THE ORIGINS OF ETHICAL THOUGHT

Before proceeding, it is important to acknowledge in a general way the origins of the ethical philosophies that we will be discussing in this book. The Western ethical thought that is discussed here originated in the philosophy of the ancient Greeks and their predecessors. It has been developed through subsequent centuries by many thinkers in the Judeo–Christian tradition. Interestingly, non-Western cultures have independently developed similar ethical principles.

Although for many individuals, personal ethics are rooted in religious beliefs, this is not true for everyone. Certainly, there are many ethical people who are not religious, and there are numerous examples of people who appear to be religious but who are not ethical. So while the ethical principles that we will discuss come to us fi ltered through a religious tradition, these principles are now cultural norms in the West, and as such, they are widely accepted regardless of their origin. We won’t need to refer explicitly to religion in order to discuss ethics in the engineering profession.

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