Ethics in Engineering

Ethics In Engineering

Ethics in engineering is the cornerstone upon which the integrity, trust, and progress of the profession rest. As engineering students, understanding the significance of ethics and applying them to real scenarios is important. In this essay, I will talk about the purpose for a “Code of Ethics,” personal ethical decision-making processes, class discussions on ethical issues, and the relevance of the Virtue of Ethics to a case study.

There are many reasons to follow a code of ethics in engineering. For one it serves as a compass, guiding engineers to navigate complex moral dilemmas while upholding the values of integrity, honesty, and accountability. The IEEE code of ethics, for instance, provides a list of ideals to follow. By adhering to it, engineers can help to ensure that their actions align with ethical principles, thereby fostering public trust and confidence in the engineering profession.

When I am faced with ethical considerations, I usually think about what affects actions taken might have on other people. You must consider all the people potentially affected by the situation, as well as the impact on society. If I am unsure of anything I would try to get perspective or insight from people who have experience. Also, when it comes to companies and businesses that violate codes of ethics, I tend to consider it a shortcoming of leadership to either order it, allow it, or not notice.

In our class discussions on ethics in engineering, various ethical issues were explored, ranging from conflicts of interest and professional integrity to environmental sustainability and social responsibility. We had issues about Big Data PII usage, Volkswagen environmental code avoidance, Ford Pinto known safety issues, and Amazon Echo data usage / sharing. We mostly agreed in our discussions in class about ethical dilemmas. For instance, with the Volkswagen and Ford issues we all agreed that the companies were in the wrong and had violated many ethical codes. In fact, the other person who covered the VW issue chose the same IEEE codes that were most relevant to the case study.

Relating it to Virtue Ethics, many of the issues discussed involved lack of honesty, or integrity. For instance, in the VW issue, they lacked both they were cheating to pass tests which is both lying and not upholding moral principles. One other relevant virtue is responsibility, which is something VW tried to show they were doing. VW’s problem was that their form of responsibility was wholly inadequate, and untrustworthy.

I picked those three virtues because they most exemplify the qualities which the VW case study lacked. You could argue there were deficiencies in the other virtues as well such as self-discipline, perhaps it was motivated by a desire unchecked by discipline. I personally can’t think of virtues outside of the list that I would consider broken. I think the list of virtues is quite broad and can be interpreted to cover a lot of ground.