Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T02:39:45.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The End-Use Problem in Engineering Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2022

C. Thomas Rogers
C. Thomas Rogers*
Affiliation:
Montana Tech
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Almost everyone agrees that new technologies frequently have profound effects upon how we live as individuals, as groups, and as societies. As one author puts it: “One of the most persistent themes in the social sciences, history, and the humanities is the impact of technology and technological change on all aspects of social life.” (Merrill 1968, p. 576). Technology has come to be a central concern in much public debate on such issues as nuclear power, industrial and automobile pollution, transportation systems, energy, and military hardware.

Always bearing in mind Francis Bacon's claim that knowledge is power, we develop and employ technology for a variety of economic and social reasons. Moreover, technology is “people-embodied”, engineers being the principal agents of technological innovation and, thus, social change.

Type
Part VIII. Philosophy, Engineering and Society
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1980 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1980 , 1980 , pp. 464 - 480
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by the Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

I would like to acknowledge the support of Robert Baum and the (N.E.H.) National Project on Philosophy and Engineering Ethics (N.P.P.E.E.) in helping me to carry out this work. In particular, I want to thank my team partners Thomas Riley and Frank Manley; Carol Ann Smith, who lead me to the Baum and Ladenson work; and the rest of our colleagues with NP2E2, or “NPEEP” as we were often known, especially Jerry Gravender and Michael Hodges who, along with Carol and myself, contributed to the PSA 1980 Philpspphy, Engineering, and Society Symposium in Toronto. I would also like to thank Stephen H. Unger for his encouragement and Robert Taylor and Carol Peterson Flynn for their help.

References

Babcock, Daniel L. and Smith, Carol Ann. (1980). Values and the Public Works Professional. Rolla, Mo.: University of Missouri-Rolla, Curators of the University of Missouri.Google Scholar
Baum, Robert. (1980). “The Limits of Professional Responsibility.” In Babcock and Smith (1980). Pages 15-21.Google Scholar
Baum, Robert J. and Flores, Albert (eds.). (1978) Ethical Problems in Engineering. Troy, NY: Center for the Study of the Human Dimensions of Science and Technology (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).Google Scholar
Flores, Albert (1977). “Engineering Ethics.” Business and Professional Ethics, A Quarterly Newsletter/Report 1:1-3.Google Scholar
Florman, Samuel C. (1976). The Existential Pleasures of Engineering. New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Florman, Samuel C. (1978). “Moral Blueprints: On Regulating the Ethics of Engineers.” Harper's 257(no. 1541): 30-33.Google Scholar
Ladenson, Robert. (1980). “The Social Responsibilities of Engineers and Scientists: A Philosophical Approach.” In Babcock and Smith (1980). Pages 5-14.Google Scholar
Layton, Edwin T. (1971). Revolt of the Engineers, Social Responsibility and the American Engineering Profession. Cleveland: The Press of Case Western Reserve University.Google Scholar
Merrill, Roberts. (1968). “I. The Study of Technology.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol.15. Edited by Sills, David L.. New York: Free Press and the Macmillan Company. Pages 576-589.Google Scholar
Oldenquist, Andrew G. and Slowter, Edward E. (1979). “Proposed: A Single Code of Ethics for All Engineers” Professional Engineer 49:8-11.Google Scholar
Rogers, C.Thomas. (forthcoming). “What Makes a Technology Appropriate?” In Proceedings of Appropriate Technology: Its Implications, Its Values, Its Claims, a public conference. Edited by Elizabeth, Morrissett, Rogers, Thomas, and Taylor, Robert . Butte, MT: Montana Energy and M.H.D. Research and Development Institute.Google Scholar
Salvador, Mario G., (1977). “Engineering Ethics and Engineering Education'.” In Ethics, Professionalism and Maintaining Competence. Edited by Bay, Robert D. , et al. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers. Pages 1-5.Google Scholar
Stephen H., Unger (1976). “Ethics for Engineers: A Code and Its Support.” C.S.I.T. (Committee on Social Implications of Technology) Newsletter (IEEE) No. 13 (March). Pages 24-27.Google Scholar