Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
7.
Keep your promises.
8.
Do not cheat.
9.
Obey the law
10.
Do your duty.
The next term, ethics, has been summed up by
Socrates as the way we ought to live. For engineers, this
can be modified a bit. Engineering ethics is the way we
ought to practice. The fundamental canons of the Na-
tional Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) code of
ethics
48
captures what engineers ''ought'' to do. It states
that engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional
duties, shall:
1.
Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the
public.
2.
Perform services only in areas of their competence.
3.
Issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner.
4.
Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or
trustees.
5.
Avoid deceptive acts.
6.
Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly,
ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor,
reputation, and usefulness of the profession.
Let us consider these canons as they relate to biomedical
and biosystem ethics for engineers. The canons are the
professional equivalents to ''morality,'' which refers to
societal norms about acceptable (virtuous/good) and un-
acceptable (evil/bad) conduct. These norms are shared by
members of society to provide stability as determined by
consensus.
49
Philosophers consider professional codes of
ethics and their respective canons to be normative ethics,
which is the philosophical study of ethics concerned with
classifying actions as right and wrong without bias. Nor-
mative ethics is contrasted with descriptive ethics, which
is the study of what a group actually believes to be right
and wrong, and how it enforces conduct. Normative
ethics regards ethics as a set of norms related to actions.
Descriptive ethics deals with what ''is'' and normative
ethics addresses ''what should be.''
Philosopher Bernard Gert categorizes behaviors into
what he calls a ''common morality,'' which is a system
that thoughtful people use implicitly to make moral
judgments.
50
According to Gert, humans strive to avoid
five basic harms: death; pain; disability; loss of freedom;
and loss of pleasure. Arguably, the job of the engineer is
to design devices, structures, and systems that mitigate
against such harms in society. Similarly, Gert identifies
ten moral rules of common morality:
Most of these rules are proscriptive. Only rules 7, 9, and
10 are prescriptive, telling us what to do, rather than
what not to do. The first five directly prohibit the in-
fliction of harm on others. The next five indirectly lead to
prevention of harm. Interestingly, these rules track quite
closely with the tenets and canons of the engineering
profession (see
Table 8.1-1
).
Table 8.1-1 Canons of the National Society of Professional Engineers
compared to Gert's rules of morality
Engineers shall:
Most closely linked
to rules of morality
identified by Gert
1. Hold paramount the safety,
health, and welfare of the
public
Do not kill
Do not cause pain
Do not disable
Do not deprive
of pleasure
Do not deprive
of freedom
2. Perform services only
in areas of their
competence
Do not deceive
Keep your promises
Do not cheat
Obey the law
Do your duty
3. Issue public statements
only in an objective and
truthful manner
Do not deceive
4.
Act for each employer
or client as faithful
agents or trustees
Do not deprive
of pleasure
Keep your promises
Do not cheat
Do your duty
5.
Avoid deceptive acts
Do not deceive
Keep your promises
Do not cheat
1.
Do not kill.
2.
Do not cause pain.
3.
Do not disable.
4.
Do not deprive of freedom.
5.
Do not deprive of pleasure.
6.
Do not deceive.
6. Conduct themselves
honorably, responsibly,
ethically, and lawfully
so as to enhance the honor,
reputation, and usefulness of
the profession
Do your duty
Obey the law
Keep your promises
