Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases

Citation

Harris, C. E., Jr., Pritchard, M. S., Rabins, M. J., James, R. W., & Englehardt, E. E. (2019). Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Chapter Summary

The sixth edition has nine chapters, a section of cases with a list of cases and a taxonomy of cases, an appendix of codes of ethics, a bibliography and an index. Cengage describes it as a case-based text that offers dozens of contemporary cases and a structured method for analysing them, practical application of the engineering code of ethics, attention to moral reasoning and organisational communication, emphasis on reliability and trustworthiness, and treatment of sustainability and economic development, risk management and globalised standards. It also reports boxed features in every chapter and an all-new chapter on future challenges raised by evolving technology.

Chapter 1: Engineers: Professionals for the Human Good

The title frames engineers as professionals working for the human good. Cengage's description stresses the health, safety and welfare of the public and the environment as what engineers' conduct affects.

Chapter 2: A Practical Ethics Toolkit

The toolkit chapter, which corresponds to the "proven method for analysis" and the "practical application of the Engineering Code of Ethics" that Cengage lists among the edition's features.

Chapter 3: Responsibility in Engineering

Responsibility as it applies to engineers, one of the topics the publisher lists as treated in depth ("ethical responsibilities").

Chapter 4: Engineers in Organizations

Engineers' position inside organisations; the publisher also lists effective organisational communication among the book's emphases.

Chapter 5: Trust and Reliability

The chapter that corresponds to the publisher's emphasis on reliability and trustworthiness in the profession.

Chapter 6: The Engineer's Responsibility to Assess and Manage Risk

The engineer's responsibility to assess and manage risk, which the publisher lists as treated in depth.

Chapter 7: Engineering and the Environment

The environmental side of engineering work; the publisher's description names sustainability and economic development.

Chapter 8: Engineering in the Global Context

Engineering practice beyond one country; the publisher's description refers to globalised standards for engineering.

Chapter 9: New Horizons in Engineering

The final chapter, whose title fits the all-new chapter on future challenges relating to evolving technology that the publisher highlights for this edition.

Cases, Taxonomy and Appendix

After Chapter 9 the book has a section of cases, a list of cases and a taxonomy of cases, followed by an appendix of codes of ethics and a bibliography.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–3: foundations

• Professionalism: engineers as professionals serving the public good.
• A practical ethics toolkit: structured methods for analysing a case, together with professional codes of ethics.
• Responsibility: what an engineer is answerable for.

Chapters 4–6: working conditions

• Organisational setting: how an engineer's choices are shaped by employers and colleagues.
• Trust and reliability: the basis for relying on engineers' judgement.
• Risk assessment and management: weighing and communicating risk as an ethical task.

Chapters 7–9: wider contexts

• Environmental responsibility: engineering and the environment.
• Global practice: engineering across national contexts.
• Emerging technology: the future challenges that Chapter 9 addresses.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Case-driven design. Cases are collected in their own section with a list and a taxonomy, so they can be consulted separately from the chapters, and Cengage describes the book as offering dozens of diverse and contemporary cases.
• A method, not only a code. Chapter 2 is devoted to a practical toolkit, and the publisher stresses a structured method of analysis alongside the code of ethics, which is reproduced in an appendix.
• Coverage of the usual professional topics. Responsibility, organisations, trust, risk, environment and global practice each have their own chapter, which gives a course a ready set of topics for weekly teaching.
• Practice-oriented authorship. The author list includes Ray W. James, whom Cengage identifies as a professional engineer (P.E.), which is consistent with the book's focus on practical application.

Limitations

• Method and cases over theory. Cengage's description emphasises method, codes and cases and does not name ethical theory as a feature, so a course that wants a more philosophical treatment may add one of the course mates described below.
• Edition-specific. The all-new chapter and the boxed features are described as additions to the sixth edition, so chapter numbering and cases in a syllabus written for another edition may not match.

Where It Fits in the Course

Harris and colleagues' book is a case-based textbook that combines a method of analysis with a large set of cases. Fleddermann's Engineering Ethics is a compact introduction with a structured method and short real cases, suitable as a first reading or for a short module; McGinn's The Ethical Engineer is a case-based introduction that sets out four fundamental ethical responsibilities and applies them to eighteen detailed cases.

Martin and Schinzinger's Ethics in Engineering is the nearest comparable full-length textbook, with a more philosophical emphasis (for example engineering as social experimentation). Van de Poel and Royakkers's Ethics, Technology, and Engineering is more explicitly philosophical, teaching analysis through ethical theory and extending to design, sustainability and new technologies. The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Engineering is a scholarly reference with fifty-five chapters, for readers who want the research literature.

How to Use This Book

Cengage addresses the book to future engineers, and its method is not tied to any one branch of engineering, so it suits students in any discipline who need structured practice in analysing ethical problems. The publisher lists no philosophical prerequisites; some familiarity with how engineering work is organised helps with the cases.

A practical plan for a one-term course:

• Start with Chapters 1 and 2 and keep the toolkit open throughout the course; practise it on short cases before moving on.
• Core: Chapters 3–6 (responsibility, organisations, trust, risk), pairing each chapter with cases from the cases section, using the list and taxonomy of cases to choose.
• Contexts: Chapters 7–9 for environment, global practice and emerging technology, depending on the programme.
• Alongside: consult the codes of ethics in the appendix whenever a case turns on professional obligations, and write a short case analysis in each topic area.