................

Challenge from technology: need for ethics in professions

Engineering professional societies first proposed codes of ethics in the nineteenth century, but it seems fair to say that the field of engineering ethics in the United States largely developed during the second half of the twentieth century in response to increasing concern about the dangers of technology. A sequence of events starting with use of the atomic bomb in World War II, continuing with the Three Mile Island disaster, the Ford Pinto case, and the explosion at Bhopal, generated a significant concern in the media and the public about the effects of technology on human well-being. After decades of seemingly unmitigated praise, many Americans began to wonder if technology wasn't “biting back and making us pay (in negative consequence) for the improvements it had provided.”

In response to this need, by the early 1980s, an academic field that has come to be known as “engineering ethics” had begun to form. It has built by scholars and practitioners from many different fields including philosophy, history, law, and engineering. Despite their varied backgrounds, however, most believed that concepts and theories from philosophical ethics could be useful in understanding the circumstances of engineers and assist them in making decisions in the face of difficult situations.

Scholars building the field of engineering ethics contended that ethical theory and training in ethics would allow engineers to see the ethical aspects of their circumstances and help them identify the right choice and course of action with rigor and justification rather than with “gut” feeling or intuition. Like the other emerging fields of applied ethics, they saw a dose of ethical theory as a promising antidote for the temptations and pressures of the workplace. Thus, a significant part of the field of engineering ethics was dedicated to applying philosophical concepts and theories such as Kant's categorical imperative, utilitarianism, and distributive justice to issues faced by engineers. This approach was in part inspired by the newly developing fields of medical ethics and bioethics.

ESSENTIAL READINGS – Also can be found on Workshop webpage

Engineering Ethics

http://www.synbioproject.org/process/assets/files/6452/_draft/090420f9gv_lib_johnsongdandwetm.pdf