Abstract
Nine examples are presented illustrating the kinds of problems encountered in actual practice by conscientious engineers. These cases are drawn fom the records of the IEEE Ethics Committee, and from the experience of the ethics help-line initiated recently by the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science. They range from situations in which companies try to cheat one another to those in which human health and safety are jeopardized. In one case, an engineer learned that even a quiet resignation can prove very costly in a personal sense. Some ways in which professional societies might make ethical practice of engineering somewhat easier are mentioned.
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Unger, S.H. (1999) What Happened to Ethics Support? Letter, IEEE Institute, December, p. 15.
Unger, S.H. (1999) The Assault on IEEE Ethics Support, IEEE Technology and Society magazine, V. 18, No. 1, Spring: 36–40. On www at http://www.onlineethics.org/text/helpline/unger.html
Unger, S.H. (1998) Reality check: ethics and air bags, IEEE Institute, August, p. 2.
The URL of the Online Ethics Center is: http://www.onlineethics.org
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Professor Unger was Chairman of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Ethics Committee (1997–1998).
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Unger, S.H. Examples of real world engineering ethics problems. SCI ENG ETHICS 6, 423–430 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-000-0042-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-000-0042-y