Professional Ethics

- Dr. P. Anbarasi
Assistant Professor
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
NIT, Trichy
Environmental ethics
• Engineers are responsible in part for the creation of the technology
that has led to damage of the environment.
• As concern about the environment has grown, ethicists have turned
their attention to the ethical dimensions of environmentalism.
• In the late 1960s, an area of study called “environmental ethics” was
formulated, seeking to (i) explore the ethical roots of the
environmental movement, and (ii) to understand what ethics tells us
about our responsibility to the environment.
• Fundamental to discussing ethical issues in environmentalism is a
determination of the moral standing of the environment.
• Our western ethical tradition is anthropocentric, meaning that only
human beings have moral standing.
• Animals and plants are important only in respect of their usefulness to
humans.
• If animals, trees, and other components of the environment have no
moral standing, then we have no ethical obligations towards them
beyond maintaining their usefulness to humans.
• One way to explore the environment’s moral status is to try to answer
some questions regarding the place of humans in our environment.
• Do we belong to nature, or does nature belong to us?
• If animals can suffer and feel pain like humans, should they have moral
standing?
• If animals have moral standing, how far does this moral standing then extend
to other like forms, such as trees?
• These questions are not easily answered, and not everyone will come
to the same conclusion.
• There are significant number of people who feel that the environment, and
specifically animals and plants, do have standing beyond their usefulness to
humans.
• In one form, this view holds that humans are just one component of the
environment and that all components have equal standing.
• For those who hold this view, it is an utmost duty of everyone to do what is
required to maintain a healthy biosphere for its own sake.
• Regardless of the goal, there are multiple approaches that can be taken to
resolving environmental problems.
• First approach – cost-oblivious approach:
• In this approach, cost is not taken into account, but rather the environment is made as
clean as possible.
• No level of environmental degradation is seen as acceptable.
• This approach bears a striking resemblance to right and duty ethics.
• Problems – difficult to uphold and enforce in modern society, not practical in any
realistic situation, in which there are not infinite resources to apply to a problem.
• Second approach – cost-benefit analysis:
• The problem is analyzed in terms of the benefits derived by reducing the
pollution.
• Improvements in human health, for example, and the costs required to solve
the problem.
• The costs and benefits are weighed to determine the optimum combination.
• In this approach, the goal is not to achieve a completely clean environment,
but rather to achieve an economically beneficial balance of pollution with
health or environmental considerations.
• Problems – (i) very difficult to determine the true cost of a human life or the
loss of a species or a scenic view, (ii) very difficult to accurately assess
costs and benefits, (iii) does not take into account who shoulders the costs
and who gets the benefits, (iv) does not necessarily take morality or ethics
into account.
• Engineers have a responsibility to ensure that their work is conducted
in the most environmentally safe manner possible.
• An engineer should not be compelled by his employer to work on a
project that he finds ethically troubling, including projects with severe
environmental impacts.
• It is also important to remember that a basic tenet of professional
engineering codes of ethics states that an engineer should not make
decisions in areas in which he is not competent.
• For many environmental issues, engineers should seek the counsel of
others such as biologists, public-health experts, and physicians who
have the knowledge to help analyze and understand the possible
environmental consequences of a project.
Computer ethics
• The engineer’s role as designer, manager, and user of computers bring
with them a responsibility to help foster the ethical use of computers.
• Many ethical problems associated with computer use relate to
unauthorized use of information stored on computer databases and are
thus related to the issues of confidentiality and proprietary
information.
• Three broad categories of computer ethics problems:
• (i) those for which the computer is the instrument of the unethical act, such as
the use of a computer to defraud a bank,
• (ii) those for which the computer is the object of the act, as when computer
software is stolen and installed on one’s own computer or when information is
accessed from someone else’s computer;
• (iii) those problems associated with the autonomous nature of computers.
• Computers as the instrument of unethical behaviour
• It is clear that from an ethical standpoint, there is no difference between a bank
robbery perpetrated in person or one perpetrated via a computer.
• The difference between these two types of robbery is that the use of the computer
makes the crime impersonal.
• The use of computers makes it easier to steal from a wide variety of people.
• Computers can be used to steal from an employer, outsiders can get into a system
and steal from an institution such as bank, or a company can use the computer to
steal from its clients and customers.
• Unfortunately, the technology to detect and prevent this type of crime greatly lags
behind the computer technology available to commit it.
• Privacy - Computers make privacy more difficult to protect since large amounts of
data on individuals and corporations are centrally stored on computers where an
increasing number of individuals can access it.
• Privacy can be harmful to an individual in two ways:
(i) the leaking of private information can lead to an individual’s being harassed or
blackmailed,
(ii) personal information can also be considered personal property – unauthorized
use of this information is theft.
• Computers as the object of unethical acts
• Ethical issues also arise when computers are the objects of an unethical act – hacking.
• Hacking comes in many forms:
• (i) gaining unauthorized access to a database,
• (ii) implanting false information in a database or altering existing information, and
• (iii) disseminating viruses over the internet
• Accessing private information violates the privacy rights of individuals or
corporations even if the hacker keeps this information to himself.
• In extreme cases, hackers have accessed secret military information, which has
obvious implications for national security.
• Altering information in a database, even information about yourself, is also ethically
wrong.
• Autonomous computers
• Autonomy refers to the ability of a computer to make decisions without the
intervention of humans.
• Certainly, there are applications for which autonomy is valuable. For example,
manufacturing processes that require monitoring and control at frequent intervals can
greatly benefit from autonomous computers.
• Many weapon systems rely heavily on computer sensors and computer
controls.
• Due to the speed with which events can happen on a modern battlefield, it
would seem valuable to have weapons that can operate autonomously.
• However, weapon systems operating without human intervention can suffer
from the instability problems described with regard to the financial markets.
• For example, a malfunctioning sensor might lead a computer to think that
an enemy has increased its military activity in a certain area.
• This would lead to an increased readiness on our part, followed by
increased activity by the enemy, etc.
• Thus, unstable situation could lead to a conflict and the loss of life when
really there was nothing happening.
• It is clear from this example that although autonomous computers can
greatly increase productivity and efficiency in many areas, ultimately there
must be some human control in order to prevent disasters.
Weapons development
• Throughout history, many innovations in engineering and science have
come about as a result of the development of weapons.
• An engineer may choose either to work or not to work in defense-related
industries and be ethically justified in either position.
• Many reasonable engineering professionals feel that, ethically, they cannot
work on designs that will ultimately be used to kill other humans.
• Even though they will not push the button, trigger the gun or may never
actually see the victims of the weapon, they still find it morally
unacceptable to work on such systems.
• On the other hand, equally morally responsible engineers find this type of
work ethically acceptable.
• They reason that the defense of our nation or other nations from aggression
is a legitimate function of our government and is an honourable goal for
engineers to contribute to.
• Even if an engineer finds defense work ethically acceptable, there
might be uses of these weapons or certain projects that he considers
questionable.
• For example, is it acceptable to work on weapons systems that will
only be sold to other nations, particularly to those engaged in
conflicts?
• As with many of the ethical dilemmas, there is no simple solution, but
rather the answers must be determined by each individual after
examination of his values and personal feelings about the ethics of
defense work.
• Because of the implications to human life, this type of engineering
requires an even more stringent examination of ethical issues to ensure
responsible participation.
Multinational corporations
• Multinational corporations conduct extensive business in more than
one country.
• The benefits to U.S. companies of doing business in less economically
developed countries are clear:
• Inexpensive labor
• Availability of natural resources
• Favorable tax arrangements
• Fresh markets for products.
• The benefits to the participants in developing countries are equally
clear:
• New jobs
• Jobs with higher pay and greater challenge
• Transfer of advanced technology
• Array of social benefits from sharing wealth.
• Moral challenges arise, accompanying business and social complications.
• Who loses jobs at home when manufacturing is taken “offshore”?
• What does the host country lose in resources, control over its own trade, and political
independence?
• And what are the moral responsibilities of corporations and individuals operating in
less economically developed countries?
• Technology Transfer and Appropriate Technology
• Technology transfer is the process of moving technology to a novel setting and
implementing it there.
• The technology being transferred may be one that originally evolved over a period of
time and is now being introduced as a readymade, completely new entity into a
different setting.
• Appropriate technology refers to identification, transfer, and implementation of the
most suitable technology for a new set of conditions.
• Examples include the introduction of agricultural machines and long distance
telephones.
• Appropriate technology also implies that the technology should contribute to and not
detract from sustainable development of the host country by providing for careful
stewardship of its natural resources and not degrading the environment beyond its carrying
capacity.
• Nor should technology be used to replace large numbers of individually tended small fields
by large plantations to grow crops for export, leaving most of the erstwhile farmers jobless
and without a source of home grown food.
• Appropriate technology overlaps with, but is not reducible to, intermediate technology,
which lies between the most advanced forms available in industrialized countries and
comparatively primitive forms in less-developed countries.
• The word appropriate is vague until we answer the questions, appropriate to what, and in
what way?
• Answering those questions immediately invokes values about human needs and
environmental protection, as well as facts about situations, making it obvious that
appropriate is a value-laden term.
• In the broader sense, appropriate technology might sometimes be small, intermediate or
large scale technology.
• Complexities of engineering within multinational settings – Bhopal gas tragedy.
• In retrospect, it is clear that greater sensitivity to social factors was needed in transferring
chemical technology to a country foreign to the supplier of the technology.
• What are the moral responsibilities of multinational corporations and their
engineers?
• One view is that corporations and employees are merely obligated to obey
the laws and dominant customs of the host country – version of ethical
relativism.
• Ethical relativism, however, is false because it might excuse moral horrors.
• For example, it would justify horrendously low safety standards, if that
were all a country required.
• An opposite view would have corporations and engineers retain precisely
the same practices endorsed at home, never making any adjustments to a
new culture – version of ethical absolutism.
• Absolutism is false because it fails to take account of how moral principles
can come into conflict, forcing some justified exceptions.
• Absolutism also fails to take account of the many variable facts.
• These considerations led us to endorse ethical relationalism.
• Moral judgments are and should be made in relation to factors that vary
from situation to situation, usually making it impossible to formulate rules
that are both simple and absolute.
• Relationalism is also consistent with ethical pluralism – the view that there
is more than one justifiable moral perspective.
• Not all rational and morally concerned people must see all specific moral
issues the same way.
• This is as true in thinking about multinational corporations as it is in more
everyday issues where we recognize that reasonable people can see moral
issues differently and still be reasonable.
• International rights
• If moral values are open to alternative interpretations, what are the minimal
standards that must be met?
• Right ethics – most commonly applied ethical theory in making cross-
cultural moral judgments.
• A human right, by definition, is a moral entitlement that places
obligations on other people to treat one with dignity and respect.
• If it makes sense at all, it makes sense across cultures, thereby
providing a standard of minimally decent conduct that corporations
and engineers are morally required to meet.
• Sisela Bok identifies three categories of values that nearly all cultures
share at some minimum level:
• (i) mutual support, loyalty and reciprocity
• (ii) negative duties to refrain from harmful action such as gratuitous violence
and fraud
• (iii) rudimentary fairness and procedural justice in cases of conflict.
• How these basic values are understood varies considerably, but they
provide a basis for meaningful cross-cultural moral dialogue.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)
• Intellectual property is a class of property emanating primarily from the activities
of the human intellect.
• The legal rights accrued on the intellectual property created are termed Intellectual
Property Rights IPR.
• These rights are governed by the law on IPR of the country which grants such
rights.
• The Trade Related Aspects of IPR known as TRIPS, in the agreement of the World
Trade Organization (WTO), recognize seven forms of IPR, namely,
(i) Patents
(ii) Design
(iii) Trade marks
(iv) Copyrights
(v) Geographical indication
(vi) Integrated circuits, and
(vii) Trade secrets
• Patents – granted for new inventions employing scientific and
technical knowledge.
E.g. A new drug for the treatment of AIDS and a new cell phone.
• Industrial designs – An idea or conception as to the features of shape,
configuration pattern, ornament of composition of lines or colours
applied to any article, two or three dimensional or both by any
industrial process or means which in the finished article appeals to and
is judged solely by the eye or product.
E.g. Design as applied to shoes, TV, textiles.
• Trade marks – A visual symbol in the form of a word, service or label
applied to an article of a manufacturer or commerce with a view to
indicating to the public the origin of manufacture of the goods affixed
with that mark.
E.g. SONY in electronic goods, Coca Cola in soft drinks.
• Copyrights – the right to copy and make use of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic
works, cinematographic films, records and broadcasts.
- It is a proprietary right and comes into existence as soon as the work is
created.
E.g. Poems, artistic drawings, paintings.
• Geographical Indications – Identifies goods as originating in the territory of a
country, an origin or a locality in that territory, where a specific quality,
reputations or other characteristics of the goods is essentially attributed to their
geographical origin.
E.g. Darjeeling tea, Kancheepuram sari.
• Integrated circuit rights- protects the original layout designs of integrated
circuits.
• Trade Secrets – Encompass confidential business information that provides a
competitive edge.
- Unlike patents, trade secrets are protected as long as they remain
confidential.
E.g. Formulas, practices.
Code of Ethics - IEEE
We, the members of the IEEE in recognition of the importance of our
technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in
accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the
communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and
professional conduct and agree:
• (i) To accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent with
the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors
that might endanger the public or the environment;
• (ii) To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to
disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;
• (iii) To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on
available data;
• (iv) To reject bribery in all its forms;
• (v) To improve the understanding of technology, its appropriate application,
and potential consequences;
• (vi) To maintain and improve our technical competence and to
undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or
experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;
• (vii) To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to
acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the
contributions of others;
• (viii) To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race,
religion, gender, disability, age or national origin;
• (ix) To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment
by false or malicious action;
• (x) To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional
development and to support them in following this code of ethics.
Code of Ethics - ASME
The Fundamental Principles
• Engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the engineering
profession by:
• (i) using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare;
• (ii) being honest and impartial, and serving with fidelity the public, their
employers and clients; and
• (iii) striving to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering profession.
The Fundamental Canons:
• (i) Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in
the performance of their professional duties.
• (ii) Engineers shall perform services only in the areas of their competence.
• (iii) Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their
careers and shall provide opportunities for the professional and ethical
development of those engineers under their supervision.
• (iv) Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or
client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest
or the appearance of conflicts of interest
• (v) Engineers shall build their professional reputation on the merit of
their services and shall not compete unfairly with others.
• (vi) Engineers shall associate only with reputable persons or
organizations.
• (vii) Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner.
• (viii) Engineers shall consider environmental impact in the
performance of their professional duties.