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ECE390 – Ethics, Professionalism and Current Issues

Erik D. Goodman

2308M Engineering

goodman@egr.msu.edu

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What we’ll discuss in this class - Ethics

• How is ethics developed?• Is ethics different between individuals, religions,

cultures?• What does the law have to do with ethics? Is it enough to

guide our decisions?• What is moral autonomy?• Are decisions always obvious? What are ethical

dilemmas?• Some tools for analysis of ethical dilemmas; case

studies

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What we’ll discuss in this class - Professionalism

• What is a professional?• Is this a good thing? • Are there more rights and obligations for professionals?• Are engineers professionals?• How do professionals differ in communication styles, and

how can we communicate more effectively with people whose styles differ from our own?

• Role of professional organizations.• What is the Engineering Code of Ethics, how is it applied

and how is it enforced?

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What we’ll discuss in this class – Current Issues

• How and which current problems affect engineers and require their decisions?

• Technology creates new complex problems that require both a moral and a technological approach

• Case studies:– Invention and monopolies: Microsoft and US, EU, Apple, others.– Biomedical advancements: research, invention, medical policy,

medicine.– Relationships with employers: Mobility of employees, ownership

of knowledge, whistle blowing. – Working in a global environment. Do you have the same ethics and

attitude as the other members of your team in India, Brazil, China and Italy?

– Engineering and the environment. How important is it?

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I visited this guy in

London, July, 2007, to

prepare for ECE 390…Weird guy…Who? Why?

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How we’ll study ethics and professionalism

Your instructor:• Erik D. Goodman, EB2308M, Tel.: 355-6453, email:

goodman@egr.msu.edu.• Class meets: Fridays, 9:10 - 10:00pm, EB1234.• Office Hours: MWF 11:20-12:00; or by appointment

(email scheduling works best), or just dropping in. Office hours may change.

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More about the class

Attendance is required. Each unexcused absence from the class above three will result in 5% subtracted from the grade, and more than 6 unexcused absences will result in a zero grade. Absences may be excused by providing the reason for the absence (for example, job interview with company XXX in YYY) at least a day in advance in an email to the instructor (goodman@egr.msu.edu) or by showing an excused absence form from the Olin Health Center after the absence. The Ombudsman’s site (http://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/attendance.html) has a comprehensive discussion of university policy on attendance.

Students with Disabilities will have all the accommodations determined by the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. The instructor should be notified during the first week of classes of such requirements.

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About the papers

.Essays and grading:

There will be three essays you’ll have to write in this class. They’ll be assigned two weeks before they are due, and each will constitute one third of your grade

There will be a few outside lecturers, established professionals on their fields. Their lectures will be useful for the essays you will have to write, giving you thoughts and information outside what you’ll find in textbooks. Be sure to take notes.

The essays in this class will be relatively short, but they have to be well organized and presented. Discussions not to the point leave less space for analysis and result in a lower grade.

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• References in your essays have to be of archival nature. This means that published journals and newspapers can be used, in addition to books, even if they are available on the internet. On the other hand, somebody’s blog, or even Wikipedia articles, change often and are not acceptable as authorities to cite, even if they are useful sources of information in your research. [But be sure not to incorporate such material directly without citation!]

• Some newspaper references are available to college students. For example, the New York Times allows unlimited access on line to old editions, free to those with a *.edu email address. MSU’s library website has a number of books to borrow and “Science and Engineering Ethics” journal on line (as well as others).

About referencing/citing

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• Plagiarism and cooperation on assignments. Neither is acceptable. Any plagiarism incident will bring the heaviest possible

repercussions. Cite any sources you use. Your analyses in your essays should be your own, as potentially influenced by what you read, discuss, etc.

• Fortunately there are software programs that will find commonalities of any given paper with a lot of sources and other papers. Note that you can, of course, use work and texts of others; you just have to put them in quotes and give the references; see above.

What NOT to do

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A typical essay: Implantable defibrillator Medical Devices save lives, or at least improve lives of people. Often there is a rush to

bring newly developed devices to the market, to satisfy both the shareholders of the medical devices company and the public’s need for the devices. Withdrawing a medical device for technical problems may cause distrust of the public, deprive patients that need it, and create financial problems for the company. In the attached article one such case is discussed.

• You are to write an essay of 1200-1500 words on the subject and hand in a printed version, as well as email it to goodman@egr.msu.edu.

• Find what has been written on the subject.• Research the technical issues and studies on the subject, as well as the role of

government agencies and of competitors. • Give archival references—e.g., an article in a journal or a newspaper (with an author)

is valid, even if found on the web. A web-based discussion may not be there tomorrow, and often the author cannot be traced. Somebody’s views carry less weight than hard facts, unless these views affect the facts.

• Analyze the ethical issues that the project engineer faces:– Define the ethical dilemmas,– Analyze the decisions to be made from the viewpoint of the IEEE Code of Ethics,– Analyze the decisions to be made, using either a consequentialist or a

deontological ethical theory.• The paper will be graded on the data presented, the analysis of the problem based on

ethical theories, and the completeness and quality of the discussion, not on personal views and arguments.

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Morality and Ethics

• Concerns the goodness of voluntary human conduct that affects the self or other living things

• Morality (Latin mores) usually refers to any aspect of human action

• Ethics (Greek ethos) commonly refers only to professional behavior

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Why study ethics?

• To responsibly confront moral issues raised by technological activity

• To recognize and resolve moral dilemmas• To achieve moral autonomymoral autonomy

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An example:

“One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty… is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963.

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Moral Dilemmas

• Situations in which two or more moral obligations, duties, rights, or ideals come into conflict.

• To resolve we must identify the factors, gather facts, rank moral considerations, consider alternative courses of actions, and arrive at a judgment.

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A Classical Moral Dilemma

YOU

A = 5 people on the track, can’t escape trolley

B = 1 person on the alternate track, can’t escape trolley IF you throw the switch

What should you do? (I.e., what is the ETHICAL or MORAL thing for you to do?)

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A Second Classical Moral Dilemma

YOU

A = 5 people on the track, can’t escape trolley

B = 1 very large person on a bridge with you over the track; if you push him off onto the track, his body will stop the trolley and save the 5 people; your body wouldn’t be big enough to do that.

What should you do? (I.e., what is the ETHICAL or MORAL thing for you to do?)

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Stages of Moral Development

• Pre-conventional LevelWhatever benefits oneself or avoids punishment

• Conventional LevelUncritical acceptance of society’s rules

• Post-conventional LevelMoral autonomy

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Moral Autonomy

• Autonomous individuals think for themselves and do not assume that customs are always right.

• They seek to reason and live by general principles.

• Their motivation is to do what is morally reasonable for its own sake, maintaining integrity, self-respect, and respect for others.

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ECE 390

Lecture Two

/ How do we develop our ethics?

Whose happiness matters?

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What Are We After?

To establish ethical standards for engineers, what is needed:

• Agreement across: ???, ???, ???, ???

• Lip service to professional ethics?

• Where do our ethical principles really come from?

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Stages of Moral Development (Review)

• Pre-conventional LevelWhatever benefits oneself or avoids punishment

• Conventional LevelUncritical acceptance of society’s rules

• Post-conventional LevelMoral autonomy

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Moral Autonomy(Review)

• Autonomous individuals think for themselves and do not assume that customs are always right

• They seek to reason and live by general principles

• Their motivation is to do what is morally reasonable for its own sake, maintaining integrity, self-respect, and respect for others

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Moral Responsibility

• Morality concerns the goodness of voluntary human activity that impacts the self or other living beings

• Assuming we have not deliberately allowed ourselves to remain ignorant, powerless, or indifferent, we have complete moral responsibility for what we do with adequate knowledge, freedom, and approval

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The Existence of Right and Wrong

• Principle: Certain aspects of right and wrong exist objectively, independent of culture or personal opinion

• Accepting this principle is essential for ethics to discern an objective reality rather than just define a subjective standard

• But cultures, religions, families, etc., provide different interpretations and mandate different behaviors

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Where Did YOUR Ethics Come From?

• _______________

• _______________

• _______________

• …

• What does ethics concern/govern?

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Are Your Ethics Fixed and Immutable, or Still Developing?

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• Are your ethics a set of: (?)– Rules (Never… or Always…)? – Duties? (One should always act such that…), etc.? – Rights? (Every person has a right to… No person

should have to …)? – Virtues? (A good person acts …)– Based solely on OUTCOMES? (Maximizing the

happiness, minimizing the misery of people?)• Is there ever a justification for “breaking” these

rules, not fulfilling these duties, violating these rights, abandoning these virtues, accepting worse outcomes? If so, how is the situation evaluated?

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How Does a Culture Influence Ethics?

• Socialism vs. capitalism

• Autocracy vs. democracy

• Patriotism vs. diversity of opinion

• … ???

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Global Teaming

• What basis is there for forging trust and mutual assistance in a team with diverse backgrounds/beliefs?

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Hope for Agreement?

• Differences are many

• Are there commonalities around our society? Around the globe?

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Plato’s Four Main Virtues

• Prudence (mind): to think about a moral problem clearly and completely

• Temperance (emotions): control attraction to positive emotions

• Fortitude (emotions): control aversion for negative emotions

• Justice (will): choose according to truth and fairness.

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God and Ethics

• Can one be ethical without a belief in God? Independent of a belief in God?

• If not, how deal with differences among religions, cultures, re religious teachings?

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When working across cultures

• What do you expect to see?• How SHOULD YOU behave?• How should you expect THEM to behave?• What would you hope to be true? • Is there a basis for SHARED

expectations?• Is there hope for establishing a code of

professional ethics that can be accepted globally?