Engineering ethics and justice: How do they relate?

Abstract

Engineering professional societies have revised their ethics statements in recent years to include additional issues such as sustainability and environmental protection that were not in earlier statements. These changes reflect changes in our society and changes in how engineers see their role in society. This paper will examine the issue of justice, and how/whether it should be in engineering ethics codes. One example of this issue was when members in the Engineering Ethics Division were requested to aid ASEE in a revision of its policy on engineering ethics education. We had substantial email discussions about how or whether to put topics such as justice in a society policy. No one argued for an unjust society. However, there was disagreement over whether or not engineers, as engineers, should have this as part of their task. Some proposed that engineers, as citizens, should be concerned with justice, but that it was not part of their task as engineers. Even among engineers who are in agreement that promoting justice is part of their task, there may be very big disagreements as to how to define justice. Some engineers would support a topdown approach, whereby they seek to change government policy on justice issues. Many of those who would use the term "social justice" may fall into this camp. Another approach is a bottom up approach that seeks to work directly to empower poor people by using technology to improve their lives. The author will use examples from his work in developing countries to show how engineers can use their skills with a bottom up approach to make real differences in the lives of poor people. As these people are economically empowered, their health will improve, and they will have the time and energy to work for governmental policy changes in their communities. This approach is consistent with ethics codes which typically hold paramount the health and safety of the public. It is also consistent with a virtue ethics approach to ethics. Virtue ethics emphasizes that we should seek to become good people, and good people will do what they can to help others in need. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education.