PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
CD5590
LECTURE 6
Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic
Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Mälardalen University
2004
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PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
Codes of Ethics. Whistle Blowing
CASE STUDIES (Stig)
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Professional And Ethical
Responsibilities
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Ethics
Ethical theory is the study of ethics at a
conceptual level.
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Applied ethics is aimed at the everyday life of the
typical person.
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Professional ethics is aimed at a person
engaged in the practice of a particular profession.
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Professional Ethics is about
Relations
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between practicing professionals
between employee and employer
between professionals and their clients
and on specialized technical details of
the professions
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The Core Ethical Issues
The core ethical issues are as
ancient and as simple as greed
and dishonesty.
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Ethics Contexts
Industry
(Other firms)
Clients
Consumers
Profession
(Societies)
Engineering firm
Family
(Private Sphere)
Engineer
Colleagues
Managers
Global environment
Society/Nature
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Engineering as Social Experimentation
“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, we suggest 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.”
Ethics in Engineering, Martin, Schinzinger, McGraw-Hill, 1996
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Why learn Professional Ethics?
Ethics is a crucial part of the idea of
professionalism!
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Computing Curricula 2001, ACM/IEEE
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Social context of computing
Methods and tools of analysis of ethical
argument
Professional and ethical responsibilities
Risks and liabilities of safety-critical systems
Intellectual property
Privacy and civil liberties
Social implications of the Internet
Computer crime
Philosophical foundations of ethics
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Studying Codes of Ethics:
The Goal
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Acquiring skill in practical ethical
reasoning in a professional domain
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Developing the ethical autonomy, i.e.
the ability and the habit to think
rationally and critically about the ethical
questions.
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Studying Codes of Ethics:
The Method
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Importance of professional knowledge
and role-specific professional
obligations in resolving professional
ethical conflicts
General principles necessary to
comprehend and apply professional
codes of ethics
Case based reasoning with applying
and interpreting codes
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Association of Computer Machinery (ACM)
Code of Conduct (1)
1. General Moral Imperatives
1.1 Contribute to society and human well-being
1.2 Avoid harm to others
1.3 Be honest and trustworthy
1.4 Be fair and take action not to discriminate
1.5 Honor property rights including copyrights and patents
1.6 Give proper credit for intellectual property
1.7 Respect the privacy of others
1.8 Honor Confidentiality
http://onlineethics.org/codes/ACMcode.html
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ACM Code of Conduct (2)
2. More Specific Professional Responsibilities
2.1 Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness
and dignity in both the process
2.2 Acquire and maintain professional competence
2.3 Know and respect existing laws pertaining to
professional work
2.4 Accept and provide appropriate professional review
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ACM Code of Conduct (3)
2.5 Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of
computer systems and their impacts, including
analysis of possible risks
2.6 Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned
responsibilities
2.7 Improve public understanding of computing and
its consequences
2.8 Access computing and communication resources
only when authorized to do so
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ACM Code of Conduct (4)
3. Organizational Leadership Imperatives
3.1 Articulate social responsibilities of members of an
organizational unit and encourage full acceptance of
those responsibilities
3.2 Manage personnel and resources to design and
build information systems that enhance the quality of
working life
3.3 Acknowledge and support proper and authorized
uses of an organization's computing and
communications resources
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ACM Code of Conduct (5)
3.4 Ensure that users and those who will be affected by
a system have their needs clearly articulated during
the assessment and design of requirements. Later
the system must be validated to meet requirements
3.5 Articulate and support policies that protect the
dignity of users and others affected by a computing
system
3.6 Create opportunities for members of the
organization to learn the principles and limitations of
computer systems
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ACM Code of Conduct (6)
4. Compliance with the Code
4.1 Uphold and promote the principles of this Code
4.2 Treat violations of this code as inconsistent with
membership in the ACM
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Whistle Blowing
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"Whistle Blowing" is when an employee
tells on an employer who is breaking the
law. Employees who blow the whistle on
their employers are protected by law. If
they are fired or otherwise retaliated
against for whistle blowing, they can
sue.
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Whistle Blowing
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To actually "Whistle Blow", the employee must tell of
the illegal act to someone outside the company. It
must be a government or law enforcement agency.
If the employee just complains to someone inside the
company, that is not whistle blowing, and the
employee is not protected by the whistleblower laws.
However, the employee may be protected under
other laws. For example, it is illegal to fire someone
for complaining of sexual harassment or
discrimination.
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Whistle Blowing
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It is not necessary that the employer actually
broke the law. The employee could be whistle
blowing on something that isn't illegal in the
first place. The employee is still protected
from retaliation or termination.
However, the employee must believe that he
or she is reporting a violation of the law, and
the employee's belief must be reasonable.
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Whistle Blowing
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If the employee has reported the allegedly illegal activity to a
government or law enforcement agency, he or she is protected.
The employer cannot retaliate against the employee. The
employer cannot fire the employee for the whistle blowing. The
employer cannot mistreat the employee for whistle blowing.
This does not mean that after whistle blowing, the employee
cannot be fired for any reason. The employer can continue to
treat the employee like any other employee. But the employer
cannot treat the employee differently because of the whistle
blowing.
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Obviously, if the employee whistle blows on Monday and is fired
on Tuesday, it suggests that the employee was retaliated
against for making the report.
http://www.discriminationattorney.com/whistle.html
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In-Class Activities: Planning
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General introduction, about half an hour.
Introduction to the discussion (case studies)
Discussions
Summary
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In-Class Activities: Case Studies
You start presenting the case studies and asking a number of specific
questions conected to it.
Add general questions:
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virtues
duties
justice
social contract aspects
conscience
ethics egoism
respect
rights
gender perspective if applicable
utilitarian perspective
You decide what way to include that into the discussion.
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