ECE390

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ECE390 Ethics, Professionalism and Current
Issues

• Erik D. Goodman
• 2308M Engineering
• goodman_at_egr.msu.edu

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What well 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 well 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 well 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 390Weird guyWho? Why?
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How well study ethics and professionalism

• Your instructor
• Erik D. Goodman, EB2308M, Tel. [phone], email
  goodman_at_egr.msu.edu.
• Class meets Fridays, 910 - 1000pm, EB1234.
• Office Hours MWF 1120-1200 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_at_egr.msu.edu)
  or by showing an excused absence form from the
  Olin Health Center after the absence. The
  Ombudsmans site (http//www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/at
  tendance.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
youll have to write in this class. Theyll 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 youll 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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About referencing/citing

• 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, somebodys 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. MSUs library website has a number of
  books to borrow and Science and Engineering
  Ethics journal on line (as well as others).

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What NOT to do

• 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.

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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 publics 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_at_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 referencese.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. Somebodys 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 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

A 5 people on the track, cant escape trolley B
1 person on the alternate track, cant escape
trolley IF you throw the switch What should you
do? (I.e., what is the ETHICAL or MORAL thing
for you to do?)
YOU
A
B
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A Second Classical Moral Dilemma
A 5 people on the track, cant 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 wouldnt be big enough to do
that. What should you do? (I.e., what is the
ETHICAL or MORAL thing for you to do?)

B
YOU
A
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Stages of Moral Development

• Pre-conventional LevelWhatever benefits oneself
  or avoids punishment
• Conventional LevelUncritical acceptance of
  societys 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
  societys 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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Platos 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?