Values and Ethics in Procession(1)

 Unit-3

 Values and Ethics in Procession

Values and Ethics in Procession

 Engineering Ethics - Introduction

 Engineering is the process of developing an efficient mechanism which quickens and eases the work using limited resources, with the help of technology. Ethics are the principles accepted by the society, which also equate to the moral standards of human beings. An engineer with ethics, can help the society in a better way.

 Hence the study of Engineering ethics, where such ethics are implemented in engineering by the engineers, is necessary for the good of the society. Engineering Ethics is the study of decisions, policies and values that are morally desirable in engineering practice and research. 

Morals 

The word “Morality” originates from the Latin word “mos” meaning “custom”. Morals are the principles or habits with respect to right or wrong of one’s own conduct. They are not imposed by anyone. Morals are what you think is good and bad personally. 

Though morals are not imposed, they can be understood as the preaching of our inner self. Depending on a few factors, our mind filters things as good or bad. These are the ideas that help frame our personality so that we can distinguish between what is right and what is wrong.

 A moral is the code of conduct that you develop over time and set for yourself to follow, just like

 • Being good to everyone 

• Speaking only the truth 

• Going against what you know is wrong 

• Having chastity 

• Avoid cheating

• Being a nice human being etc. 

Morals are always defined by one’s own personality. Morals can be changed according to one’s beliefs as they are completely dependent on one’s perception towards the ethical values. 

Ethics 

The word “Ethics” originates from the Greek word “ethos” meaning “character”. Ethics are a set of rules or principles that are generally considered as standards or good and bad or right and wrong, which are usually imposed by an external group or a society or a profession or so.

 Ethics can be understood as the rules of conduct proposed by a society or recognized with respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group or culture. Ethics are dependent on others definition. They may or may not vary from context to context.

 A person who strictly follows a set of ethical principles, may not have any moral at all while a person who violates ethical principles at times, may maintain a high moral integrity. The ethical theories include duty ethics, right ethics, virtue ethics and so on. A best example that can explain ethics is utilitarianism. 

Utilitarianism is the philosophy which explains that the happiness or pleasure of a greatest number of people in the society is considered as the greatest good. According to this philosophy, an action is morally right if its consequences leads to happiness of the people and wrong if the action leads to their unhappiness. This theory moves beyond the scope of one’s own interests and takes into account the interests of others.

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 Ethics in Engineering 

Ethics are principles followed depending upon the moral responsibility that a person feels. The study of related questions about moral ideals, character, policies and relationships of people and organizations involved in technological activity, can be termed as Engineering ethics.

 An engineer whether he works individually or works for a company, has to go through some ethical issues, mostly under the conditions such as, conceptualization of a product, issues arising in design and testing departments, or may be on the issues involving the manufacturing, sales and services. Questions related to morality also arise during supervision and team works.

 The ethical decisions and moral values of an engineer need to be considered because the decisions of an engineer have an impact the products and services - how safe they are to use, the company and its shareholders who believe in the goodwill of the company, the public and the society who trusts the company regarding the benefits of the people, the law which cares about how legislation affects the profession and industry, the job and his moral responsibilities and about how the environment gets affected, etc. 

Not only an engineer, but everyone has to follow a set of morals in order to keep away from getting morally degraded. 

Our behavior should include the following − 

• Respecting others and ourselves. 

• Respecting the rights of others.

 • Keeping promises.

 • Avoiding unnecessary problems to others.

 • Avoiding cheating and dishonesty. 

• Showing gratitude towards others and encourage them to work. 

Morality commands respect for persons, both others and ourselves. It involves being fair and just, meeting obligations and respecting rights and not causing unnecessary harm by dishonesty and cruelty or by hubris.

 Steps to Deal with Issues 

Whenever there occurs an issue, one should possess a few skills in order to sort out the problem. The issues that engineers face, have to be dealt with patience and few moral goals have to be kept in mind while dealing with such issues. They are as follows − 

• Moral Awareness − One should be able to recognize the moral problems and issues that occur in Engineering. The analysis on the problem is necessary in order to differentiate and judge according to ethics or according to the rules to follow.

 • Cogent Moral Reasoning − In order to come to a conclusion on an issue, the argument has to be assessed and comprehended. The argument on both sides has to be considered with all the probabilities and the nature of the argument should be logical and moral.

 • Moral Coherence − After having gone through all the logical and moral facts, consistent and comprehensive view points are to be formed based upon a consideration of relevant facts.

 • Moral Imagination − The moral issues and the practical issues have to be dealt separately. Alternative responses are to be found out for dealing with moral issues while creative solutions should be found out for practical difficulties.

 • Moral Communication − The language to communicate about one’s moral views should be so precise and clear, that the expression or words should not alter the original meaning. Though one has all these moral goals, the ethical reasoning for achieving moral conduct with responsibility and commitment is obtained by a few skills that are described below.

 Important Skills for Ethical Reasoning 

Let us now discuss the important skills for ethical reasoning − 

• Moral Reasonableness − The ability and willingness to be morally reasonable that one should have while dealing such issues. Unless one is willing and improve such ability, justice cannot be done.

 • Respect for Persons − The persons involved in the issue, should be treated with genuine concern by one. Such concern should also be there with oneself along with being there for others. 

• Tolerance of diversity − One should have a broader perspective towards ethnic and religious differences that the people have. Every person differs with another when compared on grounds of moral reasoning. The acceptance of those differences is really important.

 • Moral hope − The moral conflicts can be resolved by using better communication and having rational dialogue which is evident-based and openended which is acceptable and appreciable by both the parties. • Integrity − The moral integrity has to be maintained. Being honest and having strong moral principles helps one to resolve an issue in an efficient manner. An individual also needs to consider other’s professional life and personal convictions while solving a problem.

 Engineering Ethics - Moral Issues 

A moral issue can be understood as an issue to be resolved not only by considering the technical stuff but also by keeping moral values in mind. To be more precise, let us consider the definition in general. “Moral issue is a working definition of an issue of moral concern is presented as any issue with the potential to help or harm anyone, including oneself.” 

Types of Moral Issues There are mainly two types of Moral issues that we mostly come across while keeping the ethical aspects in mind to respond. They are −

 Micro-ethics 

This approach stresses more on the problems that occur on a daily basis in the field of engineering and its practice by engineers. 

Macro-ethics 

This approach deals with social problems which are unknown. However, these problems may unexpectedly face the heat at both regional and national levels. 

Examples 

Let us now understand a few examples related to moral issues.

 Example 1

 After a recent collapse of a structure in which many people died, an Engineer came to know about a bridge which is marginally safe. He informed his superior who asked him to stay calm and not to discuss with anyone, while waiting for the next year budget sessions to get some financial help for the repair required. What should the engineer do? 

Example 2

 What should an Engineer who observes his colleague copying confidential information unauthorized, do immediately? If he chooses to stop his friend, what if this gets repeated without his notice? If he chooses to report the management, what if his friend loses the job? Which is morally correct?

 Example 3 

An engineer who develops a proto-type for the project, loses it due to a mishap exactly the day before the submission. Is it morally correct to outsource the prototype of the project and reduce the risks of job insecurity? What should he do?

 These are the few examples just to understand the kind of moral dilemmas. There might be one or more correct answers at times. There can be some other way around to deal with the issue, which one can’t easily notice. However, the decisions have to be made by following a slow and clear process in order to avoid further problems and also to solve this in a manner that leads to no regrets.

 Types of Inquiries The issues can be resolved by following an investigation procedure, step by step in order to have a clear understanding towards the issue. Here we have three different types of inquiries. 

Judging the issues has to be followed by a systematic procedure to avoid any flaws. Engineering ethics involves investigations into values, meanings and facts. 

Following are the different types of inquiries made for this. 

• Normative inquiries

 • Conceptual inquiries

 • Factual or descriptive inquiries 

Normative Inquiries 

Normative Inquiry refers to the description that describes what one ought to do under a specific circumstance. This is the expected ideal response, which might differ from what one believes to be right or wrong. 

This list identifies and justifies the morally desirable nature for guiding individuals or groups. This includes the responsibility of engineers to protect the public safety and how they should respond under such dangerous practices. Normative inquiries also quote the laws and procedures that affect the engineering practice on moral grounds. They refer to the thought process where the moral rights are to be implemented in order to fulfill their professional obligations. 

Conceptual Inquiries 

Conceptual Inquiry refers to the description of the meaning of concepts, principles and issues related to engineering ethics. The ethics that an engineer should possess to protect the safety, health and welfare of the public, etc. are described under conceptual inquiries. 

It describes what safety is and mentions the marginal issues of safety along with the precautions an engineer should take to avoid risk. Conceptual inquiries mention the moral aspects of bribery and how its effects, along with the professional ethics and professionalism. 

Factual and Descriptive Inquiries

 Factual Inquiry or the descriptive inquiry help to provide the facts for understanding and finding solutions to the value based issues. The engineer has to conduct factual inquiries by using scientific techniques. 

This helps in providing the information regarding the business realities such as engineering practice, history of engineering profession, the effectiveness of professional societies, the procedures to be adopted when assessing risks and psychological profiles of engineers. 

Let us now go through the concept of Moral dilemma that a person faces when confronted with a situation.

 Engineering Ethics - Moral Dilemmas 

At times, the situations occur where one cannot make immediate decisions as the moral reasons come into conflict. The moral reasons can be rights, duties, goods or obligations, which make the decision making complex. 

Types of Complexities 

The difficulties in arriving to a solution, when segregated, can be divided into the following three sections. 

Vagueness 

This refers to the condition where the doubt lies in whether the action refers to good or bad. This is just like having a thought that following the rules is mandatory. This sometimes includes the unwritten rules like being loyal, having respect, maintaining confidentiality, etc.

Conflicting reasons 

When you know about the solutions you have, the making of better choice among the ones you have, will be the internal conflict. Fixing the priorities depends upon the knowledge and the moral values one has. The reason why the particular choice is being made, makes sense. 

Disagreement 

When there are two or more solutions and none among them is mandatory, the final solution selected should be best suitable under existing and the most probable conditions. The interpretation regarding the moral reasons behind the choice and analysis should be made keeping in mind whether this is the better or the worse solution in the probable aspects. 

Steps in Facing Moral Dilemmas 

Whenever a person is faced with a moral dilemma, the issue is to be solved with a stepwise approach as this will generate a better output. The steps include the following − 

Identification 

The step of identification involves the following − 

• The issue has to be thoroughly understood. 

• The duties and the responsibilities of the persons involved are to be clearly known. 

• The moral factors related to the issue are to be understood.

 • The conflicting responsibilities, the competing rights and the clashing ideas involved are to be identified. 

Ranking 

The considerations in the issue are to be listed down. Then they have to be ranked according to the priorities. The moral aspect has to be considered to rank the issues. The advantages of a single person should never be given any importance unless any moral reason is there behind it. No partiality is allowed. 

Inquiries

 The inquiry of details involved in the issue is to be completely made. All the facts related to the issue are brought into light. Considering the alternative courses of action for resolving and tracing, full implications are also needed. 

Discussions 

Discussions are to be made with other members, as different minds look at the issue in different views to give different solutions. The complete analysis of a problem gives chances to different viewpoints, perspectives and opinions from which a better solution can be drawn. 

Final Solution

 After analyzing different perspectives and considering the facts and reasons on the basis of truths and understanding the flaws which lead to the issue, a final solution has to be drawn out. This solution will add value to the whole analysis, in all aspects.

 Engineering Ethics - Moral Autonomy 

Moral Autonomy is the philosophy which is self-governing or self-determining, i.e., acting independently without the influence or distortion of others. The moral autonomy relates to the individual ideas whether right or wrong conduct which is independent of ethical issues. The concept of moral autonomy helps in improving self-determination.

 Moral Autonomy is concerned with independent attitude of a person related to moral/ethical issues. This concept is found in moral, ethical and even in political philosophy. 

Moral Autonomy – Skills Needed 

In this section, let us discuss the skills needed for moral autonomy. 

• Ability to relate the problems with the problems of law, economics and religious principles − It is essential to have the ability to analyze a problem and finding the relation with the existing law or the topic of issue with the existing principles on that topic. The ability to distinguish between both of them and finding the moral reasons.

 • Skill to process, clarify and understand the arguments against the moral issues − If the issue is against some moral values or the ethical values to be followed in the society, then clarity should be maintained about the differences and similarities. Both of these differences and similarities are to be judged based on why they are a matter of concern and in what aspect.

 • Ability to suggest the solutions to moral issues on the basis of facts − If the moral issues are not fulfilling and needs to be, then the solutions are to be suggested according to the moral issues based on the facts and truths of the issue. These suggestions must be consistent and must include all the aspects of the problem. No partiality is to be allowed in any such aspect. 

• Must have the imaginative skill to view the problems from all the viewpoints − After having known about the facts and illusions of the issue, a clear understanding is attained in viewing the problem in all kinds of viewpoints. This enables one to be able to suggest a proper alternative solution. 

• Tolerance while giving moral judgment, which may cause trouble − When the whole analysis is made considering all the viewpoints of the issue, the final output might be or might not be pleasing to the persons involved. Hence while declaring the judgment or the decisions taken, a detailed description of the actions done should be given, while the actions ought to be done should be presented in a better way, to ensure others that the decisions have been taken without any partialities towards any party. 

• Tolerance while giving moral judgment, which may cause trouble − When the whole analysis is made considering all the viewpoints of the issue, the final output might be or might not be pleasing to the persons involved. Hence while declaring the judgment or the decisions taken, a detailed description of the actions done should be given, while the actions ought to be done should be presented in a better way, to ensure others that the decisions have been taken without any partialities towards any party.   

Skills for Improving Moral Autonomy

 Moral autonomy reflects the concept of individuality. This relates to the idea of building one’s self with the moral values one has while developing psychologically. 

To have moral autonomy in all the aspects, one should have a lot of patience and interest. One should adhere to the basic principles of humanity and should be strict with the Don’ts he has in mind and liberal with his Do’s. The kindness towards his fellow beings is also an important concept to be kept in mind. Inculcation of all these important qualities, enhances the skills of Moral autonomy in a person. 

A Person must have adequate knowledge and understanding about the use of ethical language so as to defend or support his views with others. He must have better knowledge in understanding the importance of suggestions and better solutions while resolving moral problems and also about the importance of tolerance on some critical situations. 

Above all, one must understand the importance of maintaining moral honesty and should be liberal to understand the human behavior under certain circumstances. 

Engineering Ethics - Kohlberg’s Theory

 Lawrence Kohlberg was a professor at Harvard University during the early 1970s and was famous for his works on developmental psychology. He conducted many studies at Harvard’s Center for Moral Development and proposed a theory on moral development which is popularly known as Kohlberg’s theory. 

His theory of moral development was dependent on the thinking of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and the American philosopher John Dewey. He was also inspired by James Mark Baldwin. These men had emphasized that human beings develop philosophically and psychologically in a progressive fashion. 

Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory 

Kohlberg proposed that people progress in moral reasoning based on their ethical behavior. He postulated this theory based on the thinking of younger children throughout their growing period as adults. He conveyed that younger children make judgment based on the consequences that might occur and the older children make judgment based on their intuitions. 

He believed that there are six stages of moral development which are further classified into three levels. The following illustration shows the different levels. The process being discussed here is about the judgment made by the thinker about the protagonist in a given situation. The steps of the thinking process show the moral development of the thinker. 

Pre-conventional Level

 This can be understood as the first level of moral thinking, which is generally found at Elementary school level. The thinker at this stage tends to think and behave based on the direct consequences that might occur. There are two sub-stages in this.

 Avoid Punishments 

A thinker at this stage generally thinks and believes that the judgment are to be made as per the socially acceptable norms as they are said so by some higher official (a teacher or a parent). This is a child-like obedience, in order to avoid punishments. These thoughts are based on the idea that the protagonist should not disobey the law or rules. 

Self–interest 

A thinker at this stage, shows interest in making decisions according to the rewards they get in exchange. This second stage is characterized by a view that right behavior means acting in one's own best interests. In this stage, they tend to follow the rules of authority because they believe that this is necessary to ensure positive relationships and societal order. 

Conventional Level 

This can be understood as the second level of moral thinking, which is generally found at the primary and high school level. The thinker at this stage tends to think and behave based on the want to please others. There are two sub-stages in this. 

Getting people to like them

 At this stage, the ideas of the society are considered. This level can be that where the protagonist behaves on account of the moral grounds which people decide for decision making. This decision may or may not support the law. Whatever the result is, the thinking process is based on how to impress others or society and on how to please the people around. 

Maintain functioning in society 

A thinker at this stage, considers to follow the rules for the good of the society. The moral grounds on how people in the society will consider the job done will be the priority, because the thinker believes that a social order is maintained by abiding by the rules. Hence a thinker sticks to the idea that the protagonist should follow the moral values. The thinker’s behavior is driven by the authority while his thinking conforms to the social order.

 Post-Conventional Level 

This can be understood as the third level of Moral thinking, which is generally found after the high school level. The thinker at this stage tends to think and behave based on a sense of justice. There are two sub-stages in this. 

Reject rigidity of laws

 In this level, the thinker uses his moral thinking skills at a commendable pace. He starts to feel for the protagonist based on moral grounds. He also might have an opinion that the rules have to be changed according to humanitarian values. The thinker rejects the rigidity of the existing laws and rules at this stage. 

Sense of justice 

This is the pinnacle stage of Moral development where the thinker feels a sense of justice for the protagonist. The thinker has great moral values that he keeps himself free from the external factors that might influence his thinking process. These are the three main sections of moral development proposed by Lawrence Kohlberg. Let us now try to have some detailed idea on this with an example.

 Engineering Ethics - Heinz’s Dilemma 

Lawrence Kohlberg quoted an example for his Moral development theory. This example is popularly called the Heinz’s Dilemma. 

Story of Heinz 

A story of a middle-aged ordinary middle-class man, called Heinz is considered as an example. Heinz is an ordinary man having a wife. His wife suffers from a dreadful disease. Doctors believe that a special drug which was invented recently and is available at the BIG pharma store, can only save his wife. When Heinz went to buy the drug, the drug-seller costed it around $2,000 dollars, while the actual manufacturing cost of the drug is $20 dollars. Heinz borrowed the money from friends and lenders and could finally collect only $1,000 dollars. Though Heinz pleaded a lot, the greedy drug-seller refused to sell the drug at low cost. Now, Heinz had no other option but to steal the drug from the shop to save the life of his wife. Is this a better option to do? What is your judgment? 

Now, to solve this Heinz’s dilemma, a thinker has the following options. 

Options for the Thinker

 In this section, we will discuss the options for the Thinker. 

• Heinz should not steal the drug because it is the disobedience of law. 

• Heinz can steal the drug, but should be punished by the law.

 Heinz can steal the drug and no law should punish him. 

The answer which you choose indicates your moral development. Each answer has its consequences and explanation. Let us go through the answers. 

Heinz should not steal the drug because it is the disobedience of law. 

This decision makes it impossible for Heinz to save his wife. His wife dies and the rich drug-seller becomes richer. Though the law was obeyed, no moral justice was done. This is a pre-conventional level of moral thinking.

 Heinz can steal the drug, but should be punished by the law. 

This decision helps Heinz save his wife, but Heinz will be kept in prison. Though Heinz took a moral decision, he had to undergo the punishment. This is a Conventional level of moral thinking. 

Heinz can steal the drug and no law should punish him.

 This decision lets Heinz save his wife and both of them can live happily. This thinking is based on the thought that the rigidity in law should be rejected and justice should be done on moral grounds. This is a post-conventional level of moral thinking.