Ethics and Human Values in Engineering Practices

Professional engineers must have ethics to make decisions that should be self-reliant and autonomous. They should be morally committed and equipped to tackle ethical dilemmas they face and to hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. The actions of an engineer must be like a true professional.

Engineering ethics is more than mere knowledge and skills, and that the final goal of engineering ethics is to foster qualities and abilities that enable engineers to make self-reliant/autonomous decisions and actions as professionals. The objective of this book is to introduce the readers to the ethical concepts that lead to resolving moral issues in engineering, understanding of ethics and responsibility of engineers as professionals, ability to make ethical judgments and solve problems, attitude required and values shared by engineers to interface social, technological and natural environments.

Humans have the unique ability to define their identity, choose their values and establish their beliefs. All three of these directly influence a person’s behavior. Such basic human standards such as morals, values, ethics, integrity, service-learning, virtues, respect for others, leaving peacefully, caring and sharing, honesty, self-confidence, courage, co-operation, commitment, empathy, and spirituality are discussed in Chapter 1.  Engineering ethics are covered in Chapter 2 which deals with

(a) understanding the moral values that ought to guide the Engineering profession,

(b) resolving the moral issues in the profession, and

(c) justifying the moral judgment concerning the profession.

It is intended to develop a set of beliefs, attitudes, and habits that engineers should display concerning morality. Professional societies promulgate the codes of conduct to regulate the professionals against their abuse or any unethical decisions and actions (impartiality, responsibility) affecting the individuals or groups of the society. While exercising duties, engineers often face ethical dilemmas arising out of various conflicting situations.

The chapter first discusses steps involved in arriving at a reasonable judgment in considering all important factors. Engineers have to think rationally about ethical issues on the basis of moral concern. Since moral autonomy is at the focal point of engineering ethics, the chapter then discusses how engineers shall improve such skills to provide better solutions while resolving moral problems. Finally, different stages of moral development as per Kohlberg’s and Gilligan’s theories have been discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 3 deals with professionalism with require certain attitudes and typical qualities that are expected from a professional. Professionalism requires certain attitudes and typical qualities that are expected from a professional. Professions have collective responsibilities to promote responsible conduct by their members in many ways.

One important way is to disseminate and receive seriously a code of ethics for members of the profession. This involves developing procedures for disciplining irresponsible engineers, but the main emphasis in ethics should be supporting responsible individuals. In fact, the vast majority of engineers are morally committed, but they need the support of morally committed professional societies.

Professions and professionals also require thinking in terms of ethical manifestation and action aimed at preventing moral harm and unnecessary ethical problems. All products of technology present some potential dangers, and thus engineering is an inherently risky activity. In order to underscore this fact and help in exploring its ethical implications, it is suggested that engineering should be viewed as an experimental process. It is not, of course, an experiment conducted solely in a laboratory under controlled conditions. Rather, it is an experiment on a social scale involving human subjects.

Engineering as social experimentation is discussed in Chapter 4. Human rights are defined as moral entitlements that place obligations on other people to treat one with dignity and respect. Organizations and engineers are to be familiar with the minimum provisions under human rights so that the engineers and organizations constitute a firm base for understanding and productivity.

Employee rights are the moral and legal rights obtained with employee status and the provisions are underlying in professional rights, basic human rights, institutional rights, and non-contractual employee rights.

These are explained in Chapter 5.   Globalization means the integration of countries through commerce, transfer of technology, and exchange of information and culture. The increasing international flow of capital, technology, trade, and people had the influence to change the nature of local organizations, governments, and people which resulted in social changes and development. The issues such as multinational organizations, computers, internet functions, military development, and environmental ethics have assumed greater importance for their very sustenance and progress for the engineers. Those subjects are explained in Chapter 6.

The book is aimed at industry professionals, retailers, factory heads, buying offices, academicians, and students intending to join any industry in the areas of management, production, research and development, and quality assurance.  In order to produce and deliver better output, it is necessary to adhere to the right human values, professionalism, laws, and regulations applicable in the industry at both national and international levels.  Thus, the emphasis throughout the book is on. engineering and environmental ethics, moral values, human rights, and global issues.

---

About the Author

Dr. Subrata Das has a graduation degree in textile Technology from the Government College of Engineering and Textile Technology, Serampore, West Bengal, India. He has a Masters’s and a Ph.D. degree from I.I.T., Delhi, India. He has over 35 years of experience in production, quality assurance, technical and social compliance audit, and R&D in reputed industries in India and Bangladesh. He has published 120 research papers in Scopus index journals and has 100 technical papers in national and international journals. He has written 7 international books on apparel, home textiles, and product safety. He has expertise in ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 17020 auditing and is a Technical Expert, GOTS and OCS audit, under NABCB, Quality Council of India, Govt of India. He is working as a Professor (Fashion Technology), Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode District, Tamil Nadu, India.

---

Book Details

• Subject: Textiles                      
• Pages: 116
• Dimension: 6×9 inches
• ISBN-13:  978-81-95404-83-4
• Publication:  2021-2022
• Binding:  Hardback
• Price:  Rs. 2,195/-

---

^{HOW TO ORDER THE BOOK}

Place your order by sending us an e-mail at:

• ^{info@woodheadpublishingindia.com}
• ^{marketing@woodheadpublishingindia.com}

You can also confirm your orders on phone to:

Woodhead Publishing India Pvt. Ltd.

Landline nos:

• +91 11-23266107
• +91 11-43612145

Mode of Payment

You can pay through bank transfer by asking our bank a/c no. on phone or through email; or by sending a cheque in favor of Woodhead Publishing India Pvt. Ltd.