Engineering as a Humanity

Is Engineering more like Natural Science

or more like a field of studies in the
Humanities?
If you look at the very definition of
engineering, you will see that engineering
is intimately connected to the humanities
because it is the application of scientific
theory to solve certain problems of
humanitynamely its need for technology
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Some Remarks on the

History of the Engineering Profession

Engineering was defined originally as the art of managing engines; in its

modern and extended sense, the art and science by which the mechanical
properties of matter are made useful to man in structures and machines
(Websters Abridged Dictionary)
Until the Industrial Revolution there were only two kinds of engineers. The
military engineer built such things as fortifications, catapults, and, later,
cannons. The civil engineer built bridges, harbors, aqueducts, buildings, and
other structures. During the early 19th Century in England mechanical
engineering developed as a separate field to provide manufacturing
machines and the engines to power them.
The first British professional society of civil engineers was formed in 1818;
that for mechanical engineers followed in 1847. In the United States, the
order of growth of the different branches of engineering, measured by the
date a professional society was formed, is civil engineering (1852), mining
and metallurgical engineering (1871), mechanical engineering (1880),
electrical engineering (1884), and chemical engineering (1908). Aeronautical
engineering, industrial engineering, and genetic engineering are more
modern developments.
The first schools in the United States to offer an engineering education were
the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1817, an institution now
known as Norwich Univ. in 1819, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
1825.
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Limitations of Paramountcy Clause

The paramountcy clause in engineering codes of ethics obligates
engineers to hold paramount (i.e., above all) the health, safety, and
welfare of individuals, groups, and societies that may be impacted
by technological innovation and the implementation of technological
systems
The paramountcy principle [in the engineering codes of ethics]
imposes an impossible burden of responsibility on individual
engineers. (Baum, 1990)
Most decisions involving complex technologies in our society cannot
be made by one individual or one individual group alone and there is
no defensible justification for engineersindividually or collectively
to take the decision-making responsibility onto themselves.
The only morally justifiable procedure for making decisions in such
complex cases is for all affected parties or their delegated
representatives to be provided with all of the available information
relevant to the decision and for them to have an equitable say in the
final decision
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Limitations of Paramountcy Clause

To promote the health, welfare, and safety of society
They are not required to promote the good but they are
morally obligated to exercise reasonable care that their
activities do not contribute to the bringing about of harm
such as death, pain, disability, loss of opportunity or loss
of overall happiness.
The social responsibilities of engineers according to the
risk and public consent model are:
1. Recognize the right of each individual potentially affected by a
project to participate to an appropriate degree in the making of
decisions concerning the project
2. Do everything in their power to provide complete, accurate, and
understandable information to all potentially affected parties
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Limitations of Paramountcy Clause

Engineers have an obligation to make reasonable efforts
to find out what the client or company intends to do with
their invention, research, or design, or product
The primary social responsibility of engineers and
scientists is to avoid causing harm
The most meaningful question that can be asked
concerning engineering ethics is What can reasonably
be done to minimize the risks associated with the work of
engineers?
Critics claim that it is too much to ask of engineering to
honor the principle of beneficence, that is, the principle
that asks engineers to not only make sure that their
innovations do not harm society, but that their designs
and inventions actively help and benefit society
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The Social and Professional Responsibilities of Engineers

by Deborah Johnson

I. Guns for Hire

Engineers should provide their skills to anyone irrespective of moral convictions
(within limits of law)

II. Personal and Professional Values

Engineers should refuse to work on projects they deem to conflict with their
(personal) morals

III. Risk and Public Consent

Engineers should refuse to work on projects that increase societal risk or degrade
public safety unless the public is informed and consents
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The Social and Professional Responsibilities of Engineers

by Deborah Johnson

Guns for Hire

Engineers should provide their skills to anyone irrespective of moral convictions
(within limits of law)

PRINCIPLES

PROBLEMS

Suggests that engineers can and

should act amorally
It is not fair or useful to have
engineers impose their personal views
on society

Contradicts very idea of a profession

Assumes market and regulation will
properly filter out bad projects and
give the public what it wants or is
best for it
The system bears all the
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responsibilities

Engineers as Guns for Hire

The guns for hire attitude is a
rationalization which allows engineering to
avoid social responsibilities

The Social and Professional Responsibilities of Engineers

by Deborah Johnson

Personal and Professional Values

Engineers should refuse to work on projects they deem to conflict with their
(personal) morals

PRINCIPLES
Individual conscience used to
make
professional judgments
Engineers should direct their skills
only for projects of positive value to
humanity
Matters of conscience, and matters
of safety and welfare of society

PROBLEMS
Principle empty of content
(what does positive mean?)
Fails to draw the line between
personal and professional ethics
(too much reliance on personal choices
to decide what is ethical)
Fails to provide ethical guidelines
for engineers to follow
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The Social and Professional Responsibilities of Engineers

by Deborah Johnson

Risk and Public Consent

Engineers should refuse to work on projects that increase societal risk or degrade
public safety unless the public is informed and consents
PRINCIPLES

PROBLEMS

Engineers views are not imposed

on
society
Engineers can be assured the
public
has consented to acceptable risks

Impractical to obtain consent of

public or implement in some
situations (how to deal with nonunanimous consent; what if people
disagree?; who makes the decisions?)
Engineers are not assigned the
responsibility to determine whether or
not adequate consent is given
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