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Engineering

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 24 of 24

Full-Text Articles in Philosophy

Teaching Engineering Ethics: A Case Study Approach, Michael Pritchard Feb 2016

Teaching Engineering Ethics: A Case Study Approach, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract provided.

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The Digital Dionysus: Nietzsche & The Network-Centric Condition Dec 2015

The Digital Dionysus: Nietzsche & The Network-Centric Condition

Dan Mellamphy

No abstract provided.

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A Systems View Of Time-Dependent Ethical Decisions, Hamid A. Rafizadeh, Brad Kallenberg Aug 2015

A Systems View Of Time-Dependent Ethical Decisions, Hamid A. Rafizadeh, Brad Kallenberg

Brad J. Kallenberg

Every ethical situation has a "system" characteristic with a group of human and nonhuman elements linked in a variety of interactions and interdependencies. The system allows the elements to act in part or as a whole towards achieving a spectrum of goals, objectives, or ends. The systems view asserts that any local and bipolar understanding of an ethical situation would be deficient as it would neglect certain interactions and interdependencies as well as overlook differing orientations of agents towards different goals and objectives. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need for a systems-based view of ethics.

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The Theological Origins Of Engineering, Brad Kallenberg Aug 2015

The Theological Origins Of Engineering, Brad Kallenberg

Brad J. Kallenberg

Knowledge of our roots can sometimes help us figure out how we ought to proceed. Many claim that engineering began in ancient antiquity with the Egyptian pyramids, Archimedes' inventions, or the Roman aqueducts. Others give contemporary engineering a more recent history, tracing its origins to the Industrial Revolution or the Enlightenment. Yet what is often overlooked is the fact that contemporary engineering owes part of its identity to medieval monasticism. The advantage of remembering this history is the bearing it has on the questions "What is engineering for?" and "How ought engineering be practiced?" Michael Davis makes the claim that, …

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By Design: Ethics, Theology, And The Practice Of Engineering, Brad Kallenberg Jul 2015

By Design: Ethics, Theology, And The Practice Of Engineering, Brad Kallenberg

Brad J. Kallenberg

Both engineering and human living take place in a messy world, one chock full of unknowns and contingencies. "Design reasoning" is the way engineers cope with real-world contingency. Because of the messiness, books about engineering design cannot have "ideal solutions" printed in the back in the same way that mathematics textbooks can. Design reasoning does not produce a single, ideally correct answer to a given problem but rather generates a wide variety of rival solutions that vie against each other for their relative level of "satisfactoriness." A reasoning process analogous to design is needed in ethics. Since the realm of …

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Books And Our Human Stories, Paul Benson Feb 2015

Books And Our Human Stories, Paul Benson

Paul H. Benson

An essay on the impact of the works in the Imprints and Impressions: Milestones in Human Progress, an exhibition of rare books from the collection of Stuart Rose. Exhibition was held Sept. 29-Nov. 9, 2014, at the University of Dayton.

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Ron Arkin's 2013 Argument For A Moratorium On Deployment, But No Ban Of Lethal Autonomous Robots (Argument Map), Michael H.G. Hoffmann Dec 2013

Ron Arkin's 2013 Argument For A Moratorium On Deployment, But No Ban Of Lethal Autonomous Robots (Argument Map), Michael H.G. Hoffmann

Michael H.G. Hoffmann

This argument map represents the argumentation of Arkin, R. (2013). Lethal Autonomous Systems and the Plight of the Non-combatant. AISB Quarterly, 137(July ). Retrieved from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/ai/robot-lab/online-publications/aisbq-137.pdf. The argument map is open for debate in AGORA-net, search for map ID 9199.

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Philosophy As Engineering, Lynn Stein May 2012

Philosophy As Engineering, Lynn Stein

Lynn Andrea Stein

Ours is a field in crisis. Artificial Intelligence cannot make up its collective mind whether it is a discipline of Science or of Engineering. It is unclear from our literature and from our research whether our goals are to explain intelligence or to create it. A researcher who hypothesizes about the structure of intelligent behavior is accused of constructing theories without hope of instantiation; one who creates a seemingly intelligent artifact often sees it derided as "mere hackery." The theorists among us confer in an ever more arcane language, grasping for the idealized agents and environments for which our formal …

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Moral Machines?, Michael Pritchard Dec 2010

Moral Machines?, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

Wendell Wallach and Colin Allen’s Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right From Wrong (Oxford University Press, 2009) explores efforts to develop machines that, not only can be employed for good or bad ends, but which themselves can be held morally accountable for what they do—artificial moral agents(AMAs). This essay is a critical response to Wallach and Allen’s conjectures. Although Wallach and Allen do not suggest that we are close to being able to create full-fledged AMAs, they do talk seriously about making incremental progress in the direction of creating them (even if we never fully succeed). However, there are …

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Service-Learning And Engineering Ethics, Michael Pritchard Dec 1999

Service-Learning And Engineering Ethics, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

This paper explores ways in which service-learning programs can enhance ethics education in engineering. Service-learning programs combine volunteer work and academic study. The National Society for Professional Engineers (NSPE) and American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) codes of ethics explicitly encourage engineers to seek opportunities, beyond their work-related responsibilities, to serve their communities. Examples of how this can be encouraged as a part of the educational experiences of engineering students are explored.
Calvin: How good do you have to be to qualify as good? I haven’t killed anybody. See, that’s good, right? I haven’t committed any felonics. I didn’t start …

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A Case Study “The Concrete Sumo” Exigent Decision-Making In Engineering, Michael Pritchard Nov 1999

A Case Study “The Concrete Sumo” Exigent Decision-Making In Engineering, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available

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Kohlbergian Contributions To Educational Programs For The Moral Development Of Professionals, Michael Pritchard Dec 1998

Kohlbergian Contributions To Educational Programs For The Moral Development Of Professionals, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

This paper discusses the contributions of Lawrence Kohlberg to the teaching of professional ethics. While rejecting Kohlberg's view that the most advanced stages of moral development must embrace utilitarian or Kantian principles, it agrees with Rest and others that postconventional reasoning is essential for professional ethics. However, it raises questions about how differentiations between conventional and postconventional reasoning can reliably be made. Finally, it suggests areas of psychological research other than moral reasoning that would contribute to the teaching of professional ethics.

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Bribery: The Concept, Michael Pritchard Dec 1997

Bribery: The Concept, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

The aim of this paper is to clarify the concept of bribery, and to do this in a way that reveals its underlying normative features. Bribery, like lying is not a value neutral concept. It has a negative connotation and is regarded by most as generally, although not necessarily universally, wrong. At the very least, those who resort to bribery bear a burden of justification for what they do. This is no small point, as no such burden must be borne for the vast majority of human activities, such as engaging in conversation or taking a walk, which normally …

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Professional Responsibility: Focusing On The Exemplary, Michael Pritchard Dec 1997

Professional Responsibility: Focusing On The Exemplary, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

The literature on ethics in science and engineering tends to dwell on the negative, emphasizing disasters, scandals, and problems of wrongdoing in everyday practice. This paper shifts to the positive, focusing on the exemplary. After outlining different possible conceptions of responsibility (ranging from a minimalist view of “staying out of trouble” to “going above and beyond the call of duty”), the paper discusses the importance of certain virtues for scientists and engineers. Finally, a broad range of examples of exemplary practice is offered.

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Commentary On Michael Davis, “Better Communication Between Engineers And Managers,”, Michael Pritchard Dec 1996

Commentary On Michael Davis, “Better Communication Between Engineers And Managers,”, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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Responsible Engineering: Gilbane Gold Revisited, Michael Pritchard Dec 1996

Responsible Engineering: Gilbane Gold Revisited, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

This paper addresses several concerns in teaching engineering ethics. First, there is the problem of finding space within already crowded engineering curricula for meaningful discussions of ethical dimensions in engineering. Some engineering programs may offer entire courses on engineering ethics; however, most do not at present and may not in the foreseeable future. A promising possibility is to weave ethics into already existing courses using case studies, but most current case studies are not well integrated with engineering technical analysis. There is a danger that case studies will be viewed by both instructors and students as departures from “business as …

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Teaching Engineering Ethics: Why? What? Where? When?, Michael Pritchard, C.E. Harris, Michael Rabins Mar 1996

Teaching Engineering Ethics: Why? What? Where? When?, Michael Pritchard, C.E. Harris, Michael Rabins

Michael Pritchard

Engineering ethics is professional ethics, as opposed to personal morality. It sets the standards for professional practice, and is only learned in a professional school or in professional practice. It is an essential part of professional education because it helps students deal with issues they will face in professional practice. The best way to teach engineering ethics is by using cases—not just the disaster cases that make the news, but the kinds of cases that an engineer is more likely to encounter. Many cases are available, and there are methods for analyzing them. Engineering ethics can be taught in a …

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Communication In High Risk Technologies, Michael Pritchard, James Jaksa Dec 1995

Communication In High Risk Technologies, Michael Pritchard, James Jaksa

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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Review: Deborah Johnson, Ed., Ethical Issues In Engineering, Michael Pritchard Dec 1992

Review: Deborah Johnson, Ed., Ethical Issues In Engineering, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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Preparing Professionals For Ethical Responsibilities: The Role Of Universities, Michael Pritchard, Michael Rabins Dec 1991

Preparing Professionals For Ethical Responsibilities: The Role Of Universities, Michael Pritchard, Michael Rabins

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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Teaching Engineering Ethics: A Case Study Approach, Michael Pritchard Oct 1990

Teaching Engineering Ethics: A Case Study Approach, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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Ethics, Engineering, And The Examined Life: Educational Goals For Technical Schools, Michael Pritchard Nov 1987

Ethics, Engineering, And The Examined Life: Educational Goals For Technical Schools, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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Review: Robert Baum, Ethics And The Engineering Curriculum, Michael Pritchard Dec 1981

Review: Robert Baum, Ethics And The Engineering Curriculum, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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Moral Reasoning And Engineering, Michael Pritchard Aug 1980

Moral Reasoning And Engineering, Michael Pritchard

Michael Pritchard

No abstract available.

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