Fundamentals of Ethics for Scientists and Engineers

This textbook is intended for ethics courses in engineering and science. It can be used either in a one-credit-hour semester course or as a set of drop-in modules in a core engineering or science course. The text avoids a detailed treatment of the ins and outs of philosophical ethics - a complex subject not needed for most ethical judgments. The approach to ethical problem solving used is one that focuses on analysing the consequences rather than ruels to be obeyed in making decisions. An Instructor's Manual will be available; it will offer a set of "cookbook" lectures to greatly reduce preparation time.

Table of Contents:
PREFACE ; UNIT I - FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES ; Chapter 1 - Approaching the Subject of Ehtics ; 1. An example ; 2. The importance of ethics in science and engineering ; 3. Managing ethical discussion ; 4. Philosophy, religion, and ethics ; 5. The existence of right and wrong ; Principle: Certain aspects of right and wrong exist objectively, independed of culture or personal opinion. ; 6. The subject of moral analysis ; 7. The role of codes of ethics ; 8. Real-life Case: Destruction of the Spaceship Challenger ; Chapter 2 - The Person and the Virtues ; 1. Developing a model for the person ; 2. Components of the psyche ; 3. Limitations of the model ; 4. Habits and morals ; 5. The four main virtues ; Principle: People should always decide for and act according to the virtues insofar as possible. ; 6. An example ; 7. A Real-life Case; Toxic Waste at Love Canal ; Chapter 3 - Analyzing Exterior Acts: Some First Steps ; 1. Ethics as a craft ; 2. Disinguishing exterior and interior morality ; 3. Beginning case analysis ; 4. Event trees ; 5. A Real-life Case: Dow Corning Corp. and Breast Implant ; Chapter 4 - Analyzing Exterior Acts: Some First Steps ; 1. Describing intention ; 2. The importance of intention ; 3. Effort and virtues ; Principle: People should try insofar as possible to continue to progress in the moral life. ; 4. The role of benevolence ; 5. A Real-life Case: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment ; 6. Summary of Unit 1 ; 7. Some Words of Caution ; UNIT 2 - RESOLVING ETHICAL CONFLICTS ; Chapter 5 - Toward a Hierarchy of Moral Values ; 1. On selecting principles and methods ; 2. Hierarchies of values: moral and nonmoral ; 3. Linedrawing ; 4. Mathematical analogies ; 5. Ranking the virtues ; 6. A Real-life Case: Scientific Tests using Animals ; Chapter 6 - Starting Moral Judgments: Evaluating Exterior Acts ; 1. A mathematical analogy ; 2. An example ; 3. A Real-life Case: Chemical Disaster at Bhopal ; Chapter 7 - Completing Moral Judgments: the Decisive Role of Intention ; 1. Evaluating interior goodness ; 2. An example ; 3. Balancing interior and exterior goodness ; 4. The "Solomon problem" ; Principle: The obligation to avoid what is bad outweighs the obligation to do what is good. ; 5. Cooperating in the evil of others ; 6. A Real-lfe Case: The Problem of Performance Evaluation - Grade Inflation ; Chapter 8 - Moral Responsibility ; 1. Factors limiting moral responsibility ; 2. Degrees of responsibility ; 3. An example ; 4. The "sainthood" and "devil" problems ; 5. A Real-life Case: Responsibility in Software Engineering ; 6. Summary of Unit 2 ; 7. Some words of caution ; UNIT 3 - JUSTICE: APPLICATIONS ; Chapter 9 - Truth: Person-to-Person ; 1. Truth in actions ; 2. Truth in words ; 3. Harm from deception ; 4. Harm from withholding truth ; 5. Whistleblowing ; 6. Harm from spreading truth ; 7. Privacy ; 8. A Real-lfe Case: Censorship of the Internet ; Chapter 10 - Truth: Social ; 1. Distinctions between science and engineering ; 2. Approach to knowledge in science ; 3. Recognition from scientific publication ; 4. Black and gray in scientific practice ; 5. Approach to knowledge in technology ; 6. Intellectual property ; 7. A Real-lfe Case: Copying Music Illegally using Internet ; Chapter 11 - Fairness: Person-to-Person ; 1. Finding the fairest solution ; 2. Conflict of internet ; 3. Qualitative vs. quantitative fairness ; 4. Credit or blame in team projects ; 5. Authorship questions ; 6. Fairness in supervising ; 7. Fairness in contracting with clients ; 8. A Real-life Case: Problems with Peer Review ; Chatper 12 - Fairness: Social ; 1. Intellectual property and the society ; 2. Environmental issues ; 3. Experts and paternalism ; 4. Social aspects of employment ; 5. A Real-life Case: Environmental Cleanup - Problems with the Superfund ; 6. Summary of Unit 3 ; 7. Some words of caution ; UNIT 4 - ADVANCED TOPICS ; Chapter 13 - Resource Allocation ; 1. What is resource allocation? ; 2. Allocation by merit ; 3. Allocation by social worth ; 4. Allocation by need ; 5. Allocation by ability to pay ; 6. Allocation by equal or random assignment ; 7. Allocation by similarity ; 8. How to decide among methods ; 9. A Real-life Case: Ethical Issues in Affirmative Action ; Chapter 14 - Risk ; 1. A historical perspective ; 2. Defining safety and risk ; 3. Evaluating risk ; 4. Making decisions about risk ; 5. Some general guidelines ; 6. A Real-life Case: Experimental Drug Testing in Humans ; Chapter 15 - Dealing with Differing Ethical Systems ; 1. Differing anthropologies ; 2. Differing principles and methods ; 3. Monism and relativism ; 4. Postmodernism ; 5. True pluralism ; 6. Conclusion ; 7. A Real-life Case: Geological Experiments in Sacred Mountains ; Chapter 16 - Habit and Intuition ; 1. Rationalist approaches to moral action ; 2. Advantages of rationalist approaches ; 3. Problems with rationalist approaches ; 4. Toward a more comprehensive approach to moral behavior ; 5. A Real-life Case; The Ethics of Human Cloning ; 6. Summary of Unit 4 ; 7. Some words of caution