Responsible Responsible EngineersEngineers

Framing the Problem

How do we address a problem?

When addressing an ethical dilemma, we usually experience moral disagreement and controversy within a context of agreement

Need a procedure to follow Tools to approach problem

– Line drawing– Creative middle way

1st Phase of Moral Thinking

ScenarioExperience

Personal Morality

Common Morality

Codes of Ethics

Ethical Sense

?’s Problems Analysis

Feedback Loop

Common Morality

Shared common beliefs Can still have disagreements Common features for moral beliefs

– Vulnerability– Autonomy– Interdependency– Shared expectations and goals– Common moral traits

Common Morality

Common moral rules– Don’t harm others– Make reparations for any harms done– Don’t lie or cheat– Don’t break promises– Don’t interfere with freedom of others– Respect others’ decisions– Treat others fairly– Help those in need– etc

Moral Justification

Common morality is subject to criticism and change

Want an ultimate foundation of morality Form consensus with moral values

accepted by almost everyone Used to frame ethics codes

Analyzing a Case

Primary task - Assemble information relevant to the resolution of the ethical dilemma(s)

– What are the relevant facts?

– What are the relevant kinds of ethical considerations?

Analyzing a Case - Sample

Steve is under pressure to complete his graduate research and finish his degree

He must write a research report Most of the data support his conclusion,

but some are at variance Convinced he is right, Steve wants to

drop the ambiguous data

Is it unethical for Steve to do this?

Analyzing a Case - Sample

Codes:– An engineer should be honest– An engineer should report all findings– An engineer should be objective

Even though Steve is not trying to present a false conclusion, he is not being truthful. If he can rationalize this, what else might he rationalize?

Steve should present all data, unless he can mathematically justify exclusion

Issues

Many times moral disagreements turn out to be disagreements over the relevant facts

Factual issues are sometimes very difficult to resolve

Once the factual issues are clearly isolated, disagreement can reemerge on another and even more clearly defined level

Issues

Discerning relevant facts

Weighing the importance of facts

Relevant facts

Known facts Unknown facts

Unknown relevant facts

Issues

Once the facts are available, other problems may arise

Conceptual issues - disagreements in defining terms and concepts

Application issues - disagreements on applying agreed-upon terms

Analysis Tools

Line Drawing - Can help decide a course of action

Negative Paradigm Positive Paradigm

Negative feature 1 Positive feature 1

Negative feature 2 Positive feature 2

Negative feature 3 Positive feature 3

Negative feature 4 Positive feature 4

Analysis Tools

Line Drawing - points to remember– The more ambiguous the case, the more we

must know about it– Imposing a line of demarcation involves an

element of arbitrariness– Concentrating on only one feature is usually

insufficient to decide– Resembles a kind of common-law ethics

Application

Andrea, a chemical engineer, recognizes that some of the ideas she developed for her former employer provide the basis for a solution to a problem faced by her new employer. The two companies are not competitors, and the application of the ideas is so different that few people would even recognize them as having a common origin. She did sign an agreement with her former employer to not use her ideas to compete against them. Is it ethical for her to employ her old ideas in this new and creative way?

Application

Negative Paradigm Positive Paradigm(Clearly wrong) (Clearly acceptable)

Signed Agreement Permission granted

A and B competitors A and B not competitors

Application the same Application different

A’s ideas Andrea’s ideas

Proprietary information Freely available

It should be ok for Andrea to use the ideas for this purpose.

Analysis Tools

Creative middle way solutions - Conflicting values (when you’re between a rock and a hard place!)– Situations in which two or more moral rules apply,

but appear to conflict

– Perhaps one value will clearly take priority (easy choice)

– Often, no easy choice is available (hard choice)

– Can we suggest one or more possible solutions (compromises?) to correct the situation (creative middle way)

Analysis Tools - Creative Middle Way

Analysis

Conflicting Obligations

Further Analysis Easy Choice

Find Creative Middle Way?

Hard Choice

Feedback to factual, conceptual, or moral issues as necessary

Re

solutio

n

Stop

Addressing a Moral Problem

When addressing an ethical dilemma, we usually experience moral disagreement and controversy within a context of agreement

Need a procedure to follow Tools to approach problem

– Line drawing– Creative middle way