Ethical ideas were continually refi ned during the course of history.
Many great thinkers have turned their attention to ethics and morals and have tried to provide insight into these issues through their writings. For example, philosophers such as Locke, Kant, and Mill wrote about moral and ethical issues. The thinking of these philosophers is especially important for our study of engineering ethics, since they did not rely on religion to underpin their moral thinking. Rather, they acknowledged that moral principles are universal, regardless of their origin, and are applicable even in secular settings.
Chapter 3 Understanding Ethical Problems 39
Many of the moral principles that we will discuss have also been codifi ed and handed down through the law. So, in discussing engineering ethics, there is a large body of thinking—philosophical, legal, and religious—to draw from. However, even though there are religious and legal origins of many of the moral principles that we will encounter in our study of engineering ethics, it is important to acknowledge that ethical conduct is fundamentally grounded in a concern for other people. It is not just about law or religion.
3.3 ETHICAL THEORIES In order to develop workable ethical problem-solving techniques, we must fi rst look at several theories of ethics in order to have a framework for decision making. Ethical problem solving is not as cut and dried as problem solving in engineering classes. In most engineering classes, there is generally just one theory to consider when tackling a problem. In studying engineering ethics, there are several theories that will be considered. The relatively large number of theories doesn’t indicate a weakness in theoretical understanding of ethics or a “fuzziness” of ethical thinking. Rather, it refl ects the complexity of ethical problems and the diversity of approaches to ethical problem solving that have been developed over the centuries.
Having multiple theories to apply actually enriches the problem-solving pro- cess, allowing problems to be looked at from different angles, since each theory stresses different aspects of a problem. Even though we will use multiple theories to examine ethical problems, each theory applied to a problem will not necessarily lead to a different solution. Frequently, different theories yield the same solution. Our basic ethical problem-solving technique will utilize different theories and approaches to analyze the problem and then try to determine the best solution.