The Ethical Engineer

Robert McGinn is professor of management science and engineering and of science, technology, and society at Stanford University. He is the author of Science, Technology, and Society (Prentice Hall).

Preface ixChapter 1 The Ethics Gap in Contemporary Engineering 1Two Vignettes 1A Gap between Education and Experience 2Evidence 3Importance 5Unfruitful Approaches to Bridging the Gap 7Preferred Approach 10Chapter 2 Sociological and Ethical Preliminaries 12Sociology of Engineering 12Professional Engineering Society Codes of Ethics 16Chapter 3 The Fundamental Ethical Responsibilities of Engineers 22An Ethical Responsibilities Approach 22Ethical Issues and Harm 23The Fundamental Ethical Responsibilities of Engineers 26Chapter 4 Case Studies of Ethical Issues in Engineering 40Case 1: The Cadillac DeVille/Seville Engine-Control Chip 43Case 2: SDI Battlefield Management Software 50Case 3: Collaborative Research Practices at Bell Labs 58Case 4: The Apple Newton MessagePad 67Case 5: An Employee Database Management System 73Case 6: The Citicorp Center Tower 80Case 7: The Union Carbide Pesticide Plant in Bhopal 92Case 8: The Space Shuttle Challenger 111Case 9: A Composite-Material Bicycle Project 124Case 10: Nanotechnology R&D 137Case 11: The Ford Pinto 149Case 12: Topf & Sons: Crematorium Ovens for the Nazi SS 161Case 13: TRW and the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System 175Case 14: The Hyatt Regency Kansas City Hotel 187Case 15: The Manhattan Westway Project 201Case 16: Innovations for Rural Kenyan Farmers 216Case 17: Google Street View 228Case 18: Opioid Biosynthesis and Neural Enhancement 244Chapter 5 Key Case Ideas and Lessons 265The Leading Precept in Most Current Codes of Engineering Ethics 265The FEREs 266Ethics and the Sociology of Contemporary Engineering 267An Ethically Problematic Pattern of Engineering Practice 268Whistleblowing and Ethical Responsibility 269Risk and the Idealization of Technology in Society 270Ethical Responsibility and the Culture of the Engineering Workplace 271An Overlooked Ethical Responsibility of Engineers 272An Engineering Professional 273Engineering Design, Paradigm Departure, and the Ethics of Precaution 273Normalization of Risk and Routinization of the Experimental 274Technology Transfer and Ethical Responsibility 275"Two Cultures" and Ethical Responsibility 276Decontextualization 277The Politicization and Economization of Engineering Decision-Making 278Negligence 278Workplace Culture and the Ethically Responsible Engineer 279Conflicts of Interest 280"Design for . . ." 282Ethical Issues in Engineering Research 284Factors Conducive to Engineering Misconduct 286Chapter 6 Resources and Options for Ethically Responsible Engineers 288Organizational Resources 288Legal Resources and Options 294Employment-Related Options 299Chapter 7 Conclusion 302Bucciarelli's Critique of U.S. Engineering-Ethics Education 302A Foundational-ContextualEthical Responsibilities Approach 307Two Quotations 310Bibliography 313Index 329