Transcript Methodology for Analyzing Ethics Case Studies

Methodology for
Analyzing Ethics Case
Studies
Part 1
Ethical Dilemmas – The Problem
There is no methodical solution!
We engineers must adapt…
Let’s Visualize:
Factual
Questions
Conceptual
Questions
Moral Questions
 Disagreement over meaning of terms
 Variation in understanding and
definition of concepts
 Items such as:
 What constitutes confidential
information
 What is a bribe?
 What should be ‘proprietary
information’?
 What defines ‘safe’, ‘clean’, etc.?
 Even if we agree on the definition of a
term, do we agree on the application?
 Example: I define a ‘relaxed morning’
as waking up without the alarm
around 5:30 or 6:00 am, sipping
coffee, and watching the birds eat out
of the feeder. Do you?
Conceptual
Questions
 We may disagree over how a
person or action should be
evaluated
 When is it ok to favor a
particular supplier?
 At what point do you bring a
concern to your supervisor?
 In what manner do you bring up
this concern?
 Example: I design my state of
the art dog biscuit dispenser to
ONLY use Canidae Snap Biscuits
(Sage and Shilah’s favorites). Is
that acceptable?
Moral Questions
Factual
Questions
 A factual question or issue is one that deals
directly with the facts
 It is relevant to the moral problem at hand
 It is controversial or at least not yet resolved
 The question becomes what is more
appropriate in the face of factual uncertainty
 Example: The automatic chainsaw may not
automatically shut off when dropped. Do we
assume this is ok, tell the public, redesign at
significant cost, etc.?
Team Case Study 1:
The Challenger Disaster
Factual
Questions
Conceptual
Questions
Moral Questions
 We begin with the first Team
Case Study of the class: The
Space Shuttle Challenger
Disaster
 Your first aspect of the Case
Study will be to get to know
a bit about your teammates
 You must work together
effectively in our online
environment
 Your second task will be to
apply the pieces of the pie to
the Challenger Disaster
 Have Fun!