Internet encryption crimes.
Safety hazards from nuclear waste contamination.
Deception of human experimental research subjects.
These and countless other ethical intrigues commingle in a Web site named WWW Ethics Center for Engineering
and Science. Enabled by NSF support, the site was spawned in 1995 to offer engineers, scientists, philosophers,
students, and teachers resources for dealing with ethical issues in their professional lives.
Students - first at MIT, now at Case Western Reserve -- created the Ethics Center web site, supported by
a distinguished cast of advisors spanning disciplines such as engineering, sociology, ecology, history, computer ethics and psychology. Many direct ethics programs or divisions at major universities, medical institutions, corporations and in government. The outgrowth of a pilot effort by the site’s director Dr. Caroline Whitbeck, professor of philosophy and mechanical and aerospace engineering at Case Western, the WWW Ethics Center has become an important tool for those who teach and study subjects ranging from archeology to zoology.
The Ethics site features hyperlinks to related worthwhile sites on the Web and an abundance of unique resources on Research Ethics, Engineering Ethics, and Ethics in a Corporate Setting:
Research Ethics topics include:
- scenarios for learning research ethics as a community
- scenarios for research ethics common in a medical school setting
- protection of human subjects
- welfare of animals used in research
Engineering Ethics examines:
- case studies, including an engineer’s attempts to avert the Challenger space shuttle disaster
- cases on public safety and welfare
- intellectual property issues
- international engineering ethics
Ethics in a Corporate Setting focuses on case studies and discussions with ethically-concerned high-technology corporations on ethical problems that arise in the workplace. A Diversity section of the Web site, first developed by a multi-university coalition of undergraduate engineering students, offers resources for reducing the barriers to minorities and women in engineering, including abstracts of some key literature on the topic. The WWW Ethics Center site additionally offers instructional resources for use in grade schools, university classes, and for professional scientists, computer scientists and all varieties of engineers. Topics include: public safety and welfare; integrating design problems with ethical issues; ethical issues of the Internet; medical databases and privacy; fair trade practices; pollution. Some resource/discussion areas of the Web site correlate directly with
real-world workshops.
The Center has many useful features for locating information in this and other sites, including a key word index, glossary, a 12,000 item bibliography, and a list of organizations with their acronyms and links to their sites. The Ethics Center site reflects the priorities of the NSF Program on Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science and Technology (SDEST), which funds its development and operation. Focused on research and educational activities in science and engineering ethics, SDEST has helped foster a dramatic increase in ethics faculty competence and the availability of teaching materials. SDEST also develops projects that can provide policy and practical guidance in a non-academic setting, through videotapes, workshops and web sites. Many ethics-teaching materials generated in university settings are being applied to the private sector, for corporations and schools.
Several SDEST projects focus on ethics and agricultural biotechnology, including consumer right-to-know issues. Research on the current system of grades and standards (G&S;) in domestic and global agricultural production and marketing raises compelling ethical issues. (Standards are measures by which our consumer products and processes are judged. Grades are categories used to implement standards.)
- Distributive justice - G&S; (re)distribute wealth, income, prestige, power and status.
- Consumer rights - Increasingly, G&S; are affecting people’s daily lives without their approval or knowledge.
- Consumer risk -- G&S; may define standards of acceptable risk differently across populations and impose involuntary risks on certain people.
- Environmental ethics - Agricultural grades and standards have the power to distribute environmental problems, such as pollution.
A related NSF-funded project compares cross-cultural philosophies (especially between the U.S. and Europe) in agricultural biotechnology by examining professional debates and gathering data on ordinary citizens’ attitudes toward bioengineered food and animals.
Another study is analyzing the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, asking how much and what kinds of information
should be made available to consumers. Results will offer guidelines for consideration by legislators, regulators
and other policy makers.
In other work, a textbook of case studies on human use of animals in activities ranging from biological and behavioral research to food and farming fuels dialogue for a broad range of educational purposes.
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William LeMessurier, one of the nation's most distinguished structural engineers, discusses ethical dilemmas he faced with structural deficiencies in the design of the Citicorp headquarters. See video clip:QuickTime 1.5 Mb MPEG 1.5 Mb | ||
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 "If you've got a license from the state...and you're going to use that license to hold yourself out as a professional, you have a responsibility beyond yourself." - William LeMessurier | ||
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Engineer Roger Boisjoly describes his attempts to avert the Challenger Disaster during the year preceding the Challenger launch.
See video clip: | ||
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"It is my honest and very real fear that if we do not take immediate action to dedicate a team to solve the problem with the field joint having the number one priority, then we stand in jeopardy of losing a flight along with all the launch pad facilities." - Roger Boisjoly | ||
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Dr. Caroline Whitbeck, Elmer G. Beamer-Hubert H. Schneider Professor in Ethics notes, "It's very important to make this ethics information accessible to people. We can tell from comments we receive that it has a profound effect." | ||
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