ENGINEERING ETHICS

ENGINEERING ETHICS

1. Utilitarian Ethics

   • The term Utilitarianism was conceived in the 19th century by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill to help legislators determine which laws were morally best. They suggested that the standard of right conduct is maximization of good consequences.

2. Duty Ethics

   • The duty ethics theory, proposed by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) states, that actions are consequences of performance of one’s duties such as, ‘being honest’, ‘not cause suffering of others’, ‘being fair to others including the meek and week’, ‘being grateful’, ‘keeping promises’ etc. The stress is on the universal principle of respect for autonomy i.e., respect and rationality of persons.

3. Rights Theory

   • Rights are entitlement to act or to have another individual act in a certain way. Minimally, rights serve as a protective barrier, shielding individuals from unjustified infringement of their moral agency by others. For every right, we have a corresponding duty of noninterference.

4. The Virtue Theory

   • This emphasizes on the character rather than the rights or duties. The character is the pattern of virtues (morally-desirable features). The theory advocated by Aristotle, stressed on the tendency to act at proper balance between extremes of conduct, emotion, desire, attitudes to find the golden mean between the extremes of ‘excess’ or ‘deficiency’.

5. Self-realisation Ethics

   • Right action consists in seeking self-fulfillment. In one version of this theory, the self to be realized is defined by caring relationships with other individuals and society. In another version called ethical egoism, the right action consists in always promoting what is good for oneself. No caring and society relationships are assumed.

6. Justice (Fairness) Theory

   • The justice or fairness approach to ethics has its roots in the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who said that “equals should be treated equally and unequals unequally.”

7. SELF-CONTROL

   • It is a virtue of maintaining personal discipline. It means a strong will and motivation and avoidance of fear, hatred, lack of efforts, temptation, self-deception, and emotional response.

8. SELF-INTEREST

   • Self-interest is being good and acceptable to oneself. It is pursuing what is good for oneself. It is very ethical to possess self-interest. As per utilitarian theory, this interest should provide for the respect of others also.

9. JESUS MONTOYA