How might Confucian ethics inform our decision making as engineers?
First, its emphasis on virtues and the importance of leading a virtuous life speaks very directly to the engineering profession especially in terms of integrity, honesty, and other core values of engineers. It also speaks toward ensuring that we do not harm others by our actions. In its sense of the interdependence of individual and group rights, Confucianism speaks to the need for engineers to balance respect for individuals with the needs of society in making design decisions.
3.4.2 Indian Ethics The philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent are the oldest surviving written philosophical systems in human civilization. Discussing Indian philosophy and Indian ethics are made very diffi cult by the diversity and richness of the various cultures that make up the modern nation of India, each with its own literature and philosophical background. Indian philosophical and ethical thinking have their origins in the ancient texts known as the Vedas, further developed through the Upanishads, Jainism, Buddhism, and also expressed in the Bhagavad-Gita. These ancient traditions continue to inform current philosophical thinking in India, though more contemporary thinkers such as Tagore, Gandhi, and Nehru have adapted these traditions to the modern world [ Sharma and Daugert, 1965 ].
Indian philosophy and ethics, like many other non-Western philosophies, focuses less on the theoretical and intellectual aspects of philosophy, and more on the practical and the spiritual. “Indian ethics, instead of analyzing the nature of good, lays down practical means of attaining a life of perfection . . .” [ Sharma and