ENGR 482 Lecture 6
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"Welfare" and the "Quality of Life"
The growth of ethics usually (and unfortunately) has been preceded by some sort of disaster.
Ethics comes in 3 varieties:
- Prohibitive: avoiding bribery, conflicts of interest, etc.
- Preventative: Prevent harm to public and avoid professional misconduct
- Aspirational: Promote human well-being
1 and 2 correspond to Duty ethics, and is very prominent (80%) in the NSPE code
3 corresponds to virtue ethics (superogatory; admirable)
"welfare", "well-being", "quality of life", and related terms are relatively undefined, but set the standard for aspirational ethics in many codes of ethic
National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering (NAE): Most prestigious society of engineering in the nation
- Established by Gov't in Washington, D.C.
- Advises Congress on Technical Engineering issues
Criterion for selecting the twenty geratest engineering achievements of the 20th century was:
Not technological 'gee-whiz', but [how it moved the quality of life]
- Electrification
- Automobile
- Airplane
- Water Distribution
- ...
- Internet
- Imaging
- Household Appliances
- Health technologies
- Petroleum and petrochemical technologies
- Lasers and fiber optics
- Nuclear Technologies
- High-performance materials
3 Disciplines interested in "quality of life"
- Philosophers
- Economists
- Psychologists
The latter two have done a lot of empirical work:
- Areas with lots of poverty had very low satisfaction
- USA (7.73) has relatively high satisfaction, but not as high as
- Ireland (7.88)
- Canada (7.89)
- Denmark (8.16)
- Switzerland (8.36)
Depression is increasing...
Outcome: Technology is a means to "the good life" or improving the "quality of life", but it is not in itself "the good life".
Satisfaction related to "old" parts of the brain (Subjectivism; pleasure, happiness) or "new" parts of the brain (Objectivism; frontal lobes)
Martha Nussbaum's List of Functionings
- Normal length of life (biomedical)
- Clean water, food, and shelter (civil)
- Moving about freely and safely (civil/mechanical)
- Using one's senses and imagination, having free expression (electrical, computer)
- Daving love and attachments to things and to other people (computer)
- Being able to form a conception of the good life and to plan one's life
- Beigng treated with respect and dignity
- Living with concern for and relation to nature (environmental)
- Engaging in recreational activity (civil/mechanical)
- Being able to participate in political process
Conclusions
Aspirational Ethics:
- Providing basic technological wherewithall (engineers without borders)
- Engineers should be especially committed to promoting development of underdeveloped countries
- "Critical attitude" toward technology; not accepting at face value, being more analytical
- developed countries, BUT can lead to philosophical disorientation