Ethics

Professional Ethics and Human
Values
Dr.R.Subasri
Professor, Kongu Engineering College,
Perundurai, Erode, Tamilnadu, INDIA
Dr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

•To know the people’s beliefs, Values and morals.
•To learn good and bad of them.
•To practice them to maximize the well-being and
happiness.
•To resolve the issues.
•To respond to the issues through the duties, rights,
responsibilities.
Why the study of Ethics ?

'Ethics is the branch of philosophy dealing with morality.'
In other words, ethics is the study of morality.
The word Morals is derived
from a Greek word “Mos”
which means custom.
The word Ethics, is also derived
from a Greek word “Ethikos”
which means character.
Morals are the customs established by group of
individuals whereas ethics defines the character of an
individual.
While morals are concerned with principles of right and
wrong, ethics are related to right and wrong conduct of
an individual in a particular sitution.

Basis for
Comparison
Morals Ethics
Meaning
Morals are the beliefs
of the individual or
group as to what is
right or wrong.
Ethics are the guiding
principles which help
the individual or
group to decide what
is good or bad.
What is it?
General principles set
by group
Response to a specific
situation
Root word
Mos which means
custom
Ethikos which means
character
Governed By
Social and cultural
norms
Individual or Legal
and Professional
normsDr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

Basis for Comparison Morals Ethics
Deals with
Principles of right and
wrong
Right and wrong
conduct
Applicability in
Business
No Yes
Consistency
Morals may differ
from society to society
and culture to culture.
Ethics are generally
uniform.
Expression
Morals are expressed
in the form of general
rules and statements.
Ethics are abstract.
Freedom to think
and choose
No Yes

Some moral principles are:
Do not cheat ,Be loyal ,Be patient, Always tell the truth,
Be generous.
Some ethical principles are:
Truthfulness ,Honesty ,Loyalty, Respect, Fairness, Integrity.
•If the son of a big politician has committed a crime and he uses his
powers to free his son from legal consequences. Then this act is
immoral because the politician is trying to save a culprit.
•A very close friend or relative of an interviewer comes for an
interview and without asking a single question, he selects him. This
act is unethical because the selection process must be transparent
and unbiased.
•A grocer sells adulterated products to his customers to earn more
profit. This act is neither moral nor ethical because he is cheating
his customers and profession at the same time.
Examples

Values refer to the important and enduring (long term)
beliefs or principles, based on which an individual
makes judgements in life.
While ethics are consistently applied over the period, and remains
same for all the human beings. Values have an individualistic
approach, i.e. it varies from person to person but remains stable,
relatively unchanging, but they can be changed over time due to a
significant emotional event.
It is at the centre of our lives which act as a standard of
behaviour. They severely affect the emotional state of
mind of an individual. They can be personal values,
cultural values or corporate values.
Human Values

Human Values

Basis for Comparison Ethics Values
Meaning
Ethics refers to the
guidelines for conduct,
that address question
about morality.
Value is defined as the
principles and ideals, that
helps them in making
judgement of what is more
important.
What are they? System of moral principles. Stimuli for thinking.
Consistency Uniform
Differs from person to
person
Tells
What is morally correct or
incorrect, in the given
situation.
What we want to do or
achieve.
Determines
Extent of rightness or
wrongness of our options.
Level of importance.
What it does? Constrains Motivates

Integrity is about what you do. Honesty is about what
you say;
Integrity is about conduct. Honesty is about adherence
to the facts.
Service-learning is “a form of experiential
education in which students engage in activities
that address human and community needs
together with structured opportunities
intentionally designed to promote student
learning and development”

ASCE Fundamental Canons, No. 1, “Engineers should seek
opportunities to be of constructive service in civic affairs and
work for the advancement of the safety, health and well-being of
their communities, and the protection of the environment
through the practice of sustainable development”
The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) codes of ethics do
justify community service as an important part of engineering
ethics.
The Service-Learning pedagogy provides a more positive
approach to teaching engineering ethics and social impact of
technology by focusing learning on doing the work of an
engineer responsibly and well, whether in the workplace or in
community service. Dr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

Virtues are those qualities in a person’s character
and mind which are good to possess.
The good action or thought is always the preferred option for the
possessor of virtue. A courageous person, for instance, is inclined
to act bravely in most situations that would make other men run
in fear .
Civic virtue is that part of virtue that relates to the
connection between citizen and state, or maybe less
formal, Between citizen and (national/local) community.
As virtue, civic virtue is the way that good citizens should behave
, the appropriate role for a citizen in society.

There are two different senses (meanings) of engineering ethics,
namely the Normative and the Descriptive senses.
SENSES OF ENGINEERING ETHICS
Normative: Especially an assumed norm regarded as the standard
of correctness in behavior, speech, writing, etc.
The normative sense include:
• Knowing moral values, finding accurate solutions to
moral problems and justifying moral judgments in
engineering practices
• Study of decisions, policies, and values that are morally
desirable in the engineering practice and research, and
• Using codes of ethics and standards and applying them
in their transactions by engineers.Dr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

The descriptive sense refers to what specific individual or
group of engineers believe and act, without justifying
their beliefs or actions.
Approaches to Engineering Ethics
Micro -Ethics:
This approach stresses more about some typical
and everyday problems which play an important role in
the field of engineering and in the profession of an
engineer
Macro -Ethics:
This approach deals with all the social problems
which are unknown and suddenly burst out on a regional
or national level. Dr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

VARIETY OF MORAL ISSUES
why and how do moral issues (problems) arise in a
profession or why do people behave unethically?
The reasons for people including the employer and
employees, behaving unethically may be classified into
three categories
Resource Crunch Opportunity Attitude
The engineers have to tolerate themselves with the
everyday problems both from personal and societal point
of view.

Involving individuals in the development of goals and
values and developing policies that allow for individual
diversity, dissent, and input to decision –making will
prevent unethical results.
Due to pressure, through time limits, availability of
money or budgetary constraints, and technology decay
or obsolescence.
Pressure from the government to complete the project in
time (e.g., before the elections), reduction in the budget
because of sudden war or natural calamity (e.g., Tsunami)
and obsolescence due technology innovation by the
competitor lead to manipulation and unsafe and
unethical execution of projects.
Resource Crunch

Management projecting their own interests more than
that of their employees.
Emphasis on results and gains at the expense of the
employees
The unethical behaviors of World Com (in USA), Enron
(in USA as well as India) executives in 2002 resulted in
bankruptcy for those companies
Opportunity

•Low morale of the employees because of
dissatisfaction and downsizing
•Absence of grievance redressal mechanism,
•Lack of promotion or career development policies
•Lack of transparency,
•Absence of recognition and reward system,
•Poor working environments
Poor attitude of the employees set in due to
Attitude
Giving ethics training for all, recognizing ethical conduct in
work place, including ethics in performance appraisal, and
encouraging open discussion on ethical issues, are some of
the directions to promote positive attitudes among the
employees Dr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

Some cases with which different areas covered by
engineering ethics:
An inspector finds a faulty part in the
manufacture of a machine, which prevents the
use of that machine for a longer period. But his
superior, takes this as a minor mistake and
orders that the faulty part to be adjusted so
that the delay in the process has to be avoided.
But the inspector doesn’t want this and so he is
threatened by the supervisor.

An electronic company applies for a permit to start a
Nuclear Power Plant. When the licensing authority
comes for visit, they enquire the company authorities
on the emergency measures that have been established
for safety of The surroundings. The engineers inform
them about the alarm system and arrangements have
been made in local hospitals for the treatment of their
employees and they have no plan for the surrounding
people. They also inform that it is the responsibility of
the people

A Yarn Dyeing company which dumps its wastes in the
nearby river. It causes heavy damage to the people those
who are using the river. The plant engineers are aware of
this, but they do not change the disposal method
because their competitors also doing similarly as it
happens to be a cheaper. They also say that it is the
responsibility of the local government.

Inquiry means an investigation. Like general ethics,
Engineering ethics also involves investigations into
values, meaning and facts
TYPES OF INQUIRY
1.Normative Inquiries 2.Conceptual Inquiries
3.Factual or Descriptive Inquiries
These inquiries are mostly helpful to identify the values
which guide the individuals and groups in taking a
decision. These are meant for identifying and justifying
some norms and standards of morally desirable nature
for guiding individuals as well as groups.
1.Normative Inquiries

1.How do the obligations of engineers protect the public safety in
given situations?
2.When should an engineer have to alarm their employers on
dangerous practices?
3.Where are the laws and organizational procedures that affect
engineering practice on moral issues?
4.Where are the moral rights essential for engineers to fulfil their
professional obligations?
These are meant for describing the meaning of concepts,
principles, and issues related to Engineering Ethics.
These inquiries also explain whether the concepts and
ideas are expressed by single word or by phrases
Sample Questions
2.Conceptual Inquiries

1.What is the safety and how it is related to risk?
2.What does it mean when codes of ethics say engineers should
protect the safety, health and welfare of the public?
3.What is a “bribe”?
•These help to provide facts for understanding and finding solutions
to value based issues.
•The engineer has to conduct factual inquiries by using scientific
techniques.
•These help to provide information regarding the he procedures to
be adopted when assessing risks and psychological profiles of
engineers.
•The information about these facts provide understanding and
background conditions which create moral problems.
Sample Questions
3.Factual or Descriptive Inquiries

4. Who conducted the tests on materials?
1.How were the benefits assessed?
2. What are procedures followed in risk assessment?
3. What are short -term and long-term effects of drinking
water being polluted?
Sample Questions

MORAL DILEMMA
•Dilemmas are situations in which moral reasons come into
conflict
•Moral reasons could be rights, duties, goods or obligations.
•one is not clear of the immediate choice or solution of the
problems
•presence of moral complexity which leads to the decision
making complex
Three complex situations leading to moral dilemmas:
•One is unable to distinguish between good and bad (right or wrong)
principle.
•May not know how to make moral considerations or principles in
resolving a moral problem at a particular situation.
1. The problem of vagueness:

2. The problems of Conflicting reasons
One is unable to choose between two good moral
solutions.
One has to fix priority, through knowledge or value system.
e.g. From Ramayana
Ayothya King Sri Rama’s critical situation in deciding
whether to be a king or be with his wife Seetha
3. The problems of disagreement
•There may be two or more solutions and none of them mandatory.
•One has to interpret, apply different morally reasons, and analyze
and rank the decisions.
•Select the best suitable, under the existing and the most probable
conditions.
•India & Pakistan Separation

1. Identification of the moral factors and reasons. The
clarity to identify the relevant moral values from among
duties, rights, goods and obligations is obtained
(conceptual inquiry).
The most useful resource in identifying dilemmas in
engineering is the professional codes of ethics, as
interpreted by the professional experience. Another
resource is talking with colleagues who can focus or
narrow down the choice of values.
The logical steps in confronting moral dilemma are:
2. Collection of all information, data, and facts (factual
inquiry) relevant to the situation.Dr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

4. Generate alternate courses of action to resolve the
dilemma. Write down the main options and sub-options
as a matrix or decision tree to ensure that all options are
included.
3. Rank the moral options i.e., priority in application
through value system, and also as obligatory, all right,
acceptable, not acceptable, damaging, and most
damaging etc. For example, in fulfilling responsibility, the
codes give prime importance to public safety and
protection of the environment, as compared to the
individuals or the employers (conceptual inquiry).
5. Discuss with colleagues and obtain their perspectives,
priorities, and suggestions on various alternatives.

6. Decide upon a final course of action, based on priority fixed
or assumed. If there is no ideal solution, we arrive at a partially
satisfactory solution
MORAL AUTONOMY
Autonomy means self-governing or self-determining i.e
act independently.
Moral autonomy is concerned with the independent
attitude of a person related to ethical issues. It helps to
improve the self-determination among the individuals.
The main aim of studying engineering ethics is to increase
the moral autonomy within him.

1. The engineers must have the competence for identifying the
moral problems and ethical issues related to the field of
engineering – they must have the ability to distinguish and
relate these moral problems with the problems of law,
economics, religions principles etc. They must possess the skills
of understanding, clarifying and assessing the arguments which
are against the moral issues.
2.They must have the ability to suggest the solutions to moral
issues, on the basis of facts. These suggestions must be consistent
and must include all the aspects of the problem.
3.They must have the imaginative skill to view the problems from
all view points and also be able to suggest a proper alternative
solution.

4.They must be able to tolerate while giving moral judgments
and decisions which may cause trouble. i.e. they have to
understand the difficulties in making moral decisions.
5.They must have adequate knowledge and understanding about
the use of ethical language so as to defend or support their views
with others.
6.They must have some better knowledge in understanding the
importance of suggestions and better solutions while resolving
moral problems and also about the importance of tolerance on
some critical situations.
7. They must maintain moral integrity.

An engineer in a higher position of a company, is responsible
and having the sole right to make purchases on his own and
behalf of the company. There may be many suppliers for
supplying materials. In this situation, a sales representative
from one of the suppliers approaches him with a moderating
gift. In this case, the engineer may have some doubts like (i)
Whether this is an acceptance of a bribe? (ii) Does it create a
conflict of interest?
The solution is only with that engineer. He can also discuss
with his colleagues about the problem. The colleague may find
the solution on the basis of previous experiences, it may not
be a kind of bribe, but at the same time it should not be
encouraged in future because there is the possibility of
supplying substandard materials. It is difficult to arrive at the
conclusion whether the gift is an innocent amenity or an
unacceptable bribe. Dr.R.Subasri, KEC, INDIA

Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Understanding the stages of moral
development should help in developing or
improving upon one’s morals or values.
Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral
development was influenced by the thinking of
the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget
Piaget studied many aspects of moral judgment,
but most of his findings fit into a two-stage
theory.

Kohlberg believed, and was able to demonstrate through
studies, that people progressed in their moral reasoning
(i.e., in their foundations for ethical behavior) through a
series of six identifiable stages that could be more
generally classified into three levels.
Level 1 (Pre-Conventional) (up to age 9)
1. Obedience and punishment orientation
2. Self-interest orientation
Level 2 (Conventional) (10 years old to adolescence)
3. Interpersonal accord and conformity
(The good boy/good girl attitude)
4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation
(Law and order morality)

Level 3 (Post-Conventional)(adulthood)
5. Social contract orientation
6. Universal ethical principles
(Principled conscience)
The first level of moral thinking is that generally found at the
elementary school level.
In the first stage of this level, people behave according to socially
acceptable norms because they are told to do so by some
authority figure (e.g., parent or teacher).
This obedience is compelled by the threat or application of
punishment.
The second stage of this level is characterized by a view that right
behavior means acting in one's own best interests.

The second level of moral thinking is that generally found in
society, hence the name "conventional." The first stage of this
level (stage 3) is characterized by an attitude which seeks to do
what will gain the approval of others.
The second stage is one oriented to abiding by the law and
responding to the obligations of duty.
The third level of moral thinking is one that Kohlberg felt is not
reached by the majority of adults. Its first stage (stage 5) is an
understanding of social mutuality and a genuine interest in the
welfare of others. The last stage (stage 6) is based on respect for
universal principle and the demands of individual conscience

Thank you

Ethics

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