Ethical Theories

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Ethical Theories

• A Presentation by Megan Berry
• And Ben Greek

2
Outline

• Introduction
• A case for thought.
• History of Ethical Thought
• Philosophers
• Utilitarianism
• Cases for Thought - Utilitarianism
• Dams
• International Fusion Project
• Boston "Big Dig", Central Artery/Tunnel Project
  (CAT) 6
• WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) 7

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Outline, Cont.

• Duty Ethics
• Rights Ethics
• Duties/Rights Ethics Compared
• Duties/Rights Ethics Problems
• Hyatt Collapse
• WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) 7
• Virtue Ethics
• Virtue Ethics Example
• Gas case study.
• Radiation Machine Study
• Conclusion

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Introduction

• Ethical theories are necessary for the analysis
  of moral problems.
• A framework of knowledge, just as in other
  aspects of the engineering field, must be applied
  when dealing with ethical issues.

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Chew on this

• 1984-Bhopal, India.
• A cloud of toxic gas kills two thousand and
  leaves many more disabled and injured.(1)
• How do we decide who is blame, if anyone, and
  whether or not the risk was worth the benefit?
• After a little information, well be better
  equipped to tackle these questions.

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History of Ethical Thought

• Ancient Greeks
• Socrates
• "Virtue" is the most important aspect of life,
  and the ideal life should be spent in search of
  the Good
• Most important virtues philosophical or
  intellectual
• Aristotle
• Nicomachean Ethics - every thing has a purpose or
  end people have a purpose, should do things that
  help fulfill purpose things that are for their
  good 2
• Roman Empire spread ideas throughout Europe and
  Middle East

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History, Cont.

• Judaism Torah, Old Testament, ten commandments
• Jewish rabbi Maimonides responded to Greek ethics
  during Middle Ages and interpreted works of
  Aristotle influenced Enlightenment philosophers.
• Philosophers
• Locke - Reason and tolerance.
• Kant - single moral obligation, the "Categorical
  Imperative"
• "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can
  at the same time will that it should become a
  universal law." 2
• "Act in such a way that you treat humanity,
  whether in your own person or in the person of
  any other, always at the same time as an end and
  never simply as a means." 2
• Mill - defined utilitarianism as the "greatest
  happiness principle."
• Argued that intellectual, moral pleasures are
  superior to physical pleasure.
• Distinguished between "happiness" and
  "contentment" - happiness is of higher value.

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Utilitarianism

• Philosopher Jeremy Bentham good is whatever
  brings the greatest happiness to the most people.
• John Stuart Mill cultural, intellectual,
  spiritual pleasures are more important than
  physical pleasure. (1)
• Act utilitarianism the right action is the one
  that produces the most good.
• Rule utilitarianism thought the right action may
  not produce the most good, it is the right action
  and should always be adhered to.
• Ethical dilemma "Do not kill."

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Cases for Thought - Utilitarianism

• Dams
• Pros water supply, irrigation, hydroelectric
  power, places for wildlife and fish, flood
  control
• Cons people in area must relocate1

http//web.umr.edu/rogersda/hoover_dam/index.htm
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Cases Cont.

• International Fusion Project
• Pros research of fusion power, "environmentally
  benign, widely applicable and essentially
  inexhaustible" electricity 45
• Cons dangerous, extremely expensive 6

http//www.iter.org/
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Cases, Cont.

• Boston "Big Dig", Central Artery/Tunnel Project
  (CAT) 7
• Pros reduced extreme congestion in the inner
  city, reduced travel times
• Cons extremely expensive, rats

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Cases, Cont.

• WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) 8
• Pros health care, electricity
• Cons potential for accidents, potential for
  waste leaking into water

http//www.cemrc.org/overview/wipp.html
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Duty Ethics

• Immanuel Kant believed moral duties are
  fundamental. (1)
• It is our duty to perform or adhere to ethical
  courses of action.
• First one recognizes what ethical duties are
  present and then
• Sticks to them! Its that simple.

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Rights Ethics

• Closely related to Duties Ethics.
• While Duties Ethics proposes that we have a duty
  to respect others, Rights Ethics proposes that
  all of us have certain fundamental rights.
• John Lockes famous statement- Life, liberty,
  and property.(1)

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Duties/Rights Ethics Compared

• Duties ethics and rights ethics are inverse
  equations they each lead back to the other.
• Duty ethics - one has a duty to respect the
  rights of others.
• Rights ethics one has rights that others have a
  duty to respect.

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Duties/Rights Ethics Problems

• What if we are forced to violate one groups
  rights for the sake of anothers? Who do we
  have a duty toward?(1)
• In situations such as this, the good of society
  as a whole is usually paramount.

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An example

• July 17th, 1981- A walkway collapsed at a Hyatt
  Regency hotel. Many people were killed or
  injured in the failure.
• It was found that a change to the original design
  of the walkway, approved by a structural
  engineer, had cause the collapse.
• The engineer was found to be negligent.(9)
• The bottom line? Peoples lives may, sometimes
  literally, be hanging on your decisions!

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Another Angle

• WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) 8
• Although the country might benefit, individuals
  do have a right to live without fear. Spills
  could be extremely deadly.

http//www.cemrc.org/overview/wipp.html
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Virtue Ethics

• Honesty, loyalty, responsibilityThese ideas lend
  themselves to good actions.(1)
• Virtue Ethics tells us to exhibit good character
  qualities, and let our actions follow suit.
• Do personal ethics apply to the engineering
  profession? Certainly!

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Virtue Ethics Example

• An electrical engineer for a microprocessor
  manufacturer was responsible for testing wafers
  supplied to the company.
• Lower quality wafers had a lower price, and the
  engineer was asked by a manager to test in such a
  way as to report lower quality then was actually
  presented, therefore lowered the price.
• Although he lost his job, the engineers personal
  beliefs forced him to refuse. He behaved in a
  virtuous manner, and his decision was ethically
  correct.(10)

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So what about the toxic gas?

• A methyl isocyanate (MIC) leak killed 2,000 and
  injured 200,000.

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Causes

• The direct cause was water in the storage tank,
  which causes a chemical reaction when mixed with
  MIC. The pressure build-up from the temperature
  increase opened a relief valve.(1)
• But how did this happen? Where were the
  fail-safes, bypasses, and other safety features?

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Safety Features

• A refrigeration unit had been broken for 5
  months, and may have at least mitigated some
  damage.
• The tank temperature alarm was also not
  functioning correctly.
• A flare tower, to burn gases before they harmed
  anything, was inoperable as well.(1)
• A scrubber (to remove toxic gases) was activated
  only after the gases were released.

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It gets worse

• Investigators suggested that the scrubber and
  flare tower may not have been effective enough
  even if they had been fully functional!(1)
• This leaves us with a big question

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Who to blame?

• Management clearly had a role.
• The design of safety features was also not
  adequate.
• India did not have strict safety standards at the
  time. Zoning laws did not exist to prevent close
  proximity to the plant.(1)

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Another example.

• A machine designed to deliver medical radiation
  treatments was flawed, resulting in several cases
  of radiation overdosing.
• The manufacturer at first could not duplicate the
  malfunction, and merely cited hardware faults as
  the cause. As a result, the fix was
  unaffective.
• It was determined that the software was
  inherently flawed and overtrusted, i.e., hardware
  fail-safes (present on prior models) should have
  been in place. (11)

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In conclusion

• How do the theories compare with each other?
• Theyre each applicable in many instances, but
  some are better than others for specific cases.
  Utilitarian guidelines are best when larger
  groups are considered, and duties or rights
  ethics are best used when individuals have a
  strong stake in the decision. Virtue ethics
  should always guide our day to day decisions, on,
  close to, or far away from the drawing board.

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Any Questions?
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Sources and Citations

• 1. Fledderman, Charles B. Engineering Ethics,
  (Pearson Education, 2004)
• 2. Nichomachean Ethics, translated by Terence
  Irwin (Hackett Publishing Company, 1985)
• 3. Kant, Immanuel, translated by James W.
  Ellington 1785. Grounding for the Metaphysics
  of Morals (Hackett Publishing Company, 1993)
• 4.http//www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10633-
  green-light-for-nuclear-fusion-project.html
• 5. Advantages of fusion energy,
  http//www.iter.org
• 6. http//www.eubusiness.com/press/EUPress.2003-11
  -26.3159

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Sources Cont.

• 7. The Big Dig official site, http//www.masspike.
  com/bigdig/index.html
• 8. WIPP official site, http//www.wipp.energy.gov
• 9. The Structural Engineers Standard of Care.
  Joshua B. Kardon, SE. Presented March 1999.
  http//onlineethics.org/cases/kardon.htmlsection3
  
• Some Recent Engineering Ethics Cases.
  http//onlineethics.org/cases/unger.htmlsection4
• An Investigation of the Therac-25 Accidnets.
  Nancy G. Leveson, University of Washington, and
  Clark S. Turner, University of California,
  Irvine. Abstracted by Philip D. Sarin, MIT, 1999.
  http//onlineethics.org/cases/therac25.html