PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

AND HUMAN VALUES

S.Vijayalakshmi
18.1.11
 Sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked
business people, "What does ethics
mean to you?"
 Among their replies were the following:

"Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell

me is right or wrong."
What is ethics?

 "Ethics has to do with my religious

beliefs."
What is ethics?

 "Being ethical is doing what the law

requires."
What is ethics?

 "Ethics consists of the standards of

behavior our society accepts."
What is ethics?

 "I don't know what the word means."

MORALITY VS ETHICS

 Often used interchangeably

 Morality – more general and prescriptive

IMMORAL VS UNETHICAL

 immoral stems from one’s character

 Unethical is sometimes due to

circumstances
What are values?

 Courage

 Beauty

 Honesty

 Compassion…….
VALUES

 Can values change from time to time?

VALUES

 CAN CHANGE FROM TIME TO TIME

 CAN CHANGE FROM CULTURE TO

CULTURE
VALUES

 Where are values derived from?

VALUES DERIVED FROM

 ENVIRONMENT
 SELF
 SOCIETY
 CULTURE
 HUMAN EXISTENCE
 OUR EXPERIENCES
HUMAN VALUES

 Essentially social products

 At the same time involve individual’s

goals and purposes in this social milieu
 ENGINEERING ETHICS

 What is engineering ethics?

 ENGINEERING ETHICS

 The study of the moral issues and

decisions confronting individuals and
organizations engaged in engineering

 The study of related questions about the

moral ideals, character, policies, and
relationships of people and corporations
involved in technological activity.
 ENGINEERING ETHICS

 SENSES
 ETHICS is an activity and area of inquiry
 Ethical is different from non moral

 Sometimes refers to a particular set of

beliefs, attitudes, and habits e.g ethics of
Martin Luther King
VARIETY OF MORAL ISSUES

 Name a few engineering disasters

 Challenger Explosion
 Accidents
 Chernobyl
 Three Mile Island

 Chemical plant at Bhopal

 Exxon Valdez oil spill

These reached us coz of media but what

about other cases?
ENGINEERING ETHICS

 MICRO ETHICS
 Typical everyday problems that can take
significant proportions in an engineer’s life

 MACRO ETHICS
 Societal problems that are often shunted
aside until they resurface on a regional or
national scale
WHERE AND HOW DO MORAL
PROBLEMS ARISE?

 ACTIVITY – pg 6
VARIOUS STAGES

 Conception
 Design and manufacture
 Testing
 Sales
 Service
 These examples show how ethical
problems arise
 Most often when there are differences of
judgment or expectations as to what
constitutes the true state of affairs or
 Proper course of action