William LeMessurier and the 59-Story Crisis William LeMessurier, structural consultant on New York City's Citicorp Tower, must take responsibility to correct design flaws that could lead to the building's collapse.
Help on Ethical Decisions The following is an Ethics quick test to help with those difficult decisions. Some decisions are easy to make. Others leave that feeling of uncertainty to make us question our decision. This test provides seven checks to examine with caution the ethical implications of your decisions.
A Personal Responsibilty for Sensitivity The damage done by targeted inappropriate comments, and imprudent acts can be significant. Sensitivity is a personal responsibility and cannot be dictated by law.
Building on a Premature Claim: A Cautionary Tale You see a very interesting conference article that sketched the proof of the "Sledgehammer Theorem". Using this powerful theorem, you write a journal article proving an important new result. You develop doubts about the proof after you submit your article. When you try proving it yourself, you cannot. Is there anything you can do now?
General Moral Imperatives The following principles concerning the quality of life of all people affirm an obligation to protect fundamental human rights and to respect the diversity of all culture.
Relevant Literature on this Topic
Whitbeck, Caroline. 1998. Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research. New York: Cambridge University Press. Other keywords for this article: preferences vs. values; negligence; trust, distrust; ambiguity; moral ambiguity; responsibilities, general; professional responsibility; public safety; worker safety; laboratory safety; design process; engineering competence; environmental issues, global; environmental issues, chemical; conflict of interest; ethical codes and guidelines from professional societies; harassment, sexual harassment and aggression; workplace relationships; research misconduct; falsification and fabrication; plagiarism; authorship; human subjects in research; animals in scientific research.
Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr. and Allen Webb, "Business Ethics: A View from the Trenches," California Management Review 3 (Winter 1995): 8-28. Other keywords for this: ethical codes and guidelines from professional societies; professional responsibility; professional advice; ethics support; corporate ethics.
Stanley H. Goldstein and Robert A. Rubin, "Engineering Ethics," Civil Engineering (October 1996): 41-4. Other keywords for this: public safety; professional responsibility; negligence; trust, distrust.
John M. Staudenmeier, sj, The Politics and Ethics of Engineering (in press with pilot-project version for use in NSF-supported Greenfield Coalition ethics component at Focus: Hope, Detroit, MI). Other keywords for this: lying, deception; self-deception; moral ambiguity; pedagogy and the use of cases in teaching; incompetent superiors; professional responsibility; consulting relationships; professional societies; ethics support; workplace relationships; communication; research and cultural diversity; research misconduct; whistleblowing; research integrity; correcting errors in databases.
Christelle Didier, "L'aÈrotrain ou la tragÈdie de Jean Bertin," in Christelle Didier, Annie Gireaux-Geneaux, and Bertrand HÈriard Dubreuil. Ethique industrielle: Textes pour un dÈbat, Editions De Boeck universitÈ, Bruxelles, 1998, pp. 323-337. Other keywords for this: self-deception; ethics and economics; ambiguity; invention.