4 areas of Ethics?
- Individual values/beliefs (i.e. what feels right? can I live with the outcome?)
- Personal relational values (i.e. what will my boss think?)
- Societal views and norms (i.e. can this be compared to similar cases?)
- Legal implications (i.e. laws being broken?)
Unitarianism Theory
the best choice is that which produces maximum benefit for the greatest number of people
- proposed by John Stuart MIll
Immanuel Kent’s Duty Ethics
Individuals must always FOLLOW RULES OF CONSCIENCE based on absolute imperatives and universal principles
- DOING THE RIGHT THING as an individual, not considering outcomes of different perspectives
Aristotle Virtue-based Ethics
Qualities of character or virtues developed through human reason and logic applied to compromise between extremes of concepts
- developing virtues leads to goodness, happiness and satisfaction
- contrasts with Kent’s idea of absolute imperatives
Design Approach to Ethical Dilemmas
- gather all facts, determine stakeholders, describe the problem
- which ethical standards are applicable?
- identify sources of expertise
- Evaluate all alternatives, select one and optimize
Locke’s Rights Ethics
every individual has rights, simply by virtue of their existence. Right to life and maximum possible individual liberty and human dignity are fundamental
–> Canadian Charter derived from Locke’s theory
______ justice is the decision making process that must be fair and must treat those involved with dignity and respect
procedural
What is corrective justice?
Person has a right to rectification, replacement or repair of their damaged personal property or personal harm
_____ justice is fairness in social benefits and burdens
distributive
_____ justice is fairness in political rights and duties
political
What is required by the Ontario Code of Ethics for an engineer?
- engineer must display their license at place of work and inform client if they are moonlighting on other projects while employed
- follow the Ontario Professional Engineers Act
