By
Ronald E. Bucknam,
Affiliate Professor of Civil Engineering
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I - Introduction
A: Ethics VS. Morals
1. Morals
and ethics often used interchangeably
a. In common usage both meant to express a
high standard of behavior
b. Ethics
more often used in referring to business and professional practices
and
behavior
c. Morals
usually associated with references to personal behavior
2. Morals
a. Based on Latin word moralis or mores, meaning “traditional customs”
b. Implies customs or manners practiced in
any given community or culture
c. Morals is therefore a relative
term
1) Depends on individual culture or custom
2) May be different from culture to
culture
3) May change as acceptable social
behavior in the culture(s) change
3. Ethics
a. Derived from Greek word ethos
b. Conveys sense of stability, permanence
c. Means an absolute standard of
behavior
1) Standard is universal
2) Standard is immutable (not
subject to change)
Morality
describes what is.
Ethics
describes what ought to be. Charles
Colson
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II – The Ethical Engineer/Design Professional
A: Public Perception
of the Professions
1. 1990 opinion poll Survey of Executives at 200 National
Companies
Question:
Which of the following types of professionals do you think
is the most ethical?
. Survey Results: Engineers 37%
Certified Public Accountants 26%
Doctors 19%
Lawyers
9%
Dentists 8%
Investment
Bankers 1%
3. Status of engineers
a. According
to this poll, it is clear that the business world believes engineers to
be the most ethical of
the major professions.
b. As
a result, engineers are held to a higher ethical and moral standard than
most other sectors of
society
B: Core Ethical Values
For Engineers/Design Professionals
a. Integrity:
· exercising good judgment in professional
practice
· adherence to ethical principles
b. Honesty, including:
· truthfulness
· fairness
· sincerity
c. Fidelity, including:
· allegiance to the public trust
· faithfulness to clients
· loyalty to employer, firm or agency
· loyalty to the profession
· for the theist, faithfulness to God
d. Charity, including:
· kindness
· caring
· good will
· tolerance
· compassion/mercy
· adherence to the Golden Rule
e. Responsibility,
including:
· reliability/dependability
· accountability
· trustworthiness
f. Self-Discipline, including:
· acting with reasonable restraint
· not indulging in excessive behavior
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III - Rights and Responsibility
“You cannot have the
right to do what is wrong.” Abraham
Lincoln
1. “Rights”
a. Definition: things that are due to a person
by law, tradition or nature
b. Declaration of
“We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life,
c. Without restraint by society, behavior which
was previously considered unacceptable
(and often
unlawful) has become permissible, for example:
1) The “right” to sue anyone for a perceived
wrong or injustice, whether proven or
not (or in some cases, to extort monetary
settlement from the defendant in lieu of
suffering through the emotional and financial
expenses of trial)
2. Responsibility
a. Virtually
all rights have inherent responsibilities associated with them
b. We have entered what some have dubbed
“The Golden Age of
Exoneration” Saul
Bellow
1) Common phrases often heard:
a)
“That’s not my job!”
b)
“It’s not my fault!”
c)
“What’s in it for me?”
2) People are very reluctant to take
responsibility for their actions
3) People often eager to pin their problems on
someone else
4) Example:
In the spring of
1995, William Aramony, the former head of
Aramony’s
defense: It wasn’t my fault! He
blamed a “brain atrophy”, saying that the alleged illness affected his ability
to suppress inhibitions and understand numbers.
He also blamed the
United Way Board of Directors members for allowing him to spend the money!
3. Rights and responsibilities in professional
practice
c. While employees should have the right to make constructive
comments and
suggestions
regarding the way things function in the office and the way people
are
treated, they are at the same time responsible
for:
1) Being loyal to the firm or agency
2) Performing to the best of their ability, both
technically and interpersonally
3) Providing an honest day’s work for an honest
day’s pay
4) Being aware that the more time and energy
spent on manipulating personal
advantages over others, the less productive and valuable a person
becomes to
the organization
5) Focusing on unity of purpose and goals, rather than diversity of size, shape,
color, age, gender, ethnicity, religious
beliefs, etc., etc., etc.
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IV - Nine Basic Steps To Personal
Ethical Decision Making
Successful
ethical decision making is a conscious
process
involving the conscience!
1. Step 1
Practice ethical behavior actively (ethical awareness training)
a. Periodically
re-examine your personal worldview and core ethical values
b. Develop
an awareness of ethical situations in the workplace, the community
and the nation; analyze to determine how you
might handle them based on
the core ethical values recommended in
Section II.
1) Most of us do not excel without training and
consistent practice
2) In an ethical dilemma, generally little
time for the inexperienced person to react
c. Avoid the Chameleon Conundrum
1) Do not change ethical standards to suit
changing social or business situations
2) Practice being ethical: at home; with family;
with friends; in business dealings; in
the community
The
ethical engineer is consistently ethical!
2.
Step
2 Beware of “new ethics” (Postmodernism)
a. Many
claim “we live in a new age” and “what’s ethical depends on the situation”
1) Often termed “situational
ethics” or ”organizational ethics”
2) True core ethical values do not change
and are not dependent
on
different, changing situations!
3. Step 3 Define the ethical problem
when it arises
a. Refusing to recognize personal ethical
problem does not mean it does not exist
b. If anticipated or recognized early enough, ethical
resolution may be simple
c. In defining the problem:
1) Be certain to have all the pertinent facts
2) Identify any others who may be affected by
your action
3) Define how the situation came about and how
you became involved
4) Be certain that your personal preferences do
not overshadow the real facts
4. Step 4 Formulate and list
alternatives
a. “First impulse” approaches often are:
1) Poorly thought out
2) Short-term solutions
3) Reflective of personal desires without
consideration of others
b. Alternatives must be ethical
1) Unethical alternatives are unallowable
2) Never ethical to do wrong in order to obtain a right
result
c. Alternatives must be based on the recommended
core
ethical values
(Integrity, honesty, fidelity,
charity, responsibility and self-discipline)
d. Alternatives should take into account impacts
of your proposed action on others
5. Step 5 Evaluate the selected
alternatives
a. Is
it legal?
1) If the proposed action is not legal, should
discard
2) If the proposed action is legal, may not
necessarily be ethical
3) Even if it is legal, do you want to be
associated with the proposed action?
b. What
are the long-term impacts of the alternative?
1) Satisfactory short term results may not
produce long-term ethical solutions
2) Are the presumptions about probable long-term
impacts realistic?
3) Do you have reasonable control over the
long-term impacts of the solution?
c. Beware of
unethical rationalizations which erroneously assume the final
authority regarding right and wrong
in a situation is up to the individual
1) I deserve
it, the client deserves it
2) It won’t
hurt anyone
3) I’m not going to realize a personal gain
4) It is necessary
(for the company or agency; the client; my career;
in these circumstances; etc), therefore it
is ok
5) Strong issues require strong action
6) Everyone
else is doing it (Doctrine of Relative Filth)
7) I
can maintain my objectivity
d. Common
litmus tests or rules of thumb
1) Is it right? (appropriate if “right”
is defined in absolute, not relative, terms)
2) Is it fair? (how would I feel if roles
were reversed? -application of the Golden
Rule)
3) What would my children (parents; wife)
think if they knew what I am going to do?
4) How would I feel if my proposed action
were published in the local newspaper?
(lack of negative peer opinion does not
make an action ethically justifiable)
e. While these questions may be helpful,
The
important question is the course of action you would
take
if you are assured that no one will find out about it!
6. Step 6 Seek additional assistance,
if appropriate
a. Engineering or Professional Code of Ethics,
if applicable
b. Previous personal, corporate or agency
experience, good and poor
c. Awareness and study of previous cases by
others
d. Advice of peers
e. Self-guidance and self-reliance
f. Divine guidance through prayer, consistent
with personal worldview
7. Step 7 Choose best ethical
alternative
a. Important to realize not always possible to
select the absolutely best alternative
b. Responsible for doing the best to analyze
the situation:
1) As thoroughly as humanly possible
2) As unbiased as possible
3) Based on full use of core ethical values
8. Step 8 Implement the selected
action
9. Step 9 Monitor and assess the
outcome