Ethics

(Lecture #13)

ENGR 107 – Intro to Engineering

The slides included herein were taken from the materials accompanying Engineering Fundamentals – An Introduction to Engineering, 4th Edition,

by Moaveni, and were used with permission from Cengage Learning.

Definitions

Morality:

is a sense of behavioral conduct that differentiates intentions, decisions, and actions between those that

are good (or right) and bad (or wrong).

Moral Code:

is a system of morality (for example, according to a particular philosophy, religion, culture, etc.)

Moral:

is any one practice or teaching within a moral code

Morals:

Rules or habits of conduct with reference to standards of right and wrong

Ethics:

The word 'ethics' is commonly used interchangeably with 'morality', and sometimes is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition,

group, or individual.

Ethics:

the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to

govern it.

Ethics:

a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, esp that of a particular group,

profession, or individual.

Case Studies

You are the site engineer on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. You are responsible for the proper and safe operation of the

rig. Unfortunately, the drilling project is miserably over budget and way behind schedule. The business manager is being pressured to reduce cost and make up for lost time.

As a consequence, he is making decisions that are contradictory to those which you know to be the correct

ones ...

Case Study #1

You are the engineer on a NASA space flight program. The latest launch of the space vehicle has been delayed twice now. It is on the launch pad, but temperatures are below those recommended for some of the parts of the vehicle. Given the number of delays, the extra cost, and the delay

imposed on future launches, you are pressured to go ahead with this launch ...

Case Study #2

You are the engineer at a building site. You are knowledgeable in all aspects of pouring foundations, and you know that in the given weather conditions you should prepare the cement and allow it to cure in a very specific

manner. However, as usual, your project is behind schedule. You are pressured to pour the foundation in a

manner that you know is incorrect for the current weather conditions ...

Case Study #3

Questions?