Professional Ethics (Lecture-2) 2013

7/29/2019 Professional Ethics (Lecture-2) 2013

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Technological Designs: What Should

Morally Responsible Engineers Learn

from their Professional Ethics?

Dr. SATYA SUNDAR SETHY

Assistant Professor of PhilosophyDept. of Humanities & Social Sciences

Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Chennai-600 036, India


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Emotion and Technological

Design

What would be the possible risks avoided if

engineers incorporate the emotional reflection

in their work?

What kind ofemotion we are talking about?

How does emotion play a vital role for designing

a product?

Is it necessary for engineers to cultivate moralemotions and sensitivity in order to engage in

morally responsible engineering?


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Engineers & EngineeringEmotional engineers: Oxymoron

No technology is value neutral.

Technology has either bad or good consequences for thepeople.

Value-sensitive-design (value of life, value of environment..)

Whatever product Engineers made that determines theirbehavior

How are our beliefs incorporated in a design?

Public also influenced with these behaviors to choose a

technology (product) for their use.Obligation for engineers- include moral values- in their

design

Engineers should use their emotions in order to develop

morally responsible technologies.


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CONTINUE..

If moral decision making would be left to managers orpolicy makers, then it would take place after a product is

already designed/developed.

Without depending on the moral reflections of moral

experts, engineers should cultivate their own moral

expertise.

Since they have technical expertise, they can reduce the

risks of a technological product by developing a different

design.

Technological risks and benefits are not merely a

technical matter but also involve ethical aspects.

This requires a capacity to be aware of moral features.


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Risks, Values, and EmotionsEngineers: risk is a product of probabilities and unwanted

consequences.

They use cost-benefit analysis to weight the possibleadvantages vs. disadvantages

Cost-benefit analysis is not suffice to determine whether

a risk is to be accepted or not?Whether a risk is taken voluntarily?

Distribution of risks and benefits for people

Available alternatives to a technology

Risk should not be judged (quantitative notion + ethicalconsideration)

Acceptable= High probability of success +small effect

Unacceptable= Small probability of success + large effect


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CONTINUE..In the process, engineers have a richer understanding of

risk than experts.

Purely rational reflection (lack of imagining power)

Engineers need moral emotions in order to have wellgrounded insights into whether a technological risk is

morally acceptable or not?Why do we need to emphasize the emotional capacities

of engineers and how could this be achieved by them?

How can Engineers implement emotional reflection in the

engineering design process?Emotions are helpful in assessing moral values involved

in technologies.

It will enable engineers to play an important role inreflecting on morally responsible technological design.


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Will Emotion Affect the RationalDecision?Emotions about risks can be based on reasonable

concerns.

Reasonable concerns (justice, fairness, autonomy, etc.)

These concerns should be taken seriously by engineers

when they reflect on the risky aspects of thetechnological design.

Different people- various emotions- how to take a

decision?

Disagreement is nearly always a part of collectivedecision making.

Diverging views and emotions enable us to take a more

balanced judgment.


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CONTINUE.Emotion can also be mistaken/misread by us as well as

others.We should critically assess our emotions and also take

others emotions into our account while designing a

technology.

Emotion can be a source of ethical reflection (Lacewing,2005)

An emotion such as sympathy can correct egoistic

emotion (Roeser, 2010).

Emotion= Shame, resentment, guilt, blame, etc.(backward-looking responsibility)- failed responsibility,

ascribing negativity

Emotion= Sympathy, Empathy, compassion, etc.

(forward-looking responsibility)


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CONTINUE.Can we codify the rules and/or responsibilities for the

professionals????They should develop the context-sensitive insights

which requires moral emotions to nurture, evolve, anddevelop.

Engineers should be virtue-responsible persons.A virtuous person is one who developed his/her character

in such a way that (s)he steers a wise middle groundbetween extreme responses.

Moral emotions make engineers sensitive towards moralissues arising from the technology designs.

Thus, engineers should use their imaginative capacitieswhich they can draw from moral emotions to designhumane technologies.


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Risks and ResponsibilityEngineering design fixes the responsibility either to an

individual or to a group of people.

Risks and responsibility has no univocal definition.

Risk assessment (RA) vs. Risk management

Identification and quantification of risks (RA)Acceptability of risks and its societal management. Thus it

involves the question ofvalues.

Types of responsibility

--- Role responsibility (Heart, 2008)--- Causal responsibility (Heart, 2008)

---Capacity responsibility (Heart, 2008)

--- Liability responsibility (Heart, 2008)


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CONTINUE..--- Blame responsibility ( Wolff, 2006)

--- Virtue responsibility (Ladd, 1991)Role responsibility

It is linked to a specific position to which particular dutiesare attached. (A pilot is responsible for the flight of his

aircraft)Causal responsibility

It refers to the cause, understood in a quasi-mechanicalsense, of an event. (The storm is responsible for the planecrash)

Capacity responsibility

It refers to the capacity of an agent to fulfill his/herresponsibilities. Being responsible for his/her own actionsimplies having the capacity of understanding, reasoning,

and controlling the conduct. (Intoxicated driver)


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CONTINUE..Liability responsibility

It is the legal facet of responsibility

Blame responsibility

Blame occurs when there is violation of moral norm and

when someones behaviour is morally culpable. (terrorism,

naxalism, abducting someone, etc.)

Virtue responsibility

It is a form of responsibility which refers to moral

deficiency and not just to fault. The absence of care and

concern for the welfare of others. It ascribes how thingsare and how things should be or should have been

Bhopal tragedy (Even if no one was really at fault, safety

was not a priority of the management, )


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Deep-water Horizon Disaster

On April 20, 2010

Deepwater horizon disaster (Nearthe Mexico city)

Deepwater horizon exploded due to wellhead- blowout.

11 platform workers lost their lives

Causing an oil spill in the Gulf of MexicoReport said that this disaster had have avoided, if

engineers would have fixed a blowout preventer in the

desired place, proper cemented the well, examined the

regulatorys oversight.

Impact of the disaster: wildlife habitant, economic lost,

environment pollution, sea-life death, people affected

those lived in the Mississippi riverbed.


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CONTINUE..

August, 2010, The BP company announced that they puta CAP on the well, so no further danger to life.

Who is responsible for this tragic incident?

Duty + Responsibility + Accountability

The BP companyTony Hayward (of BP)

President - Mr. Barack Obama

The US govt. (the regulatory body)

Several other companies

Moral responsibility ascribes to agent, control condition,

knowledge condition (technological actions)


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CONTINUE..

Control condition: One should not be forced to dosomething

Knowledge condition: One must not ignorant of what one

is doing

Failure to control is an instance of wrong doing if onehas the possibility to control that.

Although no one has intention to make the disaster, but

nevertheless one cant escape form his/her responsibility

which contribute disaster to occur.Regardless Engineers good intention and required skills,

if tragic happened then how can one be responsible for

that tragic incident?


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Tragedy and Technology

Greek- Hybris: technology displays arrogance and lack

of humility

Nature will take the revenge if we try to control the

nature (Mumbai seashore incident)- fatalism/ luck

Kierkegaardian views: Disaster has two aspects

Engineers should cope with the technological risks. They

can able to FIX the problem. (activity)

Engineers should accept that they dont have full control

on the consequence of their actions, and they also cant

foresee anything in the consequence form (fatalism).

Thus, they depend on others- accountable for the

tragedy.

How far we can treat the tragic report as objective?


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Kierkegaardian Analysis

Helplessness (Computer crash- misuse)The unexpected and uncertainty (blind spots)

Conflicting roles (manager/policy maker and

engineer)

Dependency and collective action (fixing

accountability)

Lack of full control (receives advice from

experts)Choice when no option is right (avoided the

worst consequences)


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SUBMISSION

Engineers are advised to incorporate their

moral decisions/judgments while designing

the technology.

They cant evade from their moralresponsibilities.

Thus, they should understand their

responsibility

and be prepared to beaccountable for their actions in their life

endeavor.


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Suggested Readings

Emotional Engineers: Toward MorallyResponsible Design Sabine Roeser

Moral Responsibility, Technology, and

Experiences of the Tragic: From Kierkegaard toOffshore Mark Coeckelbergh

Risk and Responsibility: A Complex and Evolving

Relationship--- Celine Kermisch

(Science and Engineering Ethics, 2012)


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THANK YOU !

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Professional Ethics (Lecture-2) 2013

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