Ethical Aspects of Science and Technology

Topics: Ethics and Science, Science,Technology and Ethics, Introduction to Engineering Ethics and On Becoming a Responsible Engineer

Preview:

Science is a discipline of knowledge which involves many aspects of human thought and endeavour. Ethics is concerned with human character and conduct.  

CAN SCIENCE EVER BE SEPARATED FROM THE QUESTION OF ETHICS? Science is a branch of study concerned with facts, principles, and methods. However, ethics is the moral science that governs what we do with it. It is the branch of philosophy that studies the principles of right and wrong in human conduct. The question of their individuality has been in existence for quite some time. I would argue that in theory they can exist separately but in practice they cannot. In Aristotle's structure of the soul, one can see that science takes precedence over ethics.

Engineering Ethics is the field of applied ethics which examines and sets standards for engineers' obligations to the public, their clients, employers and the profession. This article addresses the subject for both professional engineers and other engineers.

Engineering does not have a single uniform system, or standard, of ethical conduct across the entire profession. Ethical approaches vary somewhat by discipline and jurisdiction, but are most influenced by whether the engineers are independently providing professional services to clients, or the public if employed in government service; or if they are employees of an enterprise creating products for sale.

 Responsible Engineer

Ways to Remeber:

1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the performance of their professional duties.
2. Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence.
3. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.

Narrative/ Things I learned:

The reporter reported it in a concise manner and she highlighted only those important topic of her report.

Science cannot be separated from ethics especially where the issues of genetic manipulation are considered.  Science is a collection of the results of a search for facts about our physical reality. Ethics is an arbitrary set of rules for behaving in a way that is acceptable to the culture setting forth those rules. If science pursues knowledge, maybe we should first discuss the morality of knowing things.

In the field of engineering, there is a specific ethics to be followed  in order to become a responsible engineer. It should be followed to become a productive engineer in the society.

Source/s:

Copyright 1988, Harlan B. Miller. Commercial use prohibited. This paper has appeared in Etica & animali I/2 (1988) in Italian translation, and in Between the Species 10/1 (1994)in English.