Essays on Engineering Practice Ethics
- Ethical Decisions - Morton Thiokol and the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster.
- By Roger Biosjoly. A background summary of important events leading to the Challenger disaster starting with January, 1985, plus the specifics of the telecon meeting held the night prior to the launch at which an attempt was made to stop the launch by the Morton Thiokol engineers. A detailed account will show why the off-line telecon caucus by Morton Thiokol Management constituted the unethical decision-making forum which ultimately produced the management decision to launch Challenger without any restrictions.
- The 'Killer Robot' Case.
- By Richard G. Epstein. In this hypothetical scenario, a programmer is blamed for the death of an operator of a robot that he designed. The scenario features tongue-in-cheek humor and unexpected twists in plot.
- Optimization, Option Disclosure, and Problem Redefinition: Derivative Moral Obligations of Engineers and the Case of the Composite-Material Bicycle.
- By Robert McGinn. A case study and analysis by Robert McGinn based on a consulting engineer's experience coping with ethical conflicts at work, e.g., a conflict between the duty not to undermine another consulting engineer who has hired him in an attempt to secure a contract to develop a composite material bicycle and the obligation to uphold public safety, and a conflict between directives to heed the problematic work orders of his client's manager and specific obligations to follow good practices derived from the engineer's general obligation to serve the legitimate interests of the client to the best of her or his ability.
- Essays on Engineering and Business Practice
- Essays specifically targeting whistleblowing, moral change, how to give a presentation and ethical behavior in the engineering profession.
- Essays on International Engineering Ethics
- Essays on Engineering Ethics education and experience in Portugal, France, and with respect to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- The Online Ethics Center 1999 International Conference on Ethics in Engineering and Computer Science
- Schedule and linked essays
- Responding to Allegations of Research Misconduct -- A Forum and Symposium, Case, Friday, October 30, 1999
- This symposium examined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity Model Policy for Responding to Allegations of Scientific Misconduct and the Case Western Reserve University policy, which follows the ORI model. Included are the texts of both policies and posted discussion comments ORI on the model.
- Essays on Ethics Support by Professional Societies and on Wrongful and Retaliatory Discharge
- Three essays on wrongful and retaliatory discharge and related links
- An Essay on Ethics Education
- An essay by a member of the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors, a member body of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), describing the need for and the present state of ethics education and testing for professional engineers.
- An Essay on International Standards of Ethics
- A discussion by Vivian Weil of the concept of common morality and the challenges and complexities of establishing international standards of engineering ethics
Related Essays
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- Dishonest Science.
- Philip Campbell, editor of Nature. This article examines the phenomenon, reasons for, and impact of recent scientific misconduct, especially in the biomedical sciences. It briefly examines the response of the scientific community to this misconduct and explains both why the scientific community is particularly susceptible to this kind of behavior and why its internal checking mechanisms do not always work.
- The Ethics of Safety-Critical Systems.
- Bowen, University of Reading. Safety-critical systems require the utmost care in their specification and design to avoid errors in their implementation. To do otherwise is at best unprofessional and at worst can lead to disastrous consequences. Legislation and standards impose external pressures, but education and ethical considerations should help provide more self-imposed guidelines for all those involved in the production of safety-critical systems. This paper considers some of the issues involved, with pointers to material providing greater depth in particular areas, especially with respect to the use of formal methods.
- Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice.
- Office of Scientific and Public Affairs. Guidelines for statisticians to use particularly in the applications of statistical skills to problems where private interests may appropriately affect the development or application of statistical knowledge.
- Sites maintained by others that have essays on Science and Engineering.
- Maintained by Brian Tissue.
Related Journals
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- Abstracts of Articles Published in Science and Engineering Ethics.
- Stephanie J. Bird and Raymond Spier, eds. A multidisciplinary journal exploring ethical issues confronting scientists and engineers.
We welcome suggestions for additions to the Essays Section. We normally post only those articles that have passed some form of peer review. To include essays in the section we maintain, we need permission by the holder of any copyright on the material, and the text in electronic form.