Skip to main content
Log in

Engineering responsibilities in lesser-developed nations: The welfare requirement

  • Published:
Science and Engineering Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Increasing numbers of engineers from developed countries are employed during some part of their careers in lesser-developed nations (LDN’s), or they may design products for use in LDN’s. Yet determining the implications of professional engineering codes for engineers’ conduct in such settings can be difficult. Conditions are often substantially different from those in developed countries, where the codes were formulated. In this paper I explore the implications of what I call the “welfare requirement” in engineering codes for professional engineering conduct in LDN’s.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. As far as I am aware, the first philosophically significant paper to address this issue is Eugene Schlossberger’s, The Responsibility of Engineers, Appropriate Technology, and Lesser Developed Nations, Science and Engineering Ethics 3/3 (July, 1997): 317–326. Although Schlossberger’s paper is not as specifically code-oriented as mine, I nevertheless view my work here as a continuation of his.

  2. Davis, M. (1991) Thinking Like An Engineer, Philosophy and Public Affairs (Spring) 20/2: 164–165.

    Google Scholar 

  3. DeGeorge, R. (1993) Competing with Integrity in International Business, Oxford University Press, New York, p. vi.

    Google Scholar 

  4. DeGeorge, pp. 45–56.

    Google Scholar 

  5. See The International Bill of Human Rights, with a forward by Jimmy Carter (1981) Entwhistle Books, Glenn Ellen, CA. No author.

  6. For a list of what he calls “fundamental international rights”, see Donaldson, T. (1989) The Ethics of International Business, Oxford University Press, New York, p. 81.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Goodin, R.E. (1985) Protecting the Vulnerable: A Reanalysis of Our Social Responsibilities, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 195–196.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Baum, R.J. (1994) Engineers and the Public: Sharing Responsibilities, in. Wueste, D.E., ed.: Professional Ethics and Social Responsibility, Rowman and Littlefield, Lanaham, MD.

    Google Scholar 

  9. For the actual case, see Tavis, L.A. (1997) Power and Responsibility: Multinational Managers and Developing Country Concerns, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN, pp. 315–338.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Tavis, p.322

    Google Scholar 

  11. Tavis, p.322

    Google Scholar 

  12. Tavis, p.322

    Google Scholar 

  13. Tavis, p.317

    Google Scholar 

  14. Tavis, p.322

    Google Scholar 

  15. Tavis, p. 317

    Google Scholar 

  16. Tavis, p. 327.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Harris, C.E. Engineering responsibilities in lesser-developed nations: The welfare requirement. SCI ENG ETHICS 4, 321–331 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-998-0024-z

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-998-0024-z

Keywords

Navigation