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Ethics in Engineering EE 2799 April 17, 2003 Decisions in Engineering Through the Years 1978: Pintos sold despite known design problem with gas tank—dozens die 1984: Union Carbide ignores Bhopal safety procedures—2000 die, 200,000 injured 1986: Challenger launched in cold despite O-ring concerns—crew dies, $ billions spent, space program derailed What Ethical Problems do you Expect to Face as an Engineer? More Decisions Through the Years 2003: Student uses pirated software 2004: Student copies homework assignment 2004: Student plagiarizes part of IQP 2005: Student signs MQP report despite not doing fair share of work—partners cover for him 2005: WPI grants student BSEE 2005: Raytheon hires student to design Air Traffic Control Systems A Context for Today’s Discussion Your “professional career” has already begun You are already expressing your ethical standards. They are what you do. Engineering ethics is not just “doing the right thing”, it’s making tough decisions about ambiguous things Some Difficult Questions When is a lie justified? When do the ends justify the means? Will you be a whistleblower? A Simple Google Search Reveals: Online Ethics Center for Engineering & Science National Institute for Engineering Ethics NSPE Engineering Ethics website IEEE (and many others) Code of Ethics Web Clearinghouse for Engineering and Computing Ethics Course and resource pages at many universities Core Ethical Values (NIEE) Integrity: good judgment, adherence to principles Honesty: truthfulness, fairness, sincerity Fidelity: to clients, to the public trust, to employer, to the profession Charity: kindness, caring, good will, tolerance, compassion/mercy, adherence to the Golden Rule Responsibility: reliability/dependability, accountability, trustworthiness Self-Discipline: acting with restraint, not indulging in excessive behavior IEEE Code of Ethics “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: 1. 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; 2. to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist; 3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data; 4. to reject bribery in all its forms; IEEE Code of Ethics, cont’d 5. to improve the understanding of technology, its appropriate application, and potential consequences; 6. 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; 7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others; 8. to treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin; 9. to avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action; 10. to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.” Approved by the IEEE Board of Directors August 1990 Real-World Ethical Problems “In theory, there’s no difference between practice and theory…in practice, there is.” Charles R. Wright Rarely is there clear “right” or “wrong” Often you are choosing between competing interests, both of which matter “Ethics as Design”—Caroline Whitbeck Analyzing the situation is not enough Ethical problems require practical design Constraints, objectives, criteria There may not even be a “solution” You must devise a course of action Usually, there are many There is no unique “right answer” There are plenty of “bad answers” Some answers are better than others Designing a Solution Define the problem Explore solutions Brainstorm—go beyond the obvious Consider criteria What’s known? What’s ambiguous? Personal values, professional standards, laws Consider consequences Professional, personal, legal, moral The Categorical Imperative (Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804) “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” Using the Categorical Imperative to Judge an Action Convert the action to a principle Can the principle be willed as a law of nature? Yes—action is moral No—action is immoral Kant’s favorite examples Suicide False promises Failing to develop one’s abilities Refusing to be charitable What Ethical Problems do WPI Students Face? Naval Academy Sanctions Students for Downloads Chronicle of Higher Ed, April 16, 2003 Students allegedly downloaded copyrighted movies and songs over Academy’s Internet connection Computers seized, 85 of 92 found guilty Reports that Defense Department threatened to cut off Academy funding Harvard students lost access for 1 year for sharing copyrighted material more than once Recording Industry Association of America is suing 4 students for copyright infringement Some Questions for You Is it wrong to use and/or distribute pirated software? Why, or why not? How about copyrighted material that is downloaded from a website? Does it matter whether or not you use WPI computer systems when doing so?