Lecture-08
MSE 4211
Code of Ethics
Md. Mafidul Islam,
Lecturer
Dept. of MSE, KUET
Ethics vs. engineering ethics, engineering and professionalism,
psychological basis of Ethics, Religion and ethics, egoism and
relativism, utilitarianism and rational utilitarianism, ethics and
other branches of knowledge, intuitionism. Concept of moral
thoughts and moral judgment, bases of human behaviour,
Syllabus moral development and easoning, morality, and social
institution, moral rights and duties, interpersonal moral
MSE 4211 – sentiment, occupational culture and ideology, occupational
Professional Ethics stress, morality and religion, organizational commitment,
Credit: 3.00 morality in the international context.
Credit Hours: 3hrs/week Professionalism and codes of ethics, engineering as social
experimentation, institutional ethics, academic ethics,
understanding ethical problems, ethical problems solving
techniques, professional responsibilities, professional rights,
environmental ethics, computer ethics, analyzing issues of
ethical problems, utilitarian thinking respect for persons.
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What are Code of Ethics
o The Oxford Dictionary gives the following two definitions for
codes
◆ A set of moral principles accepted by the society or a group
of people
◆ A set of rules arranged in a system.
o They provide guidelines for the professionals as to how to
conduct their routine professional tasks in relation to the public
well-being and with ethical thinking.
o Almost every professional association has developed its own code
of conduct displayed and publicized widely among its members.
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What are Code of Ethics
o Codes cover the standards that every rational person wants every other
person to follow like
◆ Honesty and truth
◆ Honor, showing respect for integrity and reputation for
achievement
◆ Knowledge, gained through education and experience
◆ Efficiency in performance with minimum effort
◆ Diligence and personal effort
◆ Loyalty to employer’s goals
◆ Confidentiality and dependability in safeguarding information
◆ Protecting public safety and health
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Purposes Served by Code
1) Guidelines to the Engineer: They provide guidelines to the professional as
to how he should perform his functions ethically in various situations. They
inform him about his moral obligations to the society.
2. Ethical Decision Making: Codes serve as the starting point for ethical
decision-making in case of ethical dilemmas.
3. Inspiration: The very fact that codes of practice exist, related to his field of
work, inspires an engineer to study them, understand them, and practice them
where appropriate.
4. Support: Codes always support an engineer who follows ethical principles.
If an engineer comes under pressure to act unethically, the publicly proclaimed
codes allow the engineer to defend himself by saying, I am bound by the codes
of ethics of my profession. They support him legally also.
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Purposes Served by Code
5. Deterrence and Discipline: They serve as the formal basis for investigating
unethical conduct. Where such an investigation is possible, it also acts as a
deterrent for the immoral acts contemplated.
6. Education and Mutual Understanding: Codes can be used in the
education process of the students and young professionals in classrooms or
elsewhere to prompt discussion and reflection on moral issues and to promote
shared understanding among the professionals, the public as well as
government organizations.
7. Contribution to the Profession’s Public Image: Codes reflect a positive
image of an ethically committed profession, and make the engineers serve the
public more effectively.
8. Self-regulation: It helps engineers maintain self-regulation and self-control
in ethical aspects of their profession.
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Purposes Served by Code
9. Promoting Business Interests: Codes ensure moral conduct among all
professionals in dealing with business. Such moral conduct creates an
atmosphere conducive to the dealings related to the business.
10. Focus for Debate: Professional codes provide a focus for debate on how
professional ethics should be modified. Almost every professional association,
has introduced or modified their codes in a number of areas as a result of
changing perception of professional obligations.
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Limitations of Codes
1. Codes are formed in general wording and hence cannot be applied to
all situations directly.
2. It is not possible to analyze fully and predict the full range of moral
problems that arise in complex situations. In these cases, codes form
guidelines but not solutions.
3. Engineering codes represent a compromise between differing
judgments.
4. Often codes create internal conflicts. At the same time, these conflicts
help the development or modification of codes by debates and
discussions.
5. They are not the final moral authority for any professional conduct.
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Limitations of Codes
6. Not all practicing engineers are members of professional societies and
are not aware of the existence of codes for their society or their
profession.
7. Even if they are members, society cannot make the codes mandatory.
8. Even if some societies try to make them mandatory and force the
members to follow them, many professionals do not like it and give some
justification, by reciprocal ethics, for not following the codes.
9. Codes cannot be reproduced in a rapid manner.
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Internal Conflicts Created by Codes
o As indicated in the previous paragraph, codes of ethics on many
occasions create internal conflicts with no instructions on how to
resolve these conflicts. For example, if an employer instructs or
directs an engineer to follow certain factors in the design that the
engineer knows would be against the codes, how can this conflict be
resolved?
o In such dilemmas, one point must be remembered. The duty to protect
the safety of the public is paramount and takes precedence over the
duties of the employer. By specifying such priority and hierarchy, the
codes provide clear support to the engineer, who must convince his
boss that he cannot design the product as requested.
o Unfortunately, not all internal conflicts can be resolved that easily.
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A Balanced Outlook on Law
o The ‘balanced outlook on law’ in engineering practice stresses
the necessity of laws and regulations and also their limitations in
directing and controlling the engineering practice.
o Laws are necessary because people are not fully responsible for
themselves and because of the competitive nature of free
enterprise, which does not encourage moral initiatives. Laws are
needed to provide a minimum level of compliance.
o The following codes are typical examples of how they were
enforced in the past:
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A Balanced Outlook on Law
Code for Builders by Hammurabi:
o Hummurabi the king of Babylon in 1758 framed the following code for the
builders: “If a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work
sound and the house which he has built has fallen down and caused the death
of the householder, that builder shall be put to death. If it causes the death of
the householder’s son, they shall put that builder’s son to death. If it causes
the death of the householder’s slave, he shall give slave for slave to the
householder. If it destroys property, he shall replace anything it has destroyed;
and because he has not made the house sound which he has built and it has
fallen down, he shall rebuild the house which has fallen down from his own
property. If a builder has built a house for a man and does not make his work
perfect and the wall bulges, that builder shall put that wall in sound condition
at his own cost”
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A Balanced Outlook on Law
Steam Boat Code in the USA:
In the early 19th century, a law was passed in the USA to provide for
inspection of the safety of boilers and engines in ships. It was amended
many times and now the standards formulated by the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers are followed.
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A Balanced Outlook on Law
Proper Role of Laws:
1) The engineer should be responsible for the safe conduct of the
experiment.
2) Precise rules and sanctions should be listed in case of ethical
misconduct that involves the violation of established engineering
procedures.
3) Engineers should not compel rigid courses of action in case of large
and time-consuming experimentation.
4) The regulation should be broad and make engineers accountable for
their decisions.
5) The engineer can facilitate framing the rules, amend them wherever
necessary, and enforce them.
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Thank you
Md. Mafidul Islam
+8801795853593
[email protected]
