Module II- Engineering Ethics & Professionalism

CO2: Summarize theories and models that aid to follow an ethical life (U)
 Senses of Engineering Ethics, Variety of moral issues and Types of inquiry
 Moral dilemmas –Moral Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory- Gilligan’s theory
 Consensus and Controversy
 Profession and Professionalism
 Models of professional roles
 Theories about right action –Self interest-Customs and Religion
 Uses of Ethical Theories

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Engineering Ethics is the activity and discipline aimed at
(a) understanding the moral values that ought to guide engineering profession
or practice,
(b) resolving moral issues in engineering, and
(c) justifying the moral judgments in engineering.
It deals with set of moral problems and issues connected with engineering.
 Engineering ethics is defined by the codes and standards of conduct
endorsed by engineering (professional) societies with respect to the
particular set of beliefs, attitudes and habits displayed by the individual or
group.

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Another important goal of engineering ethics
 Is the discovery of the set of justified moral principles of obligation, rights
and ideals that ought to be endorsed by the engineers and apply them to
concrete situations.
Engineering is the largest profession and the decisions and actions of
engineers affect all of us in almost all areas of our lives, namely public
safety, health, and welfare.

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 Approach
 There are conventionally two approaches in the study of ethics:
1. Micro-ethics which deals with decisions and problems of individuals,
professionals, and companies.
2. Macro-ethics which deals with the societal problems on a
regional/national level. For example, global issues, collective
responsibilities of groups such as professional societies and consumer
groups.

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Scope

• The scope of engineering ethics are twofold:

1. Ethics of the workplace which involves the co-workers and employees in
an organization.
2. Ethics related to the product or work which involves the transportation,
warehousing, and use, besides the safety of the end product and the
environment outside the factory.

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 1. Senses of Engineering Ethics
• There are two different senses (meanings) of engineering ethics
1. Normative and 2. Descriptive senses.
The normative sense include:
(a) Knowing moral values, finding accurate solutions to moral problems and
justifying moral judgments in engineering practices,
(b) Study of decisions, policies, and values that are morally desirable in the
engineering practice and research, and
(c) Using codes of ethics and standards and applying them in their transactions
by engineers.
The descriptive sense refers to what specific individual or group of engineers
believe and act, without justifying their beliefs or actions

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 Variety of moral issues

The reasons for people including the employer and employees, behaving
unethically may be classified into three categories.
1. Resource Crunch/ limitation
 Due to pressure, through time limits, availability of money or budgetary
constraints, and technology decay or obsolescence (outdated).
Pressure from the government to complete the project in time (e.g., before
the elections),
Reduction in the budget because of sudden war or natural calamity (e.g.,
Tsunami) and
Obsolescence due technology innovation by the competitor lead to
manipulation and unsafe and unethical execution of projects.

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2. Opportunity

(a) Behavior of the employers towards the employees and the public.
(b)Management projecting their own interests more than that of their employees.
Some organizations over-emphasize short-term gains and results at the expense
of themselves and others,
(c) Emphasis on results and gains at the expense of the employees, and
(d)Management by objectives, without focus on empowerment and
improvement of the infrastructure.
This is best encountered by developing policies that allow ‘conscience keepers’
and whistle blowers and appointing ombudsman, who can work confidentially
with people to solve the unethical problems internally.
3. Attitude: Poor attitude of the employees set in due to

(a) Low morale of the employees because of dissatisfaction and downsizing,

(b) Absence of grievance redressal mechanism,
(c) Lack of promotion or career development policies or denied promotions,
(d) Lack of transparency,
(e) Absence of recognition and reward system, and
(f) Poor working environments.
To promote positive attitudes
among employees
Give ethics training for all,
Recognize ethical conduct in work place,
Include ethics in performance appraisal, and
Encourage open discussion on ethical issues

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TYPES OF INQUIRIES
The three types of inquiries, in solving ethical problems are: normative inquiry, conceptual
inquiry, and factual or descriptive inquiry.

1. Normative Inquiry

It seeks to identify and justify the morally-desirable norms or standards that should guide
individuals and groups.

It also has the theoretical goal of justifying particular moral judgments.

Normative questions are about what ought to be and what is good, based on moral values.

Eg: How far does the obligation of engineers to protect public safety extend in any given
situation?
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2. Conceptual Inquiry
• It is directed to clarify the meaning of concepts or ideas or principles that
are expressed by words or by questions and statements.

• For example,

(a) What is meant by safety? (b) How is it related to risk?

(c) What is a bribe? (d) What is a profession?

• When moral concepts are discussed, normative and conceptual issues are
closely interconnected.

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 3. Factual or Descriptive Inquiry
It is aimed to obtain facts needed for understanding and resolving value issues.
Researchers conduct factual inquiries using mathematical or statistical
techniques.

The inquiry provide important information on business realities, engineering

practice, and the effectiveness of professional societies in fostering moral
conduct, the procedures used in risk assessment, and psychological profiles of
engineers.

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 3. Factual or Descriptive Enquiry
• The facts provide not only the reasons for moral problems but also enable us
to develop alterative ways of resolving moral problems.

• For example,

1. How were the benefits assessed?

2. What are procedures followed in risk assessment?

3. What are short-term and long-term effects of drinking water being

polluted? And

4. Who conducted the tests on materials? 14

2. MORAL DILEMMA
Dilemmas are situations in which moral reasons come into conflict, or in which
the application of moral values are problems, and one is not clear of the
immediate choice or solution of the problems.

Moral reasons could be rights, duties, goods or obligations. These situations do

not mean that things had gone wrong, but they only indicate the presence of
moral complexity.

This makes the decision making complex. For example, a person promised to
meet a friend and dine, but he has to help his uncle who is involved in an
accident — one has to fix the priority. 15
MORAL DILEMMA
• There are some difficulties in arriving at the solution to the moral problems, in
dilemma.

• The three complex situations leading to moral dilemmas are:

1. The problem of vagueness: One is unable to distinguish between good and

bad (right or wrong) principle.
 Good means an action that is obligatory.

 For example, code of ethics specifies that one should obey the laws and follow
standards. Refuse bribe or accept the gift, and maintain confidentiality. 16
MORAL DILEMMA
2. The problem of conflicting reasons: One is unable to choose between two
good moral solutions. One has to fix priority, through knowledge or value
system.

3. The problem of disagreement: There may be two or more solutions and

none of them mandatory. These solutions may be better or worse in some
respects but not in all aspects. One has to interpret, apply different morally
reasons, and analyze and rank the decisions. Select the best suitable, under
the existing and the most probable conditions
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 Steps to Solve Moral Dilemma
The logical steps in confronting moral dilemma are:

1. Identification of the moral factors and reasons. The clarity to identify the
relevant moral values from among duties, rights, goods and obligations is
obtained (conceptual inquiry). The most useful resource in identifying
dilemmas in engineering is the professional codes of ethics, as interpreted by
the professional experience.

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Steps to Solve Moral Dilemma
2. Collection of all information, data, and facts (factual inquiry) relevant to the
situation.

3. Rank the moral options i.e., priority in application through value system:
acceptable, not acceptable, damaging, and most damaging etc.

• For example, in fulfilling responsibility, the codes give prime importance to

public safety and protection of the environment, as compared to the
individuals or the employers .

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Steps to Solve Moral Dilemma
4. Generate alternate courses of action to resolve the dilemma. Write down the
main options and sub-options as a matrix or decision tree to ensure that all
options are included.

5. Discuss with colleagues and obtain their perspectives, priorities, and

suggestions on various alternatives, who can focus or narrow down the choice of
values.

6. Decide upon a final course of action, based on priority fixed or assumed. If

there is no ideal solution, we arrive at a partially satisfactory solution.
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 MORAL AUTONOMY
• Moral autonomy is defined as, decisions and actions exercised on the basis of
moral concern for other people and recognition of good moral reasons.
Alternatively, moral autonomy means ‘self determinant or independent’.

• The autonomous people hold moral beliefs and attitudes based on their critical
reflection rather than on passive adoption of the conventions of the society or
profession.

• Moral autonomy may also be defined as a skill and habit of thinking rationally
about the ethical issues, on the basis of moral concern.
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MORAL AUTONOMY
Viewing engineering as social experimentation will promote autonomous
participation and retain one’s professional identity.
Periodical performance appraisals, tight-time schedules and fear of foreign
competition threatens this autonomy.
The attitude of the management should allow liberty in the judgments of their
engineers on moral issues.

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MORAL AUTONOMY
• If management views profitability is more important than consistent quality and
retention of the customers that discourage the moral autonomy, engineers are
compelled to seek the support from their professional societies and outside
organizations for moral support.

• It appears that the blue-collar workers with the support of the union can adopt
better autonomy than the employed professionals.

• Only recently the legal support has been obtained by the professional societies in
exhibiting moral autonomy by professionals in our country as well as in the West

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 THE ENGINEERING SKLLS RELATED TO MORAL AUTONOMY

1. Proficiency in recognizing moral problems in engineering and ability to

distinguish as well as relate them to problems in law, economics, and religion,
2. Skill in comprehending/understanding, clarifying, and critically-assessing
arguments on different aspects of moral issues,
3. Ability to form consistent and comprehensive view points based on facts,
4. Awareness of alternate responses to the issues and creative solutions for
practical difficulties.

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THE ENGINEERING SKLLS RELATED TO MORAL AUTONOMY

5. Sensitivity to genuine difficulties and keen observations, including

willingness to undergo and tolerate some uncertainty while making
decisions,
6. Using rational dialogue in resolving moral conflicts and developing
tolerance of different perspectives among morally reasonable people, and
7. Maintaining moral integrity.

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 MORAL AUTONOMY
 Autonomy which is the independence in making decisions and actions, is
different from authority.
 Authority provides freedom for action, specified within limits, depending on
the situation.
 Moral autonomy and respect for authority can coexist. They are not against
each other.
 If the authority of the engineer and the moral autonomy of the operator are
in conflict, a consensus/agreement is obtained by the two, upon discussion
and mutual understanding their limits.

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MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORIES
• Two important moral development theories are
1. Lawrence Kohlberg Theory
2. Carol Gilligan’s Theory

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1.Kohlberg Theory
• Kohlberg suggested there are three levels of moral development based on
the type of reasoning and motivation of the individuals, in response to moral
questions, namely
1. Pre-conventional,
2. Conventional, and
3. Post-conventional
 In the pre-conventional level, right conduct for an individual is regarded as
whatever directly benefits oneself.
At this level, individuals are motivated by obedience or the desire to avoid
punishment or to satisfy their own needs (self interest). All young children
exhibit this tendency.

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 Kohlberg Theory
 At the conventional level, people respect the law and authority.
 Rules and norms of one’s family or group or society is accepted, as the
standard of morality.
 Individuals in this level want to please or satisfy, and get approval by others
and to meet the expectations of the society, rather than their self interest
(e.g., good boy, good girl).
 Loyalty is regarded as most important. Many adults do not go beyond this
level.

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Kohlberg Theory
At the post-conventional level, people are called autonomous.
They think originally and want to live by universally good principles and welfare
of others.
They have no self-interest. They live by principled conscience.
They follow the golden rule, “Treat other people with the concern and
kindness you would like them to show toward you”.
They maintain moral integrity, self-respect and respect for others.
Kohlberg believed that individuals could only progress through these stages,
one stage at a time.
He believed that most of the moral development occurs through social
interactions.
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 Gilligan’s Theory
Carol Gilligan found that Kohlberg’s theory had a strong male bias.
According to Gilligan’s studies, men had a tendency to solve problems by
applying diverse moral principles.
Men were found to resolve moral dilemma by choosing the most important
moral rule, overriding other rules.
In contrast, women gave importance to preserve personal relationships with all
the people involved.
The context oriented emphasis on maintaining personal relationships was
called the ethics of care, in contrast with the ethics of rules and rights adopted
by men.

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 Gilligan’s Theory
Gilligan revised the three levels of moral development of Kohlberg, as stages of
growth towards ethics of caring.
The pre-conventional level, which is same as that of Kohlberg’s first one, right
conduct, is viewed in a selfish manner solely as what is good for oneself.
The second level called conventional level, the importance is on not hurting
others, and willing to sacrifice one’s own interest and help others. This is the
characteristic feature of women.
At the post-conventional level, a reasoned balance is found between caring
about others and pursuing the self-interest.
The balance one’s own need and the needs of others, is aimed while
maintaining relationship based on mutual caring.
This is achieved by context-oriented reasoning, rather than by hierarchy of rules.
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 CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
Kohlberg Theory Gilligan Theory

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3. Consensus and Controversy
 Consensus means agreement and controversy means conflict/disagreement.
 The consensus and the controversies are playing the vital roles while
considering the moral autonomy.
 When an individual exercises the moral autonomy, he cannot get the same
results as others get in applying moral autonomy.
 Surely there must be some moral differences i.e. the results or verdicts will be
of controversy.
 This kind of disagreements is unavoidable. These disagreements require some
tolerances among individuals those who are autonomous, reasonable and
responsible.

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Consensus and Controversy
• As per the principle of tolerance, the goal of teaching engineering ethics is not
merely producing an agreed conformity on applying moral principles among
engineers but also to reveal the ways of promoting tolerances to apply moral
autonomy.
• Both the goals of engineering ethics and the goals of engineering courses have
some similarities.
• These similarities have to be extended with the help of exercising authority.
For example, in the class room, the teachers are having the authority over
students and in the work place, the managers are having the authority over
engineers.

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Consensus and Controversy
The relationship between authority and autonomy is explained by taking a class
room example.
If a professor who is autonomous give respect to the authority /management and
accepts the education system, comes to the class.
If the student unfortunately is not autonomous, he/she do not accept it and some
deviation from the authority occurs.
This deviation arises due to the absence of moral views and respect for authority.
Generally a tension may arise among the individuals regarding the need for
consensus about authority and need for autonomy.
This tension can be reduced by discussing openly regarding a moral issue between
students and faculty with the help of the authority.
In short, conflicts will arise between autonomy and authority, when the authority is
misused.
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Consensus and Controversy
There are two general points regarding the relationship between autonomy and
authority with reference to the class room:
Moral autonomy and respect for the authority cannot be differentiated or
separated from each other.
Moral autonomy is exercised on the basis of moral concern for other people and
also recognition of good moral reasons.
Authority provides for the framework in which learning can take place. It is based
on the acceptance of authority by both the students and the professors.
Without this acceptance, the classes cannot be conducted in a smooth way. On
the other hand, the trust between faculty and the students may be reduced to
some extent.
These kind of deviations are due to the absence of moral views and respect for
authority. They must be coincide with each other.
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 4. Profession & Professionalism
Profession is defined as any occupation/job/vocation that requires advanced
expertise (skills and knowledge), self regulation, and concerted service to the
public good.
Profession is a name describing job type, usually recognized for a specific
career and it conveys expertise and/or education.
It brings a high status, socially and economically
The characteristics of profession are
1. Advanced expertise
2. Self regulation and
3. Public good

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Profession
1. Advanced expertise include sophisticated skills (do how) and theoretical
knowledge (know how and why). For this, formal education, training,
continuing education and updating are needed.
2. Professional societies play important role in setting standards for admission
to profession, drafting codes of ethics, enforcing standards of conduct, and
representing the profession before the public and the Government.
3. The occupation provides some important public good, by concerted efforts
to maintain ethical standards. For example, a physician promotes health, a
lawyer protects the legal rights etc.

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 Professionalism
• Professionalism is a person’s abilities, competence, and behavior in a
particular profession.
• It aims for higher standards, more remarkable performance, and better
connections with clients and co-workers.
• Business professionalism entails honoring commitments, producing
excellent work, and holding yourself up as an expert.
• It aims to develop a courteous attitude when interacting with people at the
workplace.
• It is a style of conduct typically designed to be composed, in control,
impartial, and generous.
• It combines several traits, not just academic proficiency or polite behavior.
• A professional must possess specialized knowledge in their chosen subject.
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Characteristics of professionalism

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Professionalism
 It strives for more significant standards, spectacular performance, and
improved relationships with customers and employees.
 Supporting an inclusive culture, leading by example, cultivating a feeling of
accountability, and coordinating one’s actions and values with those of the
organization are all ways to foster it.
 Important elements are reliability, competence, communication, appearance,
and accountability.
 Managing emotions at the workplace is also among its key features.

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 Professionalism
• Professionalism at work exemplifies when a worker performs to the best of
their abilities, especially on challenging days; exhibits the knowledge, skills,
and behaviors necessary for their position; exceeds the requirements of their
work, and continually seeks out chances to advance better both the
organization and themselves.
• Professionalism skills ensure a friendly, secure, and inclusive workplace.
• It’s about fostering an environment where individuals feel valued and a part of
something.
• This involves being a courteous team member, being transparent in our
communication, making sure everyone feels included, participating and
interacting, and taking the opportunity to get to know co-workers.
• Additionally, professionalism ethics directly impacts the entire firm’s
functioning, resulting in profitability and customer satisfaction.
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5. MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ROLES
• Promotion of public good is the primary concern of the professional engineers.
• There are several role models to professionals which provoke their thinking, attitudes
and actions
1. Savior :The engineer saves the society from poverty, illiteracy, wastage, inefficiency,
ill health, human dignity and lead it to prosperity, through technological
development and social planning. Example: Satheesh Dhawan, APJ Abdul Kalam
2. Guardian: He guards the interests of the poor and general public. As one who is
conversant with technology development, is given the authority befitting his
expertise to determine what is best suited to the society, Example: Varghese Kurian,
E Sreedharan etc
3. Bureaucratic Servant: He serves the organization and the employers. The
management of an enterprise fixes its goals and assigns the job of problem solving
to the engineer, who accepts the challenge and shapes them into concrete
achievements. For example, Jamshedji Tata

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MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ROLES
4. Social Servant: It is one who exhibits social responsibility. The engineer
translates the interest and aspirations of the society into a reality, remembering
that his true master is the society at large.
For example, Sir M.Viswesvarayya
5. Social Enabler and Catalyst: One who changes the society through technology.
The engineer must assist the management and the society to understand their
needs and make informed decisions on the desirable technological development
and minimize the negative effects of technology on people and their living
environment.
Thus, he shines as a social enabler and a catalyst for further growth. For
example, Sri Sundarlal Bahuguna.

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MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ROLES

6. Game Player: He is neither a servant nor master. An engineer is an assertive

player, not a passive player who may carry out his master’s voice. He plays a
unique role successfully within the organization, enjoying the excitement of the
profession and having the satisfaction of surging ahead in a competitive world.
For example, Narayanamurthy, Infosys and Dr. Kasthurirangan, ISRO

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6. Theories about right action
The ethical theories are used
1. In understanding moral dilemma. They provide clarity, consistency,
systematic and comprehensive understanding.
2. It provides helpful practical guidance in moral issues towards the solution.
3. Justifying professional obligations and decisions, and
4. In relating ordinary and professional morality.

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 Ethical theories/ Approaches
 All the theories stressing certain ethical principles or features.
 All reinforce the ethics, in deciding upon the actions and justifying the results
• Four theories:
1. Utilitarian theory
2. Duty ethics theory
3. Rights theory and
4. Virtue theory

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 1. Utilitarian Theory
o The term Utilitarianism was conceived in the 19th century by Jeremy
Bentham and John Stuart Mill to help legislators determine which laws were
morally best.
o They suggested that the standard of right conduct is maximization of good
consequences.
o Good consequences mean either ‘utilities’ or the ‘balance of good over evil’.
o This approach weighs the costs and benefits.
o Right actions are the ones that produce the greatest satisfaction of the
preferences of the affected persons.

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In analyzing an issue in this approach
(a) Identify the various courses of action available to us.
(b) Ask who will be affected by each action and what benefits or harms will
be derived from each.
(c) Choose the action that will produce the greatest benefits and the least
harm. The ethical action is the one that provides the greatest good for the
greatest number.
The ACT UTILITARIAN theory proposed by J.S. Mill (1806-73) focuses on
actions, rather than on general rules.
An action is right, if it generates the most overall good for the most people
involved

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The RULE UTILITARIAN theory, developed by Richard Brandt (1910-97),
stressed on the rules, such as ‘do not steal’, ‘do no harm others’, ‘do not
bribe’, as of primary importance.
He suggested that individual actions are right when they are required by set
of rules which maximizes the public good.
The act utilitarian theory permitted a few immoral actions.
Hence, there was need to develop rule utilitarian theory to establish morality
and justice, in the transactions.

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Utilitarian Theory
For example, stealing an old computer from the employer will benefit the
employee more than the loss to the employer.
As per Act, utilitarian this action is right. But rule utilitarian observes this as
wrong, because the employee should act as ‘faithful agent or trustee of the
employees’.
In another example, some undisciplined engineers are terminated with the
blame for the mistakes they have not committed. The process is unfair
although this results in promotion of overall good.

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2. Duty Ethics Theory
The duty ethics theory, proposed by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) states, that
actions are consequences of performance of one’s duties such as, ‘being
honest’, ‘not cause suffering of others’, ‘being fair to others, ‘being grateful’,
‘keeping promises’ etc.
The stress is on the universal principle of respect for autonomy i.e., respect
and rationality of persons.
As per Kant we have duties to ourselves, as we are rational and autonomous
beings.

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Duty Ethics Theory
• Kant insisted that moral duties are categorical imperatives.
• They are commands that we impose on ourselves as well as other rational
beings.
• For example, we should be honest because honesty is required by duty. A
businessman is to be honest because honesty pays — in terms of profits
from customers and from avoiding jail for dishonesty

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Duty Ethics Theory
• On the other hand, the DUTY ethics theory, as enunciated by John Rawl, gave
importance to the actions that would be voluntarily agreed upon by all
persons concerned, assuming impartiality.
• His view emphasized the autonomy each person exercises in forming
agreements with other rational people.
• Rawl proposed two basic moral principles;
• (1) each person is entitled to the most extensive amount of liberty compatible
with an equal amount for others, and
• (2) differences in social power and economic benefits are justified only when
they are likely to benefit every one, including members of the most
disadvantaged groups.

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Duty Ethics Theory
 The first principle is of prime importance and should be satisfied first.
 Without basic liberties other economic or social benefits can not be sustained
for long.
 The second principle insists that to allow some people with great wealth and
power is justified only when all other groups are benefited.
 In the business scenario, for example, the free enterprise is permissible so far
it provides the capital needed to invest and prosper, thereby making job
opportunities to the public and taxes to fund the government spending on the
welfare schemes on the poor people.

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Duty Ethics Theory
 C.W.D. Ross, the British philosopher introduced the term prima facie duties,
which means duties might have justified exceptions.
 In fact, most duties are prima facie ones; some may have obligatory or
permissible exceptions.
 Ross assumed that the prima facie duties are intuitively obvious (self-evident),
while fixing priorities among duties.
 He noted that the principles such as ‘Do not kill’ and ‘protect innocent life’
involve high respect for persons than other principles such as, ‘Do not lie’ (less
harmful).
 This theory is criticized on the fact, that the intuitions do not provide
sufficient guideline for moral duty.

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He has listed various aspects of Duty Ethics that reflect our moral
convictions, namely:
1. Fidelity : duty to keep promises.
2. Reparation : duty to compensate others when we harm them.
3. Gratitude : duty to thank those who help us.
4. Justice : duty to recognize merit.
5. Beneficence : duty to recognize inequality and improve the condition of
others.
6. Self-improvement : duty to improve virtue and intelligence. 7. Non-
malfeasance : duty not to injure others.

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 3. Rights Theory
• Rights are entitlement to act or to have another individual act in a certain
way.
• Minimally, rights serve as a protective barrier, shielding individuals from
unjustified infringement of their moral agency by others.
• For every right, we have a corresponding duty of noninterference.

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 Rights Theory
The RIGHTS approach to ethics has its roots in the 18th century philosopher
Immanuel Kant, who focused on the individual’s right to choose for oneself.
According him, what makes human beings different from mere things is, that
people have dignity based on their ability to choose freely what they will do
with their lives, and they have a fundamental moral right to have these choices
respected.
People are not objects to be manipulated; it is a violation of human dignity to
use people in ways they do not freely choose.
Other rights he advocated are:
1. The right to access the truth: We have a right to be told the truth and to be
informed about matters that significantly affect our choices.

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2. The right of privacy: We have the right to do, believe, and say whatever we
choose in our personal lives so long as we do not violate the rights of others.
3. The right not to be injured: We have the right not to be harmed or injured
unless we freely and knowingly do something to deserve punishment or we
freely and knowingly choose to risk such injuries.
4. The right to what is agreed: We have a right to what has been promised by
those with whom we have freely entered into a contract or agreement.

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 In deciding whether an action is moral or immoral, we must ask, does the
action respect the moral rights of everyone?
 Actions are wrong to the extent that they violate the rights of individuals;
the more serious is the violation, the more wrongful is the action.
 The RIGHTS theory as promoted by John Locke states that the actions are
right, if they respect human rights of every one affected.
 He proposed the three basic human rights, namely life, liberty, and
property. His views were reflected in the modern American society, when
Jefferson declared the basic rights as life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
 As per A.I. Melden’s theory based on rights, nature mandates that we
should not harm others’ life, health, liberty or property.
 Melden allowed welfare rights also for living a decent human life. He
highlighted that the rights should be based on the social welfare system
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o Human rights are explained in two forms, namely liberty rights and welfare
rights.
o Liberty rights are rights to exercise one’s liberty and stresses duties on other
people not to interfere with one’s freedom.
o The four features of liberty rights (also called moral rights), which lay the base
for Government Administration, are:
1. Rights are natural in so far as they are not invented or created by
government.
2. They are universal, as they do not change from country to country.
3. They are equal since the rights are the same for all people, irrespective of
caste, race, creed or sex.
4. They are inalienable i.e., one cannot hand over his rights to another person
such as selling oneself to slavery.
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 The Welfare Rights are the rights to benefit the needy for a decent human life,
when one can not earn those benefits and when those benefits are available in
the society.
 Economic rights: In the free-market economy, the very purpose of the
existence of the manufacturer, the sellers and the service providers is to serve
the consumer. The consumer is eligible to exercise some rights
 The consumers’ six basic rights are:
1. Right to Information,
2. Right to Safety,
3. Right to Choice,
4. Right to be Heard,
5. Right to Redressal, and
6. Right to Consumer Education
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 A few rights are absolute, i.e., unlimited and have no justifiable exceptions.
 For example, rights ethicists view that the rights have not been violated if the
people purchase a (technological product) hang glider and they get injured by
flying them carelessly or under bad weather conditions.
 But human rights imply that one not to be poisoned or killed by technological
products, whose dangers are not obvious or wantonly hidden.
 They imply a right to be informed, when the purchase was made, of the possible
dangers during use or service (obtaining informed consent).
 Rights ethics is distinctive in that it makes human rights the ultimate appeal — the
moral bottom line.
 Human rights constitute a moral authority to make legitimate moral demands on
others to respect our choices, recognizing that others can make similar claims on
us.
 Thus, we see that the rights ethics provides a powerful foundation for the special
ethical requirements in engineering and other professions.
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 4. The Virtue Theory
• This emphasizes on the character rather than the rights or duties.
• The character is the pattern of virtues (morally-desirable features).
• The theory advocated by Aristotle, stressed on the tendency to act at proper
balance between extremes of conduct, emotion, desire, attitudes to find the
golden mean between the extremes of ‘excess’ or ‘deficiency’.
• The examples shown below illustrate the theory:

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4. The Virtue Theory

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• On the other hand, the Virtue Theory proposed by Mac Intyre, highlighted
on the actions aimed at achieving common good and social (internal) good
such as social justice, promotion of health, creation of useful and safe
technological products and services.
• Five types of virtues that constitute responsible professionalism, are
1. Public-spirited virtues,
2. Proficiency virtues,
3. Team-work virtues,
4. Self-governance virtues, and
5. Cardinal virtues

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 5. Self-realization Ethics
• Ethics Right action consists in seeking self-fulfillment.
• In one version of this theory, the self to be realized is defined by caring
relationships with other individuals and society.
• In another version called ethical egoism, the right action consists in
always promoting what is good for oneself.
• No caring and society relationships are assumed.

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 6. Justice (Fairness) Theory
• The justice or fairness approach to ethics has its roots in the teachings of the
ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who said that “equals should be treated
equally and unequal unequally.”
• The basic moral question in this approach is: How fair is an action? Does it treat
everyone in the same way, or does it show favoritism and discrimination?
• Issues create controversies simply because we do not bother to check the
fairness or justice.
• Favoritism gives benefits to some people without a justifiable reason for
singling them out; discrimination imposes burdens on people who are no
different from those on whom burdens are not imposed.
• Both favoritism and discrimination are unjust and wrong.

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 SELF-INTEREST
Self-interest is being good and acceptable to oneself.
It is pursuing what is good for oneself. It is very ethical to possess self-
interest.
As per utilitarian theory, this interest should provide for the respect of others
also.
Duty ethics recognizes this aspect as duties to ourselves. Then only one can
help others.
Right ethicist stresses our rights to pursue our own good.
Virtue ethics also accepts the importance of self-respect as link to social
practices.

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SELF-INTEREST
 In Ethical Egoism, the self is conceived in a highly individualistic manner.
 It says that every one of us should always and only promote one’s own
interest.
 The ethical egoists do not accept the well being of the community or caring
for others.
 However this self interest should not degenerate into egoism or selfishness,
i.e., maximizing only own good in the pursuit of self-interest.
• The ethical egoists hold that the society benefits to maximum when
(a) The individuals pursue their personal good and
(b) The individual organizations pursue maximum profit in a competitive
enterprise.
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 This is claimed to improve the economy of the country as a whole, besides
the individuals. In such pursuits, both individuals and organizations should
realize that independence is not the only important value.
 We are also interdependent, as much as independent. Each of us is
vulnerable in the society.
 Self-respect includes recognition of our vulnerabilities and
interdependencies. Hence, it is compatible with caring for ourselves as well
as others. Self-interest is necessary initially to begin with.
 But it should be one of the prime motives for action; the other motive is to
show concern for others, in the family as well as society.
 One’s self-interest should not harm others. The principles of ‘Live and let
(others) live’, and ‘reasonably fair competition’ are recommended to
professionals by the ethicists.

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 CUSTOMS
• Ethical Pluralism: Various cultures in our pluralistic society lead to tolerance for
various customs, beliefs, and outlooks. Accordingly ethical pluralism also exists.
• Although many moral attitudes appear to be reasonable, the rational and
morally concerned people can not fully accept any one of the moral
perspectives.
• There are many varied moral values, which allow variation in the understanding
and application of values by the individuals or groups in their everyday
transactions.
• It means that even reasonable people will not agree on all moral issues and
professional ethics.

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 Ethical Relativism
• According to this principle, actions are considered morally right when approved
by law or custom, and wrong when they violate the laws or customs.
• The deciding factor is the law or the customs of the society.
• Should we accept the principle of relativism or not?
1. Laws appear to be objective ways for judging values. The laws and customs
tend to be definite, clear and real, but not always. Further moral reasons
allow objective criticism of laws, as being morally lacking.
2. Ethical relativism assumes that the values are subjective at the cultural level.
Moral standards also vary from culture to culture. The objectivity is
supported by the existing laws of that society. The relative morality accepted,
supports the virtue of tolerance of differences among societies. This
argument is also not fully acceptable.

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3. Moral relationalism or moral contextualism: According to this, the moral
judgments must be made in relation to certain factors, which may vary from
case to case.
The morally important factors for making judgments include the customs and
laws. The virtue ethicists hold that the practical wisdom should prevail upon
assessing the facts and in the judgment.
This principle was accepted by the early anthropologists because they had a
specific tendency to over-stress the scope of moral difference between
cultures.
The human sacrifices and cannibalism were accepted.
But the modern anthropologists insist that all cultures shall exhibit the virtue
of social welfare and safety against needless death or physical or mental
harm.
Moral differences were based on the circumstances and facts and not on the
difference in moral attitudes. 77
RELIGION
Religions have played major roles in shaping moral views and moral values,
over geographical regions.
Christianity has influenced the Western countries, Islam in the Middle-East
countries, Buddhism and Hinduism in Asia, and Confucianism in China.
Further, there is a strong psychological link between the moral and religious
beliefs of people following various religions and faiths.
Religions support moral responsibility.
They have set high moral standards.
Faith in the religions provides trust and this trust inspires people to be moral.
The religions insist on tolerance and moral concern for others.

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 Many professionals who possess religious beliefs are motivated to be morally
responsible.
 For example, Hinduism holds polytheistic (many gods) view, and virtues of devotion
and surrender to high order.
 Christianity believes in one deity and emphasizes on virtues of Love, Faith, and Hope.
 Buddhism is non-theistic and focuses on compassion and Islam on one deity and
adherence of Ishan (piety or pursuit of excellence) and prayer.

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 Judaism stresses the virtue of ‘tzedakah’ (righteousness).
 But many religious sects have adopted poor moral standards, e.g., many
religious sects do not recognize equal rights for women.
 The right to worship is denied for some people.
 People are killed in the name of or to promote religion. Thus, conflicts exist
between the ‘secular’ and religious people and between one religion and
another.
 Hence, religious views have to be morally scrutinized

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7. Uses of Ethical Theories
• In tackling ethical problems, we can apply all the theories and analyze the
actions and results from different angles and see what result each theory gives
rise to.
• This enables us to examine the problem in different perspectives.
• Case study:
• Problem: A chemical plant near a small town is discharging hazardous wastes
into the fields nearby. The ground water gets contaminated and significant
health problems surface in the community.
• Since harm is caused to the residents, the action is unethical as per rights
ethics. The agriculturists who have the agrarian right of water supply have
been over looked.

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The pollutants may endanger their profession and welfare. Hence, rights ethics
also concludes that the action is unethical.
 The effects of polluted water and the cost to purify the water by the
municipality may out weigh the economic benefits of the plant.
Hence, the utilitarian analysis leads to the same conclusion. The groundwater
harms the people and caused health problems.
Hence, discharging the pollutants is unethical as per duty ethics.
Generally, because the rights of the individuals should weigh strongly than the
needs of the society as a whole, rights and duty ethics take precedence over
utilitarian considerations.
 Caution is necessary in applying theory of virtue ethics.

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When we use the word ‘honor’, we mean it to be a measure of dignity and
integrity. It is a positive virtue.
 When it points to ‘pride’ it is not a virtue and has a negative connotation.
History abounds with examples of war, which have been fought and atrocities
were committed on innocent people in order to preserve the honor (pride) of
an individual or a nation.
In using virtue ethics, we have to ensure that the traits of virtue are actually
virtuous and will not lead to negative consequences.

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