Engineering, Ethics and the Environment

by Vesilind, P. Aarne; Gunn, Alastair S.

• ISBN13: 9780521589185
• ISBN10: 0521589185
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-10-01
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Engineering is ‘the people-serving profession’. The work of engineers involves interaction with clients, other engineers, and the public at large. More than any other profession, their work also directly involves and affects the environment. This book makes the case that engineers have special professional obligations to protect and enhance the environment, and the authors - one, an engineer and the other, a philosopher - seek to provide an ethical basis for these obligations. In exploring these ethical issues, the authors aim to show that engineers make a difference. The text opens with a series of case studies in which engineers face complex and challenging decisions about the environment. Succeeding chapters examine different ideas about environmental ethics for engineers, including professional codes and both modern and historical discussions of environmental responsibility. The book concludes with a collection of readings that complement the text. Students, as well as practising engineers, will find much of interest in this well-argued and thought-provoking book.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
A Note on Terminology	xv
Part I
The Problem of Environmental Ethics in Engineering	3	(15)
Now Where Did I Put That Stuff?	4	(1)
But It Really Is Best for All Concerned, Isn't It?	5	(2)
You've Seen One Big Tree, You've Seen Them All	7	(1)
Free Enterprise at Work	8	(2)
The Magic Bullet	10	(1)
Just a Minor Editorial Change	11	(1)
The Gaia Sacrifice	12	(2)
Just Change the Drilling Log	14	(1)
You'll Never Know It's There	15	(1)
Running Over Box Turtles	16	(2)
Engineering as a People-Serving Profession	18	(30)
Engineering as a Profession	18	(2)
Moral Development and Professional Engineering	20	(6)
Moral Development	20	(3)
Professional Morals	23	(3)
As Engineers See Themselves	26	(2)
As the Public Sees Engineers	28	(8)
Engineers as Utilitarians	30	(2)
Engineers as Positivists	32	(2)
Engineers as Applied Physical Scientists	34	(2)
The Engineer's Responsibilities to Economically Deprived Peoples, to Distant Peoples, and to Future Peoples	36	(9)
Deprived Peoples	36	(1)
Distant Peoples	37	(2)
Future Peoples	39	(6)
The Engineer's Responsibilities to the Environment	45	(3)
The Search for Environmental Ethics in Professional Codes of Ethics	48	(18)
The Engineering Code of Ethics	48	(6)
Public Relations	49	(2)
Professional Conduct	51	(1)
Public Good	52	(2)
Development of the ASCE Code of Ethics	54	(10)
ASCE and Environmental Ethics	58	(3)
The Sustainable Development Alternative	61	(3)
Conclusions	64	(2)
The Search for Environmental Ethics by Applying Classical Ethical Theories	66	(21)
Ethical Theories	67	(6)
Consequentialist Theories	68	(1)
Deontological Theories	68	(2)
Acts and Rules	70	(1)
Rights Theories	70	(2)
Other Ethical Theories	72	(1)
An Evaluation of Ethical Theories	73	(7)
Usefulness of Ethical Theories	78	(2)
Ethical Theories Applied to the Environment	80	(5)
Conclusions	85	(2)
The Search for Environmental Ethics by Extending the Moral Community	87	(14)
Extending the Moral Community	88	(11)
Extending the Moral Community to Include Sentient Animals	89	(4)
Extending the Moral Community to Include All Life	93	(2)
Extending the Moral Community to Include Systems	95	(3)
Extending the Moral Community to Include Everything	98	(1)
Conclusions	99	(2)
The Search for Environmental Ethics in Spirituality	101	(27)
Transcendentalism	103	(1)
Deep Ecology	104	(3)
Ecofeminism	107	(1)
The Gaia Hypothesis	108	(2)
The Judeo-Christian Tradition	110	(4)
Asian Religions	114	(4)
Islam	118	(2)
Animistic Religions	120	(2)
Modern Pantheism	122	(2)
Conclusions	124	(4)
Incorporating Environmental Ethics into Engineering	128	(179)
The National Environmental Policy Act	129	(3)
The Resource Management Act	132	(1)
Conclusion: The Ethical Engineer	133	(8)
Part II
Supplemental Readings for Chapter 1
The Kepone Tragedy	141	(8)
William Goldfarb
The Hooker Memos	149	(9)
CBS News
The Bunker Hill Lead Smelter	158	(5)
Cassandra Tate
Supplemental Readings for Chapter 2
The Existential Pleasures of Engineering	163	(8)
Samuel Florman
Decision Making in the Corps of Engineers: The B. Everett Jordan Lake and Dam	171	(7)
P. Aarne Vesilind
Future Generations and the Social Contract	178	(9)
Kristin Shrader-Frechette
Consumption, Conservation, Use, and Preservation	187	(5)
Alastair S. Gunn
The Tragedy of the Commons	192	(9)
Garrett Hardin
Supplemental Readings for Chapter 3
The Philosophical Basis of Engineering Codes of Ethics	201	(9)
Albert Flores
The Quest for a Code of Professional Ethics: An Intellectual and Moral Confusion	210	(9)
John Ladd
What Are Codes of Ethics For?	219	(7)
Judith Lichtenberg
The Code of Ethics of the American Society of Civil Engineers	226	(9)
Supplemental Readings for Chapter 4
Justification for the Use of Animals	235	(4)
St. Thomas Aquinas
Animals Are Machines	239	(4)
Rene Descartes
Why We Have No Obligations to Animals	243	(2)
Immanuel Kant
The Ethical Relationship Between Humans and Other Organisms	245	(6)
R. D. Guthrie
Supplemental Readings for Chapter 5
The Case for Animal Rights	251	(4)
Tom Regan
The Land Ethic	255	(9)
Aldo Leopold
Reverence for Life	264	(3)
Albert Schweitzer
The Ethics of Respect for Nature	267	(5)
Paul Taylor
Should Trees Have Standing?	272	(6)
Christopher D. Stone
Sierra Club vs. Morton, Secretary of the Interior	278	(5)
The Rights of Natural Objects	283	(6)
Kristin Shrader-Frechette
Supplemental Readings for Chapter 6
Ecological Feminism	289	(6)
Karen J. Warren
The Judeo-Christian Stewardship Attitude Toward Nature	295	(3)
Patrick Dobel
The Sanctity of Life in Hinduism	298	(2)
O. P. Dwivedi
Islamic Environmental Ethics	300	(3)
Mawil Y. Izzi Deen (Samarrai)
Respect for Nature	303	(4)
Gary Snyder
Name Index	307	(4)
Subject Index	311