity.
Objectivity.
Professional competence.
Confidentiality.
Professional behavior.
Client Vs Customer
While clients refer to someone who looks for or uses
professional service from the service provider (i.e.
professional such as lawyer, doctor, chartered
accountant, consultant, etc.) and pays a fee for the
same. On the contrary, Customers are the one who is
going to buy the product from the shop or business.
He/She is someone, with whom the company deals
and is considered as the king of business.
What is professional ethics
Why study professional ethics
During their undergraduate education, engineers
receive training in basic and engineering sciences,
problem solving methodology, and engineering
design, but generally receive little training in business
practices, safety, and ethics.
 Ethical cases can go far beyond issues of public safety
and may involve bribery, fraud, environmental
protection, fairness, honesty in research and test.
Engineering ethics
Engineering ethics help future engineers to be
prepared for confronting and resolving ethical
dilemmas.
Engineering ethics is the rules and standards
governing the conduct of engineers in their role as
professionals.
Engineering ethics encompasses the more general
definition of ethics, but applies it more specifically to
situations involving engineers in their professional
lives.
Thus, engineering ethics is a body of philosophy
indicating the ways that engineers should conduct
themselves in their professional capacity.
Why study engineering ethics?
Why is it important for engineering students to study
engineering ethics?
 an awareness of the importance of ethics within the
engineering profession as engineers realize how their
technical work has far-reaching impacts on society.
The work of engineers can affect public health and
safety and can influence business practices and even
politics.
Engineering Ethics
Introduction: some cases
Introduction: some cases
1912: Titanic
Introduction: some cases
1973: Ford Pinto : Fuel System design
 Introduction: some cases
 1974: DC 10 Turkish jet crashes near Paris, killing 345
Introduction: some cases
1984: Bhopal Accident(India): chemical plant
Introduction: some cases
1986: Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster
Introduction: some cases
1986: Tchernobyl: Nuclear Power Plant Disaster
Introduction: some cases
1987 : Herald of Free Enterprise (Zeebrugge, Be)
Introduction: some cases
1998 : ICE Train Accident in Eschede (Germany)
Introduction: some cases
2000: Concorde Crash (Paris)
Introduction: some cases
 2006 : Maglev Train Accident in Lathen (Germany)
Introduction: some cases
2004 : Millau Viaduct (France)
Introduction: some cases
 2008 : Boeing 787 vs Airbus 380?
Introduction: some cases
Conclusions?
- Incidents, Accidents, Disasters only?
- More risky technology? Less risky technology?
- Responsibility: the company or the engineer?
- Economics vs ethics?
- …
A sociological Analysis of
Professionalism
Several traditions of sociological analysis of the
professions – most influential has economic
orientation.

Extensive Training
Vital knowledge and skills
Control of services
Autonomy in the workplace
Claim to ethical regulation
A sociological Analysis of
Professionalism
Altruistic
Self-interest
Arguments can certainly be made that these
characteristics of professionalism are necessary in
order to protect and better serve the public.
 Example: professionals must be adequately trained
 Must have certain amount of freedom to determine what is
best for the patient or client.
One can also view - promoting the economic self-
interest of professionals
There is certain amount of moral cynicism in this
analysis
A Socratic Account of
Professionalism
Philosopher Michael Davis has proposed a dialog
approach to the issue of defining “professional”. Like
Greek philosopher Socrates

“A profession is a number of individuals in the same

occupation voluntarily organized to earn a living by
openly serving a moral ideal in a morally permissible
way beyond what law, market, morality, and public
opinion would otherwise require.”
A Socratic Account of
Professionalism
A profession cannot be composed of only one person.
It is always composed of a number of individuals.
A professions involves a public element. One must
openly “profess” to be a physician or attorney, much as
the dictionary accounts of terms “profession” suggest.
A profession is way people earn living and is usually
something that occupies them during their working
hours.
A profession is something that people enter into
voluntarily and that they can leave voluntarily.
A Socratic Account of
Professionalism
A profession must serve some morally praiseworthy
goal, although this goal may not be unique to a given
profession. Physician cure the sick and comforts the
dying. Lawyers help people obtain justice within the
law.
Professionals must pursue a morally praiseworthy
goal by morally permissible means. For example,
medicine cannot pursue the goal of health by cruel
experimentation or by deception or coercion.
A Socratic Account of
Professionalism
Ethical standards in a profession should obligate
professionals to act in some way that goes beyond
what law, market, morality, and public opinion would
otherwise require.
Engineering and Professionalism
Is engineering a true profession by these criteria?
Two Models of Professionalism
The Business Model
An occupation is primarily towards making a profit
within the boundaries set by law.
The Professional Model
This model offers quite different picture of
occupations.
Engineers and other professionals have an implicit trust
relationship with larger public. The term of this trust
relationship, sometime referred to as a “social contract”
with public
Course Description and Topics
This three credit hour is designed for
electrical/electronics engineering students to aware
them with their professional ethical responsibilities.
The course focuses on professional code of ethics to
assist future engineers in the conduct of their daily
training and concludes with a dialogue of the moral
and ethical fundamentals used in building that code.
Learning Goals
What is profession and the models of professionalism
Engineering standards
Social and value dimension of technology
Risk and liability in engineering
The code about the environment
Learning Goals
Apply engineering knowledge to related case studies.
Predict the effects and impact of technology on
society, culture and environment.
Practice professional responsibilities and abide to
code of ethics and aware the needs of sustainable
developments.
React and think critically on social, cultural and
global issues based on technical knowledge.
Communicate and present assignments/case studies
both orally and in writing.
Student Assessment
Quizzes 10%
Assignment 10%
Two One Hour Tests 30%
Final Exam 50%
Course Contents
Introduction to ethical concepts
• Ethics and professionalism
• Moral reasoning and codes of ethics
• Moral frame works
• Engineering as social experimentation
Course Contents
Framing the Problem
Determining the facts
Applications Issues
Utilitarian Thinking
Respect for persons
Course Contents
Resolving Problems
Research Involving Humans
Ethics and Design
The Social and Value Dimensions of Technology
Thinking about technology and society
Technological Optimism
Technological Pessimism
Course Contents
Trust and Reliability
Why is Dishonesty Wrong
Dishonesty in Engineering Research
Intellectual property
Expert witnessing
Informing the public
Course Contents
Commitment to safety, risk and liability in
engineering
Workplace responsibilities and rights
Honesty, Integrity and Reliability
Engineers as employees,
Environmental ethics
Global issues
Course Contents
and technological progress
Responsibility for research integrity
Fair credit in research and publication
Credit and intellectual property in engineering
practice
Making a life in engineering and science