Review Tools for Success in the Classroom
Ethics Is an action (or inaction) right or wrong?
Objectives Understand the meaning of two ethical theories (utilitarianism and duty/rights) Understand the SUNY Poly code of ethics as it relates to your actions as a student Know where to find the ASCE and ASME code of ethics
Ethics and Morals Science: understanding the world Engineering: changing the world
Personal Ethics Discussion Where does your ethical “structure” come from?
Utilitarianism (John Stuart Mill) Actions are good if they serve to maximize human well-being Focus is on maximizing the well-being of society as a whole (even though individuals can be negatively impacted) Negatives: No emphasis on individuals Must know what leads to the ‘greater good”
Utilitarianism-Two Types Act Individual actions Rules can be broken if it leads to the most good Rule Moral rules are important Adhering to the rules ultimately leads to the most good
Duty Ethics (Immanuel Kant) Actions are good when they respect the rights of individuals List of duties that respect individuals Individuals have fundamental rights that others have a duty to respect Negatives How do you resolve individual versus group conflicts? Doesn’t account for overall good
Business & Personal Ethics Business—Choices on an organizational level Personal—Choices on an individual level Is there overlap???? Should there be overlap???
Ethics and Law Ethical and legal Ethical but illegal Law not yet changed to reflect new realities Legal but not ethical
SUNY Poly Code of Conduct https://sunypoly Plagiarism Inappropriate collaboration Dishonesty in examinations Dishonesty in papers and reports Work done for one course and submitted to another Falsification of data Interference with another student’s work Copyright violation Other Miscellaneous
Codes of Ethics Professional Societies ASME https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/ResourceFiles/AboutASME/Get%20In volved/Advocacy/Policy-Publications/P-15-7-Ethics.pdf ASCE https://www.asce.org/code-of-ethics/
Ethics (Class Discussion) Have you observed students cheating? (high school or college) How did they cheat? Why did they cheat? What could the instructor have done to prevent the cheating? What punishments do you think are appropriate for cheating?
Ethics Assignment (Teams of 2) Choose a case study (civil or mechanical) and prepare a .ppt presentation for Oct. 23rd Include: Background information Questions and your answers Discussion of your answers versus the answers provided on the website References: https://ethics.tamu.edu/case-studies/ https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more/engineering-ethics/engineering-ethics-cases/