'Things that went well - no serious accidents or deaths': ethical reasoning in a normal engineering design process

Lloyd, Peter and Busby, Jerry (2003). 'Things that went well - no serious accidents or deaths': ethical reasoning in a normal engineering design process. Science and Engineering Ethics, 9(4) pp. 503–516.

URL: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true...

Abstract

We argue that considering only a few ‘big’ ethical decisions in any engineering design process – both in education and practice – only reinforces the mistaken idea of engineering design as a series of independent sub-problems. Using data collected in engineering design organisations over a seven year period, we show how an ethical component to engineering decisions is much more pervasive. We distinguish three types of ethical justification for engineering decisions: (1) consequential, (2) deontological or non-consequential, and (3) virtue-based. We find that although there is some evidence for engineering designers as ‘classic’
consequentialists, a more egocentric consequentialism would appear more fitting. We also explain how the idea of a ‘folk ethics’ – a justification in the second category that consciously weighs one thing with another – fits with the idea of the engineering design process as social negotiation rather than as technological progress.

Viewing alternatives

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats