Changing the Paradigm for Engineering Ethics

Science and Engineering Ethics 20 (4):985-1010 (2014)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Modern philosophy recognizes two major ethical theories: deontology, which encourages adherence to rules and fulfillment of duties or obligations; and consequentialism, which evaluates morally significant actions strictly on the basis of their actual or anticipated outcomes. Both involve the systematic application of universal abstract principles, reflecting the culturally dominant paradigm of technical rationality. Professional societies promulgate codes of ethics with which engineers are expected to comply, while courts and the public generally assign liability to engineers primarily in accordance with the results of their work, whether intended or unintended. A third option, prominent in ancient philosophy, has reemerged recently: virtue ethics, which recognizes that sensitivity to context and practical judgment are indispensable in particular concrete situations, and therefore rightly focuses on the person who acts, rather than the action itself. Beneficial character traits—i.e., virtues—are identified within a specific social practice in light of the internal goods that are unique to it. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for implementing virtue ethics within engineering

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Virtuous Engineers: Ethical Dimensions of Technical Decisions.Jon Alan Schmidt - 2021 - In Emanuele Ratti & Tom Stapleford (eds.), Science, Technology, and Virtues: Contemporary Perspectives. Oxford University Press. pp. 117-135.
The good engineer: Giving virtue its due in engineering ethics.Charles E. Harris - 2008 - Science and Engineering Ethics 14 (2):153-164.
Virtue as the basis of engineering ethics.Douglas J. Crawford-Brown - 1997 - Science and Engineering Ethics 3 (4):481-489.
Designing in Times of Uncertainty: What Virtue Ethics Can Bring to Engineering Ethics in the Twenty-First Century.Jan Peter Bergen & Zoë Robaey - 2022 - In Matthew James Dennis, Georgy Ishmaev, Steven Umbrello & Jeroen van den Hoven (eds.), Values for a Post-Pandemic Future. Cham: Springer. pp. 163-183.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-11-09

Downloads
161 (#127,604)

6 months
86 (#79,129)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

References found in this work

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Thomas S. Kuhn - 1962 - Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Ian Hacking.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Thomas Samuel Kuhn - 1962 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Otto Neurath.
Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals.Immanuel Kant - 1785 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Thomas E. Hill & Arnulf Zweig.
Utilitarianism.J. S. Mill - 1861 - Oxford University Press UK. Edited by Roger Crisp.
After Virtue.A. MacIntyre - 1981 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 46 (1):169-171.

View all 26 references / Add more references