THE UNIVERSITY OF

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Lecture 2: Moral reasoning I

(Chapter 2, Martin & Schinzinger, Ethics in Engineering)

Ethics & Electrical Engineering

Practice
 The nature of moral inquiry
Some applications of ethics:
Understanding moral values, resolving moral issues &
justifying moral judgements
Exploring questions that involve moral issues
Developing a system of moral values or code of ethics
Defining moral behaviour or right conduct:
What ought to be done in a particular situation
What is right or wrong in how a situation was handled
What is good or bad about people, policies or beliefs
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 The nature of moral inquiry

Types of inquiry:
Normative:- to identify moral values
Conceptual:- to clarify concepts or ideas
Factual:- to explore specific situations or problems
Types of moral judgement:
Actions:- morally right or wrong
People:- morally responsible or irresponsible
Objective:- consistency in reasoning & decisions

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 Moral problems in engineering
Typical situations involve a moral dilemma:
Interests of an employer versus the public interest, e.g:
Unsafe products or built-in obsolescence
Extravagant claims of product performance
Interests of one community versus another, e.g:
A power station that causes local or global pollution
The impact of war on civilian populations
Pertinent moral questions:
What is the extent of an engineers responsibility?
When should one not obey orders of superiors?
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Four approaches to moral reasoning
Virtue ethics:
Virtues & vices (good & evil behaviour & character)
Utilitarianism:
Actions that give the most good for the most people
Duty ethics:
Actions based on duties that respect persons
Rights ethics:
Actions that respect inalienable human rights:
Some philosophers extend the scope to include animals
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 Virtue ethics & professionalism

Cardinal principles of the IEAust code of ethics:

To respect the inherent dignity of the individual
To act on the basis of a well-informed conscience
To act in the interests of the community:
These principles are duties that express virtues:
Virtuous ways to interact with others
Desirable features of character
Equity is a core value

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 Conceptual basis for virtue ethics
Aristotles definitions of virtues (~350 BC):
Habits that enable us to engage effectively in rational
activities:
Cardinal virtues:- wisdom, courage, temperance, justice
The golden mean between too much & too little:
Cowardice - Courage - Rashness
Macintyres definition of virtues (20th century):
Social practices that achieve public good, e.g:
Professional responsibility in engineering
Virtues are particularly valuable for group activity
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Virtues & professional responsibility
Self-direction virtues: Team-work virtues:
Moral autonomy & good Collegiality
judgement Respect for legitimate
Self-knowledge & self-respect authority
Commitment & integrity Communication skills
Public-spirited virtues: Proficiency virtues:
Non-malfience Mastery of technical skills
do no harm Diligence
Beneficence Creativity
prevent or remove harm Accountability virtues:
Generosity Act responsibly
beyond normal expectations
Admit mistakes & accept an
appropriate share of blame
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 Issues in applying virtue ethics
Virtues may contradict each other, e.g:
Truthfulness & tact
Loyalty to employer vs responsibility to the public
Virtues provide general not specific advice:
Most useful in establishing a general code of conduct
Different societies rank virtues differently, e.g:
Collegiality versus self-reliance
Judgement is required in practical application:
May have to rank virtues to resolve a moral dilemma
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 Utilitarianism
Mill:- Act utilitarianism (19th century):
Act to maximise happiness for all concerned
(intellectual) happiness is the only intrinsic good
Focus on individual acts rather than general rules
Rules (eg. dont deceive) can be broken to achieve greater
good in a particular case
Brandt:- Rule utilitarianism (20th century):
Moral codes are primary even if they dont always
produce the greatest good
The best moral code produces the greatest good
Intrinsic goods include rational (informed) desires
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 Cost-benefit analysis
20th century attempt to quantify utilitarianism:
Compare the costs & benefits associated with an act
Choose actions for which benefits exceed costs
Issues in applying cost-benefit analysis:
Requires quantification of costs & benefits:
may not be easy, e.g: value of a human life
Requires quantification of uncertainty & risk:
e.g: risk of cancer due to exposure to electromagnetic fields
Distribution of costs & benefits may differ greatly:
Equity issues, e.g: choosing the site for a new airport
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 Issues in applying utilitarianism

Act-utilitarianism biased towards self-interest:

The decision maker should be impartial
Rule-utilitarianism supports codes of ethics:
May give non-optimal outcomes in some cases:
Where specific issues are of over-riding concern
Cost-benefit analysis can be too narrow:
Some costs & benefits difficult to quantify
Distribution of costs & benefits may differ

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 Duty ethics
Kant:- respect for persons (19th century):
Based on duties (not consequences) that:
Express respect for the autonomy of others
Are universal principles
Express unqualified commands (e.g. be honest)
Rawls two principles (20th century):
A person is entitled to the greatest liberty compatible
with an equal amount for others
Differences in social power & economic benefits are
only justifiable when they benefit the disadvantaged
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 Basis for Rawls principles
They would be agreed to by a rational person who:
Had a general knowledge of the human condition but:
Lacked all specific knowledge about him/herself
Had concern for his or her long term interests
Agreed to abide by the principles

Issues in applying duty ethics

Require compromise to resolve moral dilemmas:
Prima facie duties:- may be waved in some situations
Ranking, e.g. protect life before keep promises
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 Rights ethics
Locke:- liberty rights (17th century):
Life, liberty & the property generated by labour
Used as a basis for libertarian ideology:
Self-reliance & rejection of state intervention
Melden:- liberty & welfare rights (20th century):
Human rights in the context of communities
Each individual must be provided with:
A valued role in society, the capacity to show concern & to be
accountable
Welfare systems may be required to guarantee this
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 Issues in applying rights ethics
Special rights can be derived from basic rights:
The right to have promises kept
The right to privacy:
Implications for database & internet design
An engineers right to warn of danger to the public
The right to a meaningful occupation:
Important implications for automation
Require compromise to resolve moral dilemmas:
Be careful to rank rights rather than people
A right is only meaningful if it can be excercised
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Relationship between ethics & laws
A legal framework (set of laws):
Developed by a State with authority to enforce
Penalty-based:- punishment for illegal behaviour
Ethics:
A code for personal (or group) behaviour:
Incentive-based:- personal & group esteem
Laws lag behind social & technical change, e.g:
Genetic engineering, rules for use of the internet
Ethics matter for engineers:- they intend to innovate
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 Summary

Engineering innovation changes the way we live:

moral dilemmas can easily arise:
The interests of an employer may conflict with the public
interest
Moral reasoning is concerned with distinguishing
right from wrong
The four main approaches to moral reasoning all
provide useful insights on ethical behaviour:
Virtue ethics, utilitarianism, duty ethics & rights ethics

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