Tutorial 5

Ethics: Moral principles

 Question 1
Differentiate between Metaethics, Normative Ethics and Applied Ethics

• Metaethics
• Principles that underlie ethical systems; where do
ethics come from, to whom do ethics apply etc.
• Attempt to discover the origin and meaning of
right and wrong
• Not in the position to determine what is right or
wrong
• Normative Ethics
• One ultimate set of principles (or ideas) of moral
standard that regulate right or wrong conducts.
• Right and wrong decided by the norms of one’s
culture.
• No universal defination
• Applied Ethics
• Analysis of specific, controversial moral issues.
• Controversial
• Distinctly moral issues
• Resolving
• Metaethics talks about the nature of ethics and moral reasoning.
Discussions about whether ethics is relative and whether we always act
from self-interest are examples of meta-ethical discussions. In fact,
drawing the conceptual distinction between Metaethics, Normative Ethics,
and Applied Ethics is itself a "metaethical analysis."
• Normative ethics is interested in determining the content of our moral
behavior. Normative ethical theories seek to provide action-guides;
procedures for answering the Practical Question ("What ought I to do?").
The moral theories of Kant and Bentham are examples of normative
theories that seek to provide guidelines for determining a specific course
of moral action. Think of the Categorical Imperative in the case of the
former and the Principle of Utility in the case of the latter.
• Applied Ethics attempts to deal with specific realms of human action and
to craft criteria for discussing issues that might arise within those realms.
The contemporary field of Applied Ethics arouse in the late 1960s and
early 1970s. Today, it is a thriving part of the field of ethics. Numerous
books and web-sites are devoted to topics such as Business Ethics,
Computer Ethics, and Engineering Ethics. (See the Bioethics Center for an
example of activities in the area Medical Ethics).
 Question 2
Differentiate between Duty Ethics and Right Ethics.

• Duty Ethics holds that people have duties, an

important one of which is to protect and
respect the rights of others.
• Right Ethics has the view that people have
fundamental rights that other people have a
duty to respect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCUpxMCRJaU
Duty Ethics or Right Ethics.
 Question 3
The main functions of BEM.

• 1. Maintains the register of engineers, engineering

practices & accredited checkers
• including processing Applications for Registration.
• 2. Participates in the assessment of Academic
Qualification (e.g. accredit engineering
• courses).
• 3. Promote Continued Learning & Education
• 4. Regulate the Conduct & Ethics of the Engineering
Profession.
• 5. Resolve disputes relating to Professional Conduct &
Ethics of the engineering profession
 Question 4
State the importance of Engineering Society.

• Answer
• 1. To protect the interest of the profession
• 2. To provide support, advice and guidance
• 3. To register and regulate its member
• 4. To promote ethical engineering practice
• 5. To promote continued learning and
education
 Question 5: Case study: Pls read the case…..
• Engineer A serves as an expert witness and frequently
assesses causes for project failures for various clients.
Recently, Client X, a frequent client of Engineer A, has
proposed a contract which includes a clause that
attempts to limit or restrict the types of companies for
whom Engineer A can work.
• The clause does not appear to be based upon any
specific Client X confidential information, trade secrets,
client knowledge, or project-specific information known
to Engineer A.
• Engineer A suspects that Client X is attempting to
prevent Engineer A from providing services to
competitors of Client X.
 Issue:
• Would it be ethical for Engineer A to enter into
an agreement to limit or restrict the
companies for whom Engineer A can work?
• Answer
• It was unethical for Engineer A to enter into a
broad agreement which limits or restricts the
• companies for whom Engineer A can work
because it could hamper the ability of
engineers
• to freely practice their profession.
• Engineers and engineering firms are generally free to provide
engineering services to individuals and businesses consistent with
local, state, and federal laws and regulations and rules of ethics
that generally prohibit competition restrictions and boycotts.
• From time to time, entities (e.g., clients, government agencies)
may seek to limit the ability of engineers to perform engineering
services by contract or other means.
• As a general rule, the Code of Ethics encourages free and open
competition by engineers, consistent with applicable laws,
regulations, and practices. While depending upon the facts and
circumstances, certain restrictions sometimes apply (e.g., in
circumstances where the interests of the public, the client, the
employer, or other engineers may be compromised—such as
confidentiality, public health and safety, conflicts of interest).
• As a general rule, engineers are free to perform engineering
services to the individuals and clients of their own choosing.