How can we decide if on balance the economic benefit brought by this plant outweighed the potential safety hazards?
In late 1984, a pressure-relief valve on a tank used to store methyl isocyanate (MIC) at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, accidentally opened. MIC is a poisonous compound used in the manufacture of pesticides. When the valve opened, MIC was released from the tank, and a cloud of toxic gas formed over the area surrounding the plant. Unfortunately, this neighborhood was very densely populated. Some two thou- sand people were killed, and thousands more were injured as a result of the accident. Many of the injured have remained permanently disabled.
The causes of the accident are not completely clear, but there appear to have been many contributing factors. Pipes in the plant were misconnected, and essential safety systems were either broken or had been taken off-line for maintenance. The effects of the leak were intensifi ed by the presence of so many people living in close proximity to the plant.
Among the many important issues this case brings up are questions of balancing risk to the local community with the economic benefi ts to the larger community of the state or nation. Undoubtedly, the presence of this chemical plant brought signifi – cant local economic benefi t. However, the accident at the plant also brought disaster to the local community at an enormous cost in human lives and suffering. How can we decide if on balance the economic benefi t brought by this plant outweighed the potential safety hazards?
After reading this chapter, you will be able to • Discuss several ethical
theories
• See how these theories can be applied to engineering situations.
Objectives
Understanding Ethical Problems 3
C H A P T E R
38 3.2 A Brief History of Ethical Thought
In order to answer this question and analyze other engineering ethics cases, we need a framework for analyzing ethical problems. Codes of ethics can be used as an aid in analyzing ethical issues. In this chapter, we will examine moral theories and see how they can also be used as a means for analyzing ethical cases such as the Bhopal disaster.
3.1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter, we will develop moral theories that can be applied to the ethical problems confronted by engineers. Unfortunately, a thorough and in-depth discus- sion of all possible ethical theories is beyond the scope of this text. Rather, some important theories will be developed in suffi cient detail for use in analyzing cases.
Our approach to ethical problem solving will be similar to problem-solving strat- egies in other engineering classes. To learn how to build a bridge, you must fi rst learn the basics of physics and then apply this knowledge to engineering statics and dynamics. Only when the basic understanding of these topics has been acquired can problems in structures be solved and bridges built. Similarly, in ethical problem solv- ing, we will need some knowledge of ethical theory to provide a framework for understanding and reaching solutions in ethical problems. In this chapter, we will develop this theoretical framework and apply it to an engineering case. We will begin by looking at the origins of Western ethical thinking.