Standards of Conduct

1. Standards of Conduct • DoD’s Standards of Conduct • http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/defense_ethics/ • AITP’s Standards of Conduct • http://www.aitp.org/organization/about/conduct/conduct.jsp • ASCE’s Standards of Conduct • https://www.asce.org/pdf/ethics_manual.pdf • Engineers Ireland • http://www.iei.ie/ethics/conduct.pasp • Engineers teaching ethics (interesting article) • http://www.onlineethics.org/CMS/edu/instructessays/davis.aspx • Washington’s code of civility • http://www.foundationsmag.com/civility.html

2. Social Responsibility • Maintains that businesses should not function amorally, but should contribute to the welfare of their communities. • Recognizes multiple objectives: • economic, social, and environmental dimensions from each and all activities • Related to: • sustainability, • Citizenship • If not “amoral,” then has ethical dimensions

3. Caveat Emptor • What does it mean? • In what context? • Why it is so important? Caveat Venditor

4. Determinants of Moral Behavior Characteristics (Moral Intensity) of the Issue Social Characteristics Relationships with “others” Type of Relationships Structure of Relationships Steps towards moral behavior Recognize the moral Issue Make a Moral Judgment (establish Intent) Engage in Moral Behavior Cognitive Dissonance Individual Characteristics Situational Characteristics Level of Cognitive Moral Development

5. Analysis & Evaluation Recognition Situational Framing Action Personal Characteristics Culture Social Networks Economic Environment Foreseeable Consequences Utility Rights Justice Care Perceptions & Behavioral Intentions Individual

6. Ethical Philosophies vs. Reasoning Philosophy Perspective Utility vs Justice vs Rights vs Care Teleology vs Deontology vs Virtues

7. Ethical Philosophies • Utilitarianism (Bentham & Mills) • Ethics of consequences • Deontology (Kant) • Ethics of Duty (Ethical laws) • Principles willed into Universal laws • Treat people as ends (not means) • Virtues (Aristotle) • Ethics of Character

8. Utilitarianism Question 1:  I do not care what motivates other people; I judge them solely on the basis of what they do. Strongly agreeAgreeNeutral/undecidedDisagreeStrongly disagree Question 2:  When I am trying to decide what the right thing to do is, I look at the consequences of the various alternatives open to me. Strongly agreeAgreeNeutral/undecidedDisagreeStrongly disagree

9. Utilitarianism Question 3:  The right thing to do is whatever is best for everyone. Strongly agreeAgreeNeutral/undecidedDisagreeStrongly disagree Question 4:  We should look at the overall consequences of our actions in each and every case. Strongly agreeAgreeNeutral/undecidedDisagreeStrongly disagree

10. Utilitarianism Question 5:  If someone tries to do the right thing but it works out badly, they still deserve moral credit for trying. Strongly agreeAgreeNeutral/undecidedDisagreeStrongly disagree Question 6:  What is the most important thing in life? PleasureHappinessIdeals such as truth and beautyHaving your preferences satisfied

11. Philosophical Ethics • Teleological • Results oriented • Actions have no intrinsic ethical character (acquire moral status from their consequences) or • Deontological • Act oriented • Actions are inherently right or wrong (e.g., lying, cheating, stealing)

12. Philosophically Based Ethics(another perspective) • Utilitarianism (Bentham & Mills) • Ethics of consequences • Deontology (Kant) • Ethics of Duty (Ethical laws) • Principles willed into Universal laws • Treat people as ends (not means) • Virtues (Aristotle) • Ethics of Character

13. Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus • Bentham (not originally called Utilitarianism) • Moral science (vs. ascetic religious) • Quantifying pleasure • Pleasure good, pain bad • Hedonistic calculus (7 aspects) • Intensity (Intrinsic strength of the pleasurable or painful feelings produced.) • Duration (how long they last) • Certainty / Uncertainty (likelihood of sensations being produced by given action. • Propinquity / Remoteness (how soon they will be felt) • Fecundity (whether actions lead to pleasure) • Purity (whether actions lead to pain) • Extent (number of people affected) • Open, public, objective, fair • Mill’s types of pleasure (quality vs. quantity)

14. Basic Insights of Utilitarianism • The purpose of morality is to make the world a better place. • Morality is about producing good consequences, not having good intentions • We should do whatever will bring the most benefit (i.e., intrinsic value) to all of humanity.

15. The Purpose of Morality • The utilitarian has a very simple answer to the question of why morality exists at all: • The purpose of morality is to guide people’s actions in such a way as to produce a better world. • Consequently, the emphasis in utilitarianism is on consequences, not intentions.

16. Fundamental Imperative • The fundamental imperative of utilitarianism is: Always act in the way that will produce the greatest overall amount of good in the world. • The emphasis is clearly on consequences, not intentions.

17. The Emphasis on the Overall Good • We often speak of “utilitarian” solutions in a disparaging tone, but in fact utilitarianism is a demanding moral position that often asks us to put aside self-interest for the sake of the whole. • Utilitarianism is a morally demanding position for two reasons: • It always asks us to do the most, to maximize utility, not to do the minimum. • It asks us to set aside personal interest.

18. The Dream of Utilitarianism:Bringing Scientific Certainty to Ethics • Utilitarianism offers us a powerful vision of the moral life, one that promises to reduce or eliminate moral disagreement. • If we can agree that the purpose of morality is to make the world a better place; and • If we can scientifically assess various possible courses of action to determine which will have the greatest positive effect on the world; then • We can provide a scientific answer to the question of what we ought to do.

19. Intrinsic Value • Many things have instrumental value, that is, they have value as means to an end. • However, there must be some things which are not merely instrumental, but have value in themselves. This is what we call intrinsic value. • What has intrinsic value? Four principal candidates: • Pleasure • Jeremy Bentham • Happiness • John Stuart Mill • Ideals • G. E. Moore • Preferences • Kenneth Arrow

20. Definition: The enjoyable feeling we experience when a state of deprivation is replaced by fulfillment. Advantages Easy to quantify Short duration Bodily Criticisms Came to be known as “the pig’s philosophy” Ignores higher values Could justify living on a pleasure machine Pleasure

21. Advantages A higher standard, more specific to humans About realization of goals Disadvantages More difficult to measure Competing conceptions of happiness Happiness

22. The Utilitarian Calculus • Math and ethics finally merge: all consequences must be measured and weighed. • Units of measurement: • Hedons: positive • Dolors: negative

23. What do we calculate? • Hedons/dolors may be defined in terms of • Pleasure • Happiness • Ideals • Preferences • For any given action, we must calculate: • How many people will be affected, negatively (dolors) as well as positively (hedons) • How intensely they will be affected • Similar calculations for all available alternatives • Choose the action that produces the greatest overall amount of utility (hedons minus dolors)