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The engineering ethics classes I know about basically look at case studies. You get taught various philosophical ethics systems (e.g., utilitarianism) and then
by tjl 12y ago
The engineering ethics classes I know about basically look at case studies. You get taught various philosophical ethics systems (e.g., utilitarianism) and then examine a situation, a proposed action and whether that action is ethical. If it isn't, suggest a new ethical action instead. You examine the action based on the different ethical systems.
Deciding actions based on consequences is utilitarianism, which is only one ethical system. There's a number of other systems. For instance, one could have a set of rules that they follow (e.g., always tell the truth), but that could result in negative consequences.
- scarmig 12y agoDeciding actions based on consequences is consequentialism, not utilitarianism. You can just as easily have an ethical system that says an action is moral if if furthers the interest of the race, or if it saves the planet, or if it furthers your self interest, or whatever. Utilitarianism is simply a form of consequentialism which can be (kinda sorta) reduced to "an action is ethical if it maximizes society's global utility function." Well, except for rule utilitarianism, which on one level is anti-consequentialist (though on other levels it's still deeply consequentialist).
- tjl 12y agoI agree. I guess it wasn't clear, but I was talking about deciding if an action is moral based on good consequences is utilitarianism. I thought it would be clear in the context of the comment I replied to, but I should have made it clear. Rule utilitarianism has some things in common with deontology, but it's quite different in others.