Essays on Science and Engineering Ethics
Science and Engineering Ethics Essays
- 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.
- Professionalism in Computing: A Web-based Learning System
- By John A. Lee. This paper describes a highly interactive Web-based, active-learning system that is a highly developed work-in-progress to develop a digital library for a Computer Science course studying social impact and computer ethics.
Related Essays Maintained by Others (Will open a new browser)
- 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. J. P. 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 method.
- 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.
Journals (Will open a new browser)
- 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.
- Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics, (EJAIB)
- Darry Macer, ed. This site provides access to the journal contents and the papers in each journal as well as an opportunity to submit papers relating to Asian and International bioethics.
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.