How then does an engi- neer decide whether it is ethical to work on a particular product or process?
In designing products and processes, engineers frequently encounter scenarios like the one just described. Nearly everything an engineer designs has some health or safety risk associated with it. Often, as with the case of the weak magnetic fi elds, the exact nature of the hazard is only poorly understood. How then does an engi- neer decide whether it is ethical to work on a particular product or process? What tools are there for an engineer who needs to decide which is the ethically correct path to take?
In this chapter, we will develop analysis and problem-solving strategies to help answer these questions. These techniques will allow us to put ethical problems in the proper perspective and will point us in the direction of the correct solution.
Chapter 4 Ethical Problem-Solving Techniques 57
4.1 INTRODUCTION Now that we have discussed codes of ethics and moral theories, we are ready to tackle the problem of how to analyze and resolve ethical dilemmas when they occur. In solving engineering problems, it is always tempting to look for an appropriate for- mula, plug in the numbers, and calculate an answer. This type of problem-solving approach, while sometimes useful for engineering analysis problems, is less useful for ethical problem solving. There are theories that help us to frame our under- standing of the problem, but there are no formulas and no easy “plug-and-chug” methods for reaching a solution.
In this chapter, we will examine methods for analyzing ethical problems and see how to apply them. Obviously, some problems are easily solved. If you are tempted to embezzle money from your employer, it is clear that this action is steal- ing and is not morally acceptable. However, as mentioned previously, many of the situations encountered by practicing engineers are ambiguous or unclear, involving confl icting moral principles. This is the type of problem for which we will most need analysis and problem-solving methods.How then does an engineer decide whether it is ethical to work on a particular product or process?