Transcript Ethics Chapter 3

Instructor:
Dr. Amer al-Sarayreh
Engineering Ethics
Bhopal Disaster
chapter ((3))
Understanding
Ethical Problems
Instructor:
Dr. Amer al-Sarayreh
Sara al Hayek
(3.1 Introduction. 3.2 A brief history of ethical thought.)
Bilal al Dweik
(3.3 Ethical theories. 3.3.1 What is moral theory?)
Alaa mohiemeed
(3.3.2 Utilitarianism.)
Mustafa Shilbaya
(3.3.3 Cost-Benefit analysis.)
Fares al aan
(3.3.4 Duty ethics and rights ethics.)
Salem Abdullah
(3.3.5 Virtue Ethics. 3.3.6 Personal Vs. Corporate Morality.)
Amjad Alnaami
(3.3.7 Which theory to use? 3.3.8 Non-Western ethical thinking.)
Muhannad Imad
(application … cases.)
Mohammed Samreen
(application … The Aberdeen Three.)
Sara al Hayek
Civil engineer
Introduction
Bhopal Disaster
A brief history of ethical thought
Introduction:
Bhopal Disaster
The Bhopal disaster brings up many questions
of balancing risk to the local community with
the economic benefits to the larger community
of the state or nation.
VS

How can we decide if on balance the
economic benefit brought by any plant
outweighed the potential safety hazards ?
 To answer this question and analyze
engineering ethics cases.
We need a framework for analyzing
ethical problems.
We
will examine moral theories and see how
they can also be used as a means for analyzing
ethical cases.
We will Develop some moral theories that can
be applied to ethical problems confronted by
engineers.
Knowing and understanding the basics
To know how to build something or to solve
problem, you must learn the basics and understand
them.
This also include solving ethical problems, some
knowledge of ethical theory is needed to provide a
framework for understanding and reaching
solution ethical problems.
The moral and ethical theories
in engineering ethics
Western moral
Western cultural
tradition
Ancient
Greeks
Ancient
Religion
philosopher
Ancient Religion
Religion ethics started
with Judaism and it's
foundation.
The written sources of
Jewish:
1. Torah.
2. The old testament of the
Bible.
As Islamic and Arabs community, from
where they derive its moral theories and
ethics?
The Quran.
The Sunnah of Muhammad.
Islamic jurists.
The pre-Islamic Arabian tradition.
Non-Arabic elements (including Persian
and Greek ideas).
Ancient Greeks
Greeks ethics
originated from it's
famous Greek
philosopher:
Socrates.
Aristotle, who
discussed ethics at
great length in his
Nichomachean ethics.
Aristotle
Philosophers
They did not rely on
religion to underpin
their moral thinking,
they acknowledged
that moral principles
are universal and
applicable, Like :
John Locke.
Immanuel Kant.
John Stuart Mill.
Immanuel Kant
Bilal al Dweik
Electrical Engineer
Ethical theories
What’s a moral theory?
Ethical
theories
Ethical theories
In order to develop workable ethical
problem-solving techniques, we must know
ethical theories.
But ethical theories aren’t like theories in
engineering classes where there’s one
general theory to solve a problem.
In engineering ethics we have several theories
we need to consider when having a problem,
and that’s actually a good thing;
because we’re going to have more than one
approach to every problem then we can
analyze these approaches and determine
which theory has the best solution.
What’s a moral theory?
A moral theory defines terms in uniform ways and
links ideas and problems together in contestant
ways, and that’s exactly what a scientific theory
dose; so we will use moral theories in the same
way of scientific theories.
Scientific theories concept:
1- organize ideas
2- define terms
3- facilitate problem solving.
There are four ethical theories to consider:
1. utilitarianism: it seeks to produce the most
gain, defined as a balance between good and
bad consequences of an action, considering
the consequences of everyone affected.
2. duty ethics: there are duties that should
be performed like treating others fairly or
not injuring others, regardless of whether
these acts lead to the most good.
3. rights ethics: we all have moral rights,
and any action that violates these rights is
ethically unacceptable.
4. virtue ethics: there are right actions we
have to do, and wrong actions we have to
avoid, this theory focuses on the type of
person we should want to be.
Alaa mohiemeed
industrial engineer
utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism holds that those actions are good
that serve to maximize human well-being.
Utilitarianism do what is well-being for the
society as whole regardless the individual.
Utilitarianism tries to balance the needs of
society with the need of individual.
The best known proponent was John
Stuart Mill.
In general, it tries to balance good and bad
consequences of an action, with an
emphasis on what will provide the most
benefit to the most people.
Utilitarianism is fundamental to many types
of engineering analysis such as:
1- Risk-benefit analysis.
2- Cost –benefit analysis.
An example of this theory is the
building of dam.
Problems with this theory:
Sometimes what is best for everyone may be
bad for a particular individual or group of
individuals, as seen in the example of the
dam.
Another example:
The proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) in New Mexico City.
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
WIPP is designed to be a permanent repository for
nuclear waste generated in the United States.
Analysis of WIPP by using utilitarianism.
Good effect:
the disposal of nuclear wastes is a major
problem hindering the implementation of
many useful technologies, such as:
1. medicinal uses of radioisotopes.
2. nuclear generation of electricity.
So it will benefit society by providing
improved health care and more electricity.
Bad effect:
Health effect if the individuals living near
the transportation routes.
So utilitarianism theory sees that the WIPP
should be allowed to open.
Types of Utilitarianism:
1 ) Act Utilitarianism: focuses on individual
actions rather than on rules.
2 ) Rule Utilitarianism: moral rules are most
important, these rules include "do not harm
others" and "do not steal".
The idea of Utilitarianism:
Mustafa Shilbaya
Civil engineer
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Cost-Benefit Analysis
It is a tool used in engineering analysis
especially when trying to determine
whether a project makes sense.
This type of analysis is just an application
of
utilitarianism: in cost-benefit analysis,
the cost of a project assessed as are the
benefits.
The benefits that are derived from them are
often harder to predict and to assign a
dollar value.
Once dollar amounts for the costs and
benefits are determined, calculating a
mathematical ratio may seem very objective
and therefore may appear to be the best
way to make a decision.
Only those projects with the highest ratio
of benefits to cost will be implemented.
This principle is similar to the utilitarian
goal of maximizing the overall good.
It is often easy to predict the costs for most
projects.
The aim of a cost-benefit analysis is:
To determine the feasibility of a project
based on costs. When looking at an ethical
problem, the first step should be determine
what the right course of action is, and then
factor in the financial cost in choosing
between ethical alternatives.
Finally, it is also important to determine
whether those who stand to reap the benefits
are also those who will pay the costs. It is
unfair to place all of the costs on one group
while another reaps the benefits.
Example:
from a pure cost-benefit discussion, it might
seem that the building of a dam is an
excellent idea.
But this analysis won't include other issues such as
whether the benefits outweigh the loss of a scenic
wilderness area or the loss of an endangered species
with no current economic value.
Fares al aan
industrial engineer
Duty Ethics and Rights Ethics
Duty ethics and right ethics
These are theories: similar to each other and
considered together.
These theories are good respect of the rights
of individual.
Ethical actions (actions could be written
down a list):
1. Be honest.
2. Don’t cause suffering to other people.
3. Be fair to others.
Duty Ethics
Are actions which:
•Express an unqualified regard for
autonomous moral agents.
•Express respect for persons.
•Are universal principles.
Immanuel Kant (German Philosopher):
•A major proponent of duty ethics.
•Held that moral duties fundamental.
Right Ethics
•People have fundamental rights that other
ones have a duty to respect.
•Was formulated by John Locke who said
that humans have the right to life, liberty,
and was paraphrased in the declaration of
independence of the soon-to-be U.S.A.
The problems of Duty Ethics and Right
Ethics.
The basic rights of a person (or group)
may conflict with the basic rights of
another group.
These theories don’t always account for
the overall good of society very well.
Salem Abdullah
… engineer
Virtue Ethics
Corporate vs. Personal Morality
Virtue Ethics
 Virtue ethics is interested in determining
what kind of people we should be.
 Virtue is often defined as moral distinction
and goodness.
 In virtue ethics, actions are considered
right if they support good character traits
(virtues) and wrong if they support bad
character traits.
 Virtue ethics focuses on words such as
responsibility, honestly, competence, and
loyalty which are virtues.
 Virtue ethics is closely tied to personal
character. We do things because we are
virtuous people and seek to enhance these
character traits in ourselves and in others.
 Theory may seem to be mostly personal
ethics and not particularly applicable to
engineering or business ethics, however,
personal morality cannot be separated from
business morality so, if a behavior is virtuous
in the individual’s life, the behavior is
virtuous in his business life as well.
 How can virtue ethics be applied?
 We can use virtue ethics in our engineering
career by answering question such as: Is this
action honest?
Will this action demonstrate loyalty to my
community or my employer?
 To use virtue ethics in an analysis of an ethical
problem, you should first identify the virtues or
vice that are applicable to the situation. Then,
determine what course of action each of these
suggests.
 It is important to be careful in applying
virtue ethics, problem can arise with words
that on the face seem to be virtues, but can
actually leads to vice.
For example the word “honor”.
Personal vs. Corporate Morality
An important question that we need to
answer, is there a distinction between the
ethics practiced by an individual and the
ethics practiced by a corporation?
 If a corporation has no moral agency, then it
cannot be held accountable for its actions.
To solve the problem, corporations should be
considered pseudo moral agents and should be
held accountable in the same way that
individuals are, even if the ability to do this
within the legal system is limited.
Amjad Alnaami
industrial engineer
Which Theory to Use?
Non-Western Ethical Thinking
Which Theory to Use?
Right ethics, utilitarian,
cost-benefit,
or Virtue ?
In solving ethical problems, we don’t have
to choose from the theories.
Rather, we can use all of them to analyze
the problem from different angles and see
what result each of the theories give us.
Theories maybe :
1- Give us the same results.
2- Give us different answers.
How theories give us the same
results:
Hazardous
Waste
Right ethics indicated that transporting
wastes through communities is not a good
idea.
The utilitarianism concluded the (WIPP) as a
beneficial to society as a whole.
The rights of individuals should receive
relatively stronger weight than the needs of
society as a whole.
If theories give us different answers about a
problem, we will make a comparative.
WIPP
Non-Western Ethical Thinking
 It is much the same as western ethical
thinking.
 Ethics is not geographic or cultural.
 Indeed, ethical thinking has developed
similarly around the word and is not
dependent on a western cultural or religious.
 Ethical standards are similar worldwide.
Islam is one of the three major
monotheistic religions, along with
Christianity and Judaism.
 Cultural practices may very when dealing
with the many Islamic nations that stretch
from Africa and the Middle East to
Southeast Asia.
Moreover, personal ethics are not
determined by geography.
Personal and business behavior should be
the same regardless of where you happen to
be on a given day.
 An exception.
 In some societies, bribes are a standard
part of doing business.
 The U.S. has a law against its citizens
paying bribes, even in other countries.
Muhannad Imad
industrial engineer
CASES
The Disaster at Bhopal
Happened on December 2, 1984, in Union
Carbide Plant in Bhopal, India.
resulted from a leak in a storage tank contained
10,000 gallons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) at a
Union Carbide chemical plant.
The leak sent a toxic cloud of gas over the
surrounding slums of Bhopal, resulting in the
death of over 2,000 people, and injuries to over
200,000 more.
The Disaster at Bhopal
The cause of the leak:
The accidental pouring of water into the tank.
The mixing of water with MIC increased
temperature of the liquid in the tank which
caused the MIC to vaporize.
The main factor which led to the disaster:
curtailment of plant maintenance as part of a
cost-cutting effort.
The parts of the plant which was needed
maintenance:
The refrigerating unit.
The alarm of dangerous temperatures.
The flare tower.
The scrubber.
An internal Union Carbide memo from three
months before the Bhopal accident warned of
the potential for a runaway reaction in MIC
storage tanks in West Virginia and called into
question the adequacy of emergency plans at
the plants.
Apparently, these warnings had not been
transmitted to the plant in India
The Disaster at Bhopal (cont.)
who is to blame??
The
management
of the plant?
Plant
designer?
Indian
government?
Union
Carbide?
Mohammed Samreen
industrial engineer
The Aberdeen Three
The Aberdeen Three
Is one of the classic cases often used in
engineering ethics classes and texts to
illustrate the important of:
Environmental
protection
The safety of worker
exposed to hazardous
and toxic chemicals
 The Aberdeen proving ground is a U.S.Army
weapons development and test center located on
a military base in Maryland, so there are people
live in it.
 Since world war II Aberdeen used for the
storage and disposal of some of these chemicals.
 This cases involves three civilian manager at the
pilot plant at the proving grounds : Carl Gepp,
William Dee, and Robert Lentz.
NOTE:
The manager development
chemical weapons on hand
the chemical weapons
allowable but on the other
hand there are limited to it
you should have some ethic
to do it
Between 1983 and 1986 , inspection at the
pilot plant indicated that there were serious
safety hazards.
Flammable
substances left
in open
containers
chemicals
These
hazards
Included:
carcinogenic
That can become lethal when mixed together
being stored in same room but we can
prevent this by many things
In June,1988 the three engineer were
indicated for violation RCRA, the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act.
It was intended to provided incentive for the
recovery of important resources, and the
control of the disposal of hazardous wastes.
In 1989 ,the three managers tried and
convicted of illegally storing, and disposing of
hazardous wastes.
Note: the responsibility returns to the
manager, although he has not do the work.
But because he is manager.
Finally, the manager treaded of 1000 hours
of community service.
Teamwork
Ethical issues can arise when working in
groups and many of engineering classes are
designed to be performed in groups.
In order to have a successful project you
should have cooperation among team
members.
Problems can arise when a team member
1) doesn't do his part well.
2) doesn't make contribution.
3) doesn't do his part on time.
4) tries to do everything.
So ethical teamwork includes your :
assigned work, keeping to schedules, sharing
information and help having a supportive
atmosphere so everyone can contribute.