4.2 Analyzing Ethical Problems: Statement Types, Problem Types & the Design Model
Key Takeaways
The PPE eBook separates factual, conceptual and moral statements: factual issues are resolved by investigation, conceptual issues by agreeing on a term's scope, and moral issues by applying principles.
A relevance problem asks whether a moral principle applies; a conflict problem arises when two applicable principles point to incompatible actions.
The eBook's four types of engineering ethical problems are violations of laws and standards, failure to protest inadequate designs, unsuccessful remedies, and competing considerations.
Solving ethical problems uses an analytical mode (sorting the parts) and an imaginative mode (creating options), with five goals ending in tolerating disagreement and ambiguity.
The engineering design model adapts to ethics in six steps: recognize, gather data and define, generate alternatives, evaluate costs and benefits, decide, and implement.
Analyzing Ethical Problems in Engineering Technology
Knowing the Code of Ethics is not the same as being able to use it. The PPE eBook gives a full module to ethical problems in engineering: how to recognize them, how to break them into parts, and how to reach a defensible decision. Many Ethics-section questions are short scenarios that ask what kind of problem is present or what the member should do next. This section gives you the eBook's vocabulary and a method that fits the Code clauses covered in Section 4.3.
1. Ethics in Its Philosophical Setting
Philosophy studies fundamental questions of human existence. It is traditionally divided into five branches:
| Branch | Studies |
|---|---|
| Ethics | Right and wrong, good and evil, justice, and social and political ideals |
| Logic | Correct reasoning |
| Epistemology | Knowledge: what we can know and how |
| Metaphysics | Existence and the nature of reality |
| Aesthetics | Beauty and artistic experience |
Within ethics, four related ideas are easy to confuse:
- Ethics are a society's or group's shared beliefs about right and wrong within that group, so they are external to the individual. A profession's code of ethics is an example.
- Morals are an individual's internal beliefs about right and wrong, used in everyday decisions.
- Laws are written rules created and enforced by government and the courts, with specific penalties for breach.
- Justice is the idea of what is fair and equitable: people who behave alike receive alike.
A technologist can face a situation that is legal but unethical (Section 4.1), or one where personal morals and the profession's ethics point the same way but the law is silent. The Code of Ethics is the profession's shared ethics, and By-law 20 makes it enforceable.
2. Three Kinds of Statements and Three Kinds of Issues
Ethical disagreements are often really disagreements about facts or definitions. The eBook separates three kinds of statements:
| Statement Type | What It Claims | How Disagreements Are Argued |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Something is true or false and can be confirmed or refuted by observation ("The weld failed the ultrasonic test") | By appeal to evidence and empirical data |
| Conceptual | The meaning, scope or boundary of a term ("Is a temporary shoring design 'professional work' under the Code?") | By arguing which definition is most appropriate |
| Moral | Something is right or wrong ("It is wrong to certify the shoring without checking it") | By appeal to moral principles |
Each type of issue is resolved differently:
- Factual issues are resolved by investigation and research: testing, measuring, checking records.
- Conceptual issues are resolved by reaching consensus on the exact boundaries or scope of the term.
- Moral issues are resolved by agreeing how relevant moral principles apply.
Exam tip: first sort out the facts and the meaning of key terms. Many apparent moral conflicts disappear once the facts are tested and the definitions agreed.
Two Kinds of Moral Problems
| Problem | Description | eBook Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance problem | It is unclear whether a particular moral principle applies to the situation | (1) Line up the options from most to least ethically acceptable; (2) compare their moral similarities and differences; (3) draw the line between what is relevant and what is not |
| Conflict problem | Two or more principles clearly apply but point to incompatible actions | (1) Look for a creative middle-ground solution; (2) if all else is equal, pick the best alternative; (3) where no easy alternative exists, make the hard choice |
Example of a conflict problem. A technologist owes confidentiality to a client (clause (d)) but has evidence that the client's discharge is harming a creek (clauses (a) and (i)). Look first for a middle-ground solution: give the client written notice and a short deadline to self-report to the Spills Action Centre. If the client refuses, the paramount duty decides the hard choice in favour of reporting.
3. Four Types of Ethical Problems in Engineering
The eBook classifies the ethical problems seen in engineering case studies into four types:
| Type | What Goes Wrong | Engineering Technology Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Violation of laws and standards | A party breaks laws or ethical standards | A contractor skips required trench support; a technician falsifies a compaction log |
| 2. Failure to protest the use of inadequate designs | A party has good reason to believe a design can cause harm but does not object | A drafter notices missing fire dampers on drawings but says nothing |
| 3. Unsuccessful attempts at problem remedies | A party knows of the problem and tries to fix it, but the remedy fails | Engineers flag corrosion and recommend repairs, but patch repairs do not stop the deterioration (the Elliot Lake pattern, Section 5.3) |
| 4. Competing considerations | A party is caught between legitimate demands and does not know which should prevail | Schedule penalties and job security versus completing safety tests (Section 4.3) |
Type 2 maps to Code clauses (h) and (i) and to Rule 3.3. Type 3 shows that trying to fix a problem is not enough when the fix fails: the member must keep acting, escalate, and report. Type 4 is where the paramount duty in clause (a) settles the priority.
4. Goals and Mindsets for Solving Ethical Problems
The eBook names five goals for studying ethical problems:
- Stimulating the ethical imagination: seeing the human consequences of technical choices;
- Recognizing ethical issues: noticing when a routine decision has an ethical dimension;
- Developing ethical analytical skills: breaking a problem into factual, conceptual and moral parts;
- Developing a sense of ethical responsibility: accepting that the problem is yours to address; and
- Tolerating disagreement and ambiguity: accepting that reasonable professionals can differ, and acting anyway.
Solving ethical problems also takes two mindsets. In the analytical mode, you sort the problem into its parts: facts, concepts, principles, stakeholders. In the imaginative mode, you think creatively about possible resolutions, much as a designer brainstorms before choosing.
5. The Engineering Design Model Applied to Ethics
Engineering technologists already know a structured method for technical problems. The eBook adapts the engineering design model to ethical problems:
| Design Step | Ethical Application |
|---|---|
| 1. Recognize that a problem exists | Notice that a signature, test result, specification or instruction raises an ethical issue |
| 2. Gather data and define the problem | Separate factual, conceptual and moral issues; identify stakeholders and the Code clauses and Rules engaged |
| 3. Generate alternative solutions | Use the imaginative mode, and avoid the false choice between "obey" and "quit" |
| 4. Evaluate the costs and benefits of the alternatives | Weigh each option's consequences for the public, environment, workers, client and employer |
| 5. Make a decision | Choose the option that respects clause (a) and the other duties |
| 6. Implement the decision | Act, document in writing, and follow through, including escalation and reporting if needed |
The analogy has a limit. Engineering problems have a large quantitative dimension and often one best answer. Ethical problems turn on values, concepts and judgement, and can have several defensible answers. The method gives structure, but it does not turn ethics into arithmetic.
Worked Example
A C.Tech. doing concrete testing is told by the site superintendent to log a failed slump test as "passed" because the truck has already been placed.
- Factual: Did the test actually fail? Re-check the measurement and the equipment.
- Conceptual: Is the field log a "report" covered by clause (c) and Rule 3.10? Yes. It is relied on by the owner and the engineer.
- Moral: Truthfulness and public safety (clauses (a) and (c)) conflict with pleasing the superintendent. This is a conflict problem with no acceptable middle ground on falsifying the record, though there is middle ground on what to do next.
- Alternatives: record the true result and notify the engineer of record immediately, with core testing recommended; or falsify the log. Only the first is acceptable.
- Implementation: record the actual value, send a written notice of the non-conformance (clause (h)), and keep a copy.
Two technologists disagree about whether a newly installed handrail "meets code." One says the measured height is 1,020 mm; the other says it is 1,090 mm. According to the PPE eBook's framework, what kind of issue is this, and how is it resolved?
A moral issue, resolved by agreeing which ethical principle should take priority
A conceptual issue, resolved by agreeing on the meaning of the word "handrail"
A conflict problem, resolved by choosing the option in each person's best self-interest
A factual issue, resolved by investigation, such as re-measuring the installed height
A drafting technician notices that a set of mechanical drawings omits required fire dampers, but stays silent because the design lead is senior. Which of the eBook's four types of ethical problems does this illustrate?
Failure to protest the use of inadequate designs
Unsuccessful attempts at remedying a known problem
Violation of laws and standards by the client
Competing considerations between two legitimate demands
A technologist is sure that confidentiality to a client and the duty to report environmental harm both apply, but they point in opposite directions. In the PPE eBook's terms, what is this, and what is the first recommended step?
A relevance problem; first line up the options from most to least ethically acceptable
A factual problem; first commission an independent laboratory study of the discharge
A conflict problem; first look for a creative middle-ground solution between the principles
A conceptual problem; first agree on the dictionary definition of confidentiality
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.