Ethical Engineering: Definitions, Theories and Techniques - Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability - page 36

give a very different understanding of justice from the current norm of a White
middle-class heterosexual nominally Christian, youngish non-disabled male living
in Europe or the USA, which fi ts less than 5% of the world's population.

2.3.3 Process- and Outcomes-Oriented Theories and Approaches

2.3.3.1 Eco-centred Ethics

The fi eld of environmental ethics developed in the 1970s in response to increased
awareness of social and environmental issues. Most environmental ethicists con-
sider that the application of traditional Western moral philosophy to environmental
issues will make the situation worse, as it is based on human action in relation to
other people and considers nature to be a means, not an end. Eco-centred environ-
mental ethics focuses on connections and interactions and a holistic perspective
based on ecological systems and therefore increases the likelihood of awareness of
long-term and indirect consequences. However, it has holistic as well as, rather than
instead of, individualistic concerns and does not replace socially generated duties
and relationships, though the focus is on the holistic rather than individuals. It can
therefore be considered to add new ethical responsibilities to existing ones (Callicott
1992 ). A manifesto for earth (Mosquin and Rowe 2004 ) has four core and seven
action principles. The core principles include 'the ecosphere is the centre of value
for humanity', 'the creativity and productivity of earth's ecosystems depend on their
integrity', 'an ecocentric worldview values diversity of ecosystems and cultures'
and 'ecocentric ethics supports social justice'. The action principles include the
reduction of human consumption and population and promoting governance
that does encourage over-exploitation and destruction of ecosystems. It should be
noted that population reduction may itself raise ethical issues, depending on how it
is carried out.

2.3.3.2 Narrative Ethics

Ethics and ethical decision making are often treated as being about discrete actions
and decisions rather than processes which are embedded in systemic structures.
Narrative ethics is one of the approaches which stresses the importance of systems
and processes. It uses narratives or stories told by individuals to explore ethical
issues. In this way, it can also give a voice to individuals whose experiences might
otherwise be marginalised or ignored.
Other than a few exceptions, e.g. (Hersh et al. 2005 ; Frey and O'Neill-Carillo
2008 ), there has been little work on the consideration of the ethics of engineering
and information systems in terms of narrative ethics. One of the areas in which there
is a body of work, for instance (Lindsay and Graham 2000 ; Marck 2000 ; Sørlie
et al. 2004 ; Widdershoven and Smits 1996 ), on narrative ethics, is nursing. There is
increasing recognition of the importance of human-centred design and that the