Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENTtives, outside the company with local associations, standardorganizations, governmental agencies, parliamentary commissions,non-governmental organizations, and so on.Because of their position in the socio-technical system, engineersare expected to be citizens of technical democracy, morethan any other member of society. Moreover, concerning theirobligation within their companies or organizations, besidesthe role that consists of the communication of technical specifications,engineers can also (and must in certain cases) suggestalternatives to their superiors or their clients. Engineersare responsible because those who have to make the choicesplace trust in them.KnowledgeThe highly compartmentalized work situations of engineersand the labour division which characterizes the large corporationswhere they work, creates another risk-factor than just thedilution of responsibilities, such as the loss of direction and thenon-retention of aims, which can result in an accepted blindnessfor the actors involved. There is probably a moral obligation forengineers not to be ignorant, or worse, indifferent, to the goalsthey are working to achieve, a well as a necessity to be able toexpress their positions clearly towards attaining those goals.One cannot be held accountable for something about whichone is ignorant: this has been one of the foundations of thenotion of responsibility since ancient times. But there are ignorancesthat are more morally acceptable than others. Somepeople believe that the participation of engineers in decisionmakingis simply unknowable. Thus, their moral responsibilitywould be indescribable. If ethical decisions are difficult tomake for engineers, ethical judgements are always possible,and they can improve.PowerAnother reason put forth for saying that there is no roomfor ethics in engineering is based on the engineers’ status asemployees, which does not afford them enough freedom. Thequestion of the engineers’ professional autonomy and of theirpower in decision-making in companies was studied by historiansand sociologists who did not look at engineers as professionalsbut as workers. Although it is necessary to remindourselves that engineers are hardly independent professionalswe can wonder if their freedom of action within the organizationsthat employ them is as narrow as some theses on the‘proletarization’ of engineers seem to suggest.The reflections on the specificity of engineering, its impactson the social world and its hybrid nature, social as well astechnical, compel us to think of the place where the engineersexercise their power outside the most visible aspects, i.e. in thegames of relationship vis-à-vis authority. Engineers are close tothe ‘black box’ of technology; they are sometimes the principalactors of the closing of this box. But what we remember atthe end are the economic and political constraints. Engineersappear then as employees among others whose only socialresponsibility would be to obey their hierarchy. One of theengineers’ obligations may consist of, in extreme cases, blowingthe whistle and taking the risk to bypass their obligationof loyalty towards their employers. But another obligation,less spectacular maybe, would consist of engineers contributingto the improvement of the structures in which they act,to turn them into more fair and responsible institutions. Thispoint of view fits very well with Paul Ricoeur’s definition ofethics as an ‘aim of the good life with and for others in justinstitutions.’ConclusionEngineering ethics is a new field of contextualized ethics, farfrom maturity. For many years already, first in the USA, and nowin some European and Asian countries, engineering ethics hasstarted to interest a larger community of scholars. Its focus haswidened from the specific nature of engineering as a ‘true’ profession,to the relevant characteristics of engineering as an activityat the articulation of the social, the economic, the political andthe technical. We need to focus on the challenges of research inengineering ethics and stress the interest in an epistemologicalapproach to the question, aiming at defining the outline of theactivity at the heart of engineering ethics: engineering.The most recent research works in engineering ethics alsoshow a greater understanding of the different scales in whichengineering may be questioned ethically: on the individualmicro-level, on the mezzo-level of a group, a professionalbody or a company, and on the macro-level of the planet.Some issues related to sustainable development and corporatesocial responsibility, now considered as a relevant matterfor engineering ethics, can merge macro and mezzo levels.Most courses in engineering ethics have long offered studyingthe ethical dilemmas that students could encounter intheir careers. Although this approach is interesting and useful,numerous other entries can contribute to broaden the individualresponsibility and ethical sensitivity of future engineers.4.6.2 Engineering ethics: furtherdiscussionMonique FrizeTo be ethical and professional are terms that are synonymouswith being an engineer. Unlike most science, the work of engineersfrequently directly affects public safety and health andcan influence business and even politics. The engineering professionin some countries is self-regulated, which means that itis governed by its own association of engineers. In order to jointhis association, engineers who apply are screened for compe-186