Engineering Ethics

UC Santa Cruz – CMPE 80E – Spring 2008

TR 10:00 – 11:45 AM
Kresge 327
http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe080e/Spring08/

SYLLABUS

Instructor: Gene Moriarty

Office: Baskin Engineering Building 157B
Office Phone: 831.459.3691
Email: gene@soe.ucsc.edu
Office Hours: TR 8:45 – 10:00 AM

Text
Gene Moriarty, The Engineering Project: Its Nature, Ethics, and Promise, (referred to
as EP), Penn State University Press, 2008.
Other readings will be available on the WEB or at the course website.

Overview of the course

CMPE80E (Engineering Ethics) looks at engineering ethics in particular and the
engineering project in general in their historical and philosophical contexts. The
course stresses ethical theories and analysis and their application to issues in the
practice of engineering, such as safety and liability, professional responsibility to
clients and employers, codes of ethics, legal obligations, environmental issues, and
social issues. Through the use of case studies, the course emphasizes developing
independent ethical sensitivity and a moral imagination.

Required Skills to pass the course

1. Should be able to critically read and analyze written information, including:
• Critically read descriptions and data for biased information.
• Analyze the information in a written description to identify the factual issues
and conceptual issues, determine the obligations and responsibilities of the
participants, assess the relevant ethical values.
• Based on the ethical analysis, propose possible solutions using an
articulated ethical position/theory.
2. Should be able to form an opinion based on a reasoned ethical position. This
opinion must be supported with facts and evidence to further the weight of the
opinion being expressed.
3. Show development of an awareness of the ethical component of daily engineering
decisions.

Core Topics
1. Ethical Theories and Analysis
• Virtue Ethics
• Process Ethics
• Material Ethics
2. Safety, risk, and liability
3. Professionalism
• Responsibility to clients

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 • Responsibility to employers
• Work place issues
4. Codes of Ethics
• ACM
• IEEE
5. Legal Obligations
• Whistle blowing
• Intellectual Property
• Professional Integrity
6. Environmental Ethics
7. Social Impact of Technology
8. Engineering and Sustainable Development

Evaluation Criteria
A Class participation and in-class writing and group exercises,
homework assignments and responses. 40%
B Research Exercise 1 (minimum 1000 words, 3-5 pages D.S.) 20%
C Research Exercise 2 (minimum 1000 words, 3-5pages) D.S.) 20%
D Final Exam 20%
TOTAL 100%

Course Schedule
Almost every week we will have
1) readings
2) an in-class writing exercise (½ page, 125 words),
3) an in-class group exercise (forming into small groups of 4-5 students, discuss
a handout from the literature and have the group’s spokesperson report to the class,
with each student having the opportunity to report at least once during the quarter),
4) a take-home writing exercise (1 page, 250 words) assigned on Thursday and
due the following Tuesday.

Feedback regarding form and content will be provided on all the writing assignments
in an on-going fashion.

Week 1 – Introduction and Overview

Goal: to introduce myself and have you do the same / to consider the micro and
macro perspectives on the engineering project and the three types of ethics to be
looked at in this class / to discuss case studies in engineering ethics and to have a
half-page in-class written response to a case study.
Readings due: none.
Assignments (due next week): read EP Introduction / read the essay “Three
Kinds of Ethics for Three Kinds of Engineering,” Moriarty, Gene, IEEE Technology and
Society Magazine, 2001 / write (type) a one-pager applying ideas from this essay
and from the class toward the ethical assessment of a case study (to be handed
out).

Week 2 – Ethics Video and Case Study Analysis

Goal: to present a case study video (Incident at Morales) in dramatized form and
have you analyze the ethical issues involved and write a ½ page in-class response to
these issues via the three types of ethics (one question to answer is at what point in
the video did ethics issues first arise?) / to have an in-class group exercise.

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Readings (due this week): EP Introduction and Moriarty essay
Assignments (due next week): EP Chapter 1 (Process) / read the essay
“Engineering Ethics and Political Imagination,” Winner, Langdon, Broad and Narrow
Interpretations of Philosophy of Technology, P. T. Durbin (ed.), 1990 / write a one-
page critique of what Winner has to say about the use of Case Studies in engineering
ethics classes / Research Exercise #1 will be assigned for which details will be
provided (due in 3 weeks).

Week 3 – Professionalism and Processes of the Engineering Project

Goal: to discuss and critique Winner’s position on engineering ethics / to discuss the
fundamental constituents of the process of the modern engineering enterprise:
engineering science, engineering design, and engineering professionalism / to
understand and discuss the fundamental elements of a profession and how
engineering can be taken as a profession / to appreciate the need for a profession to
embrace a sense of obligation and thereby be guided by a system of ethics / to have
an in-class group exercise / to have a half-page in-class written response to course
material.
Readings (due this week): the Winner essay / EP Chapter 1 (Process).
Assignment (due next week): EP Chapter 2 (Process Ethics) / read the essays
“The Public Health, Safety and Welfare,” McFarland, Michael, IEEE Technology and
Society Magazine, 1986 and “Ethical Considerations in Engineering Design
Processes,” van Gorp and van de Poel, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 2001
/ write a one page discussing how protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the
public is both necessary and sufficient for engineers to be true professionals.

Week 4 – Engineering Codes and Process Ethics

Goal: to understand the rather long-winded ACM Code of Ethics and the succinct
IEEE Code / to show how these codes can be applied to case studies / to understand
fundamental ethical theories like deontology and consequentialism / to show how
these theories are embedded in codes of ethics / to appreciate the need to embrace
the health, safety, and welfare of society as paramount / to have an in-class group
exercise / to have a half-page in-class written response to course material.
Readings (due this week): EP Chapter 2 (Process Ethics) / the essays assigned
last week.
Assignment (due next week): read the essays “Rules, Ethics and Morals in
Engineering Education,” Vesilind, P. Aarne, Engineering Education, 1988 and “Ethics,
Engineering and Sustainable Development,” Manion, Mark, IEEE Technology and
Society Magazine, 2002 / no writing home work because the RE #1 is due next
week.

Week 5 – Further Discussion of Process Ethics

Goal: to understand how the value of health & safety operates within the process
ethics framework / to understand how the value of environmental sustainability
operates within the process ethics framework / to understand how the value of social
justice operates within the process ethics framework / to have an in-class group
exercise / to write a half-page in-class response to course material / to hand in
Research Exercise #1.
Readings (due this week): the essays assigned last week.
Assignment (due next week): read EP Chapters 3 and 6 and the “Notes on
Habermas” as well as the short book review “What Else Is New?” Shapin, Steven,
The New Yorker, 2007 (hand-out) / write one page explaining your understanding of
the difference between Technological Determinism and Social Constructionism.

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Week 6– The Shift from a Micro View to a Macro View and Back
Goal: to understand the Technological Determinism vs. Social Constructionism
debate / to understand the contextualization and colonization distinction / to discuss
the shift from process in the modern engineering enterprise to person in the pre-
modern engineering endeavor / to have an in-class group exercise / to write a half-
page in-class response to course material.
Readings (due this week): EP Chapters 3 and 6 and the essays assigned last
week.
Assignments (due next week): read EP Chapters 4 and 5 / read the web essay
“Harnessing Corporate Power to Heal the Planet” by Lovins and Lovins / read the
essay “Platonic Virtue Theory and Business Ethics,” Klein, Sherwin, Business &
Professional Ethics Journal, 1989 / write one page explaining the relevance of the
Platonic system of ethics for the modern engineering enterprise.
Research Exercise #2 will be assigned to be due in 3 weeks.

Week 7 – The Person of the Engineer and Virtue Ethics

Goal: to understand who the engineer is, her or his personality and character / to
understand the structures of being-toward, being-with, and being-for grounding the
virtues of objectivity, honesty, and care / to have an in-class group exercise / to
write a half-page in-class response to course material.
Readings (due this week): EP chapters 4 and 5 / the essays assigned last week.
Assignments (due next week): read “A Different Voice by Carol Gilligan” essay
and write a one page “Meta-essay” which will contain a summary of her stance
against Kohlberg (details will be provided) / read EP Chapter 7 (Product).

Week 8 – Products of the Engineering Process

Goal: to understand what the products of the engineering process are / how these
products can be Focal Products / to inquire about these systems, services,
structures, devices, organisms, and networks which are being let loose upon the
planet: are they good products? Do they fulfill and engage our lives in a deep and
meaningful manner? / to have an in-class group exercise / to write a half-page in-
class response to course material.
Readings (due this week): EP Chapter 7 (Product) and the Gilligan essay.
Assignments (due next week): EP chapters 8 and 9 (Material Ethics and
Balance) / read McKibben, Bill, “Reversal of Fortune,” Mother Jones, 2007 and
Borgmann, Albert, “The Moral Significance of Material Culture,” in his collection of
essays Power Failure, 2006 (hand-out) / no writing home work because the RE #2 is
due next week.

Week 9 – Material Ethics

Goal: to understand how the idea of The Good, which focal products strive for,
invokes a wider context which might include political, cultural, and spiritual
dimensions / case studies on the cell phone and RFID devices / to understand
material ethics of the product / to understand the different kinds of harmony:
engagement, enlivenment, and resonance / to be able to relate these to product,
world, and end-user / to have an in-class group exercise / to write a half-page in-
class response to course material / to hand in Research Exercise #2.
Readings (due this week): EP Chapters 8 and 9 and the essays assigned last
week.
Assignments (due next week): read the essay “Amish Technology,” Wetmore,
Jameson, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 2007 and write a one pager about
how Amish practices and products are focal / read the essay “The Good Life in a

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Technological World: Focal Things and Practices in the West and in Japan’” Topi
Heikkero, Technology in Society, 2005.

Week 10 – Further Discussion of Material Ethics

Goal: to understand how engineers can satisfy the tenets of virtue ethics and
engineering can satisfy the tenets of process ethics but the engineered product can
still be ethically problematic / to deepen our understanding of the material ethics of
the product via examples / to understand the balance that we seek in focally
engineered products / to compare the Quality of Life with the Standard of Living / to
consider the distinction between wealth and affluence / to have an in-class group
exercise / to write a half-page in-class response to course material / to review for
the FINAL.
Readings (due this week): Heikkero essay and the Wetmore essay.
Assignments (due next week): prepare for final exam.

Final exam: ten one-paragraph answer essay questions (bring BLUE BOOK).

Grading Information:
90% and above A
80% - 90% B
70% - 80% C
60% - 70% D
below 60% F

University-Based Ethics Resources on the Web

See the following web sites for more materials on engineering ethics and
professionalism:
The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science: http://onlineethics.org/
National Institute for Engineering Ethics: http://www.niee.org/
Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at IIT: http://ethics.iit.edu/
Association for Practical and Professional Ethics at IU:
http://www.indiana.edu/~appe/
IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee:
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/committee/emcc/
IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/andrews/projects/ssit/ungercom.shtml
Texas A&M Univ. engineering ethics: http://ethics.tamu.edu/
NSF Workshops, Teaching Ethics and Computing, K. Bowyer, Univ. Notre Dame:
http://www.cse.nd.edu/~kwb/nsf-ufe/index.html
NSPE Board of Ethical Review: http://www.nspe.org/ethics/eh1-whb.asp
Ethics Officer Association: http://www.eoa.org/
Journal, "Science and Engineering Ethics": http://www.opragen.co.uk/SEE/
The WEB cite for Computer Ethics at http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/

Academic Integrity and Social Integrity

UCSC’s policy on Academic Integrity:
http://www.ucsc.edu/academics/academic_integrity/
Please read this policy fully.

Disability Resource Center (DRC)

If you qualify for classroom accommodations because of a disability, please submit
your Accommodation Authorization from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to me

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during my office hours in a timely manner, preferably within the first two weeks of
the quarter. Contact DRC at 459-2089 (voice), 459-4806 (TTY)

Course Policy on Social Integrity

This course will require a lot of thought, reactions and discussions. You will be asked
to do readings and discuss and critique the readings. You will have in and out of
class discussions. The goal is to empower you with a set of ethical standards to help
you make decisions as engineers. We want you to get used to standing up for what
you think is correct. But – and this is important – personal opinion is not enough in
this class. You must be able to provide and state a reasoned and supported position,
not your personal opinion. To this end strong discussions are expected and hoped
for. However there is a line of acceptable behavior, when discussing anything. You
are responsible for your conduct in class and out regardless of circumstances.
Actions of disrespect or intolerance towards anyone are unacceptable in any
academic or professional setting. Discrimination on the basis of age, creed, ethnicity,
gender, political views, religion or sexual orientation will not be allowed and will be
dealt with appropriately. You can disagree with a person’s view; you can argue that
the ethical basis on which they make their decisions is wrong. But you must do it
within the norms of academic discourse and be civil about it.