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Personal vs. Corporate Morality 3.3.6 Personal vs. Corporate Morality This is an appropriate place to discuss a tricky issue in engineering ethics: Is there a distinction between the ethics practiced by an individual and the ethics practiced by a corporation? Put another way, can a corporation be a moral agent as an individual can? This […]

As with any ethical theory, it is important to be careful in applying virtue ethics. Problems can arise with words that on the face seem to be virtues, but can actually lead to vices. For example, the concept of “honor” has been around for centuries and is often viewed positively. One sense of the word

Have I acted in a responsible fashion? In many ways, this theory may seem to be mostly personal ethics and not par- ticularly applicable to engineering or professional ethics. However, personal moral- ity cannot, or at any rate should not, be separated from professional morality. If a behavior is virtuous in the individual’s personal life,

Will this action demonstrate loyalty to my community and/or my employer? In many ways, this theory may seem to be mostly personal ethics and not par- ticularly applicable to engineering or professional ethics. However, personal moral- ity cannot, or at any rate should not, be separated from professional morality. If a behavior is virtuous in

However, we can use virtue ethics in our engineering career by answering questions such as: Is this action honest? In many ways, this theory may seem to be mostly personal ethics and not par- ticularly applicable to engineering or professional ethics. However, personal moral- ity cannot, or at any rate should not, be separated from

How can virtue ethics be applied to business and engineering situations? In many ways, this theory may seem to be mostly personal ethics and not par- ticularly applicable to engineering or professional ethics. However, personal moral- ity cannot, or at any rate should not, be separated from professional morality. If a behavior is virtuous in

Virtue Ethics Another important ethical theory that we will consider is virtue ethics. Fundamentally, virtue ethics is interested in determining what kind of people we should be. Virtue is often defi ned as moral distinction and goodness. A virtuous person exhibits good and benefi cial qualities. In virtue ethics, actions are considered right if they

Whose rights are paramount here? priority? Using our previous example of the building of a dam, people have the right to use their property. If their land happens to be in the way of a proposed dam, then rights ethics would hold that this property right is paramount and is suf- fi cient to stop

Duty ethics and rights ethics are really just two different sides of the same coin. Both of these theories achieve the same end: Individual persons must be respected, and actions are ethical that maintain this respect for the individual. In duty ethics, people have duties, an important one of which is to protect the rights

Duty Ethics and Rights Ethics Two other ethical theories—duty ethics and rights ethics—are similar to each other and will be considered together. These theories hold that those actions are good that respect the rights of the individual. Here, good consequences for society as a whole are not the only moral consideration. A major proponent of