Engineers Shared Responsibility Engineers are not the sole experimenters Managers Marketing people Public But with knowledge comes responsibility Engineers are in a unique position to ID: 477167
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Slide1
Engineers as Responsible ExperimentersSlide2
Engineers –Shared Responsibility
Engineers are not the sole experimenters
– Managers
– Marketing people
– Public
But, “with knowledge comes responsibility
”
•Engineers
are in a unique position to:
– Monitor projects
– Identify risks
– Develop facts for informed consent
• An engineering professional will take on the
responsibility!Slide3
To fulfill their obligations as responsible experimenters, engineers must:
A Primary Obligation to protect the safety
of human subjects, providing a safe exit whenever possible, and respect
their
right of informed consent
use imaginative forecasting of possible side effects, and reasonable efforts to monitor
them
have autonomous, personal involvement in all
aspects
of a project
accept accountability for the results
display
technical competence and other attributes of responsible professionalsSlide4
For Remembrance
Informing for consent requires
excellent communications skills
in order to provide appropriate
information in an understandable way.
Also
,
cooperation with
other disciplines
is often essential
to assess potential side effects and monitor effects of "social
experiments
" through engineering
.. (Recall Alasdair
MacIntyre's
virtue of
professional responsibility
which includes:
i
) self direction, ii) public spirited, iii)
team
work
iv)
proficiency
. (Martin &
Schinzinger
, 42)Slide5
Engineers should also
display technical competence and other attributes of professionalism .
Definite “Style” of Engineering
Contemporary ThreatsSlide6
Contemporary Threats
Conscientiousness
Relevant Information
Moral Autonomy
Accountability Slide7
Responsible Experimentalists
1
.
Conscientiousness:
Protect safety knowledge,
respect right of consent of public
2
.
Relevant Information /
Comprehensive perspective:
Awareness
of experimental
nature of projects, forecasting
, monitoring
3.
Moral autonomy:
Personally engaged,
thoughtful, involvement in project
4.
Accountability:
Accept responsibility for results
of a project
(avoid fragmentation, diffusion, time
pressures)Slide8
1.CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
People act responsibly to the extent that they conscientiously commit themselves to live according to moral values .
Self interest
Moral Agents
Individuals who think solely of their own good to the exclusion of the good of others are not moral agents Slide9
Conscientiousness moral commitment
a sensitivity to the full range of
moral values and responsibilities
that are relevant to a given situation
Willingness to develop the skill
and expend the
effort
needed to reach the best balance possible among those considerations .
Conscientiousness implies consc
iousness
( in the sense of awareness), because intent is not sufficient.Slide10
Open eyes, Open ears and an Open mind are required to recognize a given situation, its implications and who is involved or affected.Slide11
Working Conditions
The contemporary ( modern or present) working conditions of engineers
tend a narrow moral vision
solely to the obligations that
accompany employee status
. Slide12
Engineers work
benefits
90% of engineers are salaried employees
work in large bureaucracies (
organizations or administrations
) under
great pressure to function smoothly within the organization
Benefits :Prudent self interest and concern for one’s family
make it easy to emphasize as primary the obligations to one‘s employer Slide13
Moral aspiration (
goal
)
Minimal negative duties:
Not falsifying data
Not violating patent rights
Not breaching confidentialitySlide14
Engineering as Social Experimentation
Restores vision of engineers
as guardians of the public interest
professional duty
it is to guard the Welfare and safety of those affected by engineering projects .
Engineers should not impose their own views of the social good upon society Slide15
2. RELEVANT INFORMATION
Conscientiousness is blind without relevant factual information.
Shows moral concern that involves
commitment to obtain and properly assess all available information pertinent to meeting one’s moral obligations Slide16
Grasp the context of one’s work( which makes it count as an activity having a moral import )
Specialization
Division of Labor Slide17
Example
A company may produce items with obsolescence built into them , or the items might promote unnecessary energy usage
It is easy to place the burden on the sales department : “Let them inform the customers”
It may be natural to thus rationalize one’s neglect of safety or cost considerations , but it shows no moral concern. Slide18
Consequences
of what one does
Regarding engineering as social
experimentation
:
Engineer should view his/her specialized activities in a project as part of a larger whole having a social impact.
Goal is to practice “Defensive engineering “ or “ preventive technology “
Moral Responsibility Slide19
MORAL AUTONOMY
(Morally Self directed )
When People are morally autonomous ? Slide20
People are morally autonomous when their moral conduct and principles of action are their own.
Moral Beliefs and attitudes
basis of Critical reflection
-
Moral beliefs and attitudes must be held on the basis of critical reflection rather than merely through passive adoption
ie
... Particular conventions of one’s society, church or profession Slide21
Moral Beliefs and attitudes
must integrate into the core of an individual’s personality in a manner that leads to committed action .
Cannot be agreed abstractly and formally or verbally .Slide22
Engineers working for an employer
sells one’s labor and skills may make it seem that one has thereby disowned and forfeited power over one’s actions
Viewing engineering as social experimentation can help one overcome the above tendency . Slide23
ATTITUDE OF MANAGEMENT
Plays a decisive (vital) role in how much moral autonomy engineers feel they have.
Long term interest
Thoughtful &
involvement in projectSlide24
3. ACCOUNTABILITY
Responsible people accept moral responsibility for their actions.
Accept responsibility for results of a project
fragmentation,
diffusion,
time
pressures