The History and Necessity of Scientific Research and Engineering Ethics
Danny Li, 2013-3-14
The engineering ethics is the moral result of engineering research. Essentially ethics and moral are the cyclic definition. they are used to define one with another. The idea is sample but they are strong and powerful ideological weapons.
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending philosophic concepts of right conduct and misconduct. The term is from a Greek word, ethos that means "character". In philosophy, ethics studies the moral behavior in human society, and how an individual should act. Engineering ethics is the field of applied ethics and moral principles to the practice of engineering including the scientific activities. "How should we deal with this situation?" , "In what moral principles should we do when we meet this situation?" It was a critical-thinking. The engineering only centers on the technique issues rather than the ultimate purpose of engineering practice and the moral characters.
The engineer recognizes that the greatest merit is the work, so exercise their profession committed to serving society, attending to the welfare and progress of the majority. By transforming nature for the benefit of mankind, the engineer must increase their awareness of the world is the abode of man and his interest in the universe is a guarantee of overcoming their spirit and knowledge of reality to make it fairer and happier. The engineer should reject papers that are intended to harm the general interest, in this way avoid situations involving hazards or constitute a threat to the environment, life, health and other rights of human beings. It is an inescapable duty of the engineer to hold the prestige of the profession and ensure its proper discharge; also maintain a professional demeanor rooted in the ability, honesty, fortitude, temperance, magnanimity, modesty, honesty and justice, with the consciousness of individual well-being subordinate to the good social. The engineer must ensure the continuous improvement of their knowledge, particularly of their profession, disseminate their knowledge, share experience, provide opportunities for education and training of workers, provide recognition, moral and material support to the school where he studied, in this way revert to the opportunities the company has received. It is the responsibility of the engineer who carried out their work efficiently and supports the laws. In particular, ensure compliance with the standards of worker protection provided by the law As professionals, engineers are expected to commit themselves to high standards of conduct (NSPE) [1]
The engineering ethics is closely linked with human civilization. The ancient Egyptian obtained some technique engineering by building the pyramids. They created the technique to build the pyramids that could stand up against the natural disasters such as earthquake in the windy and dusty desert environment,and it brought about the human concerns to the slave workers. The pyramids were made of thousands of granite blocks weighing up to 80 tons, which were made in the mountains 1,000 kilometers away, the ancient Egyptian transported the granites over by boats along the Nile river.
The ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates was sentenced to death, his students dug the underground tunnel directly to his bed in the prison, and bribed the jailors in order to save the great philosopher. Aristotle first mentioned the concept of "engineering ethics" in his books of "natural philosophy", "physics" at the Academy and the Lyceum, which was the earliest class lessons of "engineering ethics".
In ancient China, there were a large amount of ethical educations in a hundred schools in pre-Qin times, such as golden mean of the path, the relationship of rulers and ministers, Confucian Doctrine of filial piety and fraternal duty, as a principle of family ethics, is the traditional expression of Confucian humanity philosophy in ancient China, the Equality of Things by Zhuangzi. Chinese morale values includes the ancients' unpretending desires for pursuing happy life, harmonious family and peaceful community, and crying up value orientation of harmonious society. The education of engineering ethics of ancient China mainly centered on good timing, geographical convenience and good human relations. There were much more probabilities of car crush at T-junctions, the house insurance should be more expensive, the ancestral graves and living quarters should not be built in the low - lying land, since it collects water. The doors and windows should face the south in order to light and keep warm.
Confucian said "To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools". The engineers should prepare the tools with proficiency so that they can get twice the result with the half effort. There are many elements in the engineering practice, engineers are the first elements, the nature of engineering elements is not the ethics, but every engineering practice implies rich morale issues and ethical problems.
In ancient China, Bin Li in Qin dynasties planned and designed on the Dujiang Weir Project, the PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEM SCIENCE IN THE DUGIANG WEIR PROJECT includes the elite of Chinese ancient engineering ethics that allow the project to work well for 2,000 years.
The tool materials are often considered as the important means to study human history. The Bronze ware is the symbol to differentiate primitive communism and slavery, the iron ware is the watershed between slavery and feudalism. The Han dynasties iron sword is a kind of man made smelted iron, but not natural meteoric iron. The manufacturing technology of the sword was forging from wrought iron regarding to the condition of the unearthed sword by the use of organic silica for conservation. The engineer supervised the forging and smelting of iron ware, the manufacturing procedures are slightly similar to the modern quality control and quality insurance. The engineers had to put the government and public's interest in front of their own, which was the sprout of altruism of engineering ethics.
Dong Zhongshu thought that the social hierarchy was the fundamental law of the universe, the Wuchang Dao was the only element to keep a cordial and harmonious society, which the pyramid management mode of ancient China. His non-religious Feature of Heaven Human Ideology was the basic principles of ancient China. The sui yang emperor ' s opening the canal was overambitious and unrealistic so that his greedy construction plan only focused on the progress of engineering ignoring the human ethics.
John Augustine mentioned his Metaphysical Dimension of Free Will, that God is a omnipresent engineer. . John Calvin in Renaissance created the management mode of Church, which leads also to the modern engineering ethics field.
The military engineers were the earliest technicians in the ancient Rome who were marching with the legions, designed the siege engines, built the fortifications and logistics roads. The great Colosseum was built by the ancient Rome civil engineer. The “Greek fire" was one of the most powerful secret weapons designed by the Rome marine engineers, which guaranteed the Rome to hold the command of sea, and keep the empire of byzantine last over 1,000 years.
French built the Pont du Gard, aqueduct, 275 meters long, 48.8 meters high, by which they created the first engineering responsibility and contract. The aqueduct was owned by the city government that hired the engineers and workers.
Da Vinci was an archetypal Renaissance figure, a mechanical engineer, a civil engineer and a military engineer. "His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination" [2]
In 20th century, the US engineering society reinforced the engineering ethics code, slightly similar to the ancient Rome associations, such as how to avoid the interest conflicts, how to avoid the rat-race competition, how to protect the intelligence properties, which made the engineering ethics a subject of philosophy, law, science, engineering and management.
reference
[1] Layton (1986). pp. 6-9
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
Danny Li, 2013-3-14
The engineering ethics is the moral result of engineering research. Essentially ethics and moral are the cyclic definition. they are used to define one with another. The idea is sample but they are strong and powerful ideological weapons.
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending philosophic concepts of right conduct and misconduct. The term is from a Greek word, ethos that means "character". In philosophy, ethics studies the moral behavior in human society, and how an individual should act. Engineering ethics is the field of applied ethics and moral principles to the practice of engineering including the scientific activities. "How should we deal with this situation?" , "In what moral principles should we do when we meet this situation?" It was a critical-thinking. The engineering only centers on the technique issues rather than the ultimate purpose of engineering practice and the moral characters.
The engineer recognizes that the greatest merit is the work, so exercise their profession committed to serving society, attending to the welfare and progress of the majority. By transforming nature for the benefit of mankind, the engineer must increase their awareness of the world is the abode of man and his interest in the universe is a guarantee of overcoming their spirit and knowledge of reality to make it fairer and happier. The engineer should reject papers that are intended to harm the general interest, in this way avoid situations involving hazards or constitute a threat to the environment, life, health and other rights of human beings. It is an inescapable duty of the engineer to hold the prestige of the profession and ensure its proper discharge; also maintain a professional demeanor rooted in the ability, honesty, fortitude, temperance, magnanimity, modesty, honesty and justice, with the consciousness of individual well-being subordinate to the good social. The engineer must ensure the continuous improvement of their knowledge, particularly of their profession, disseminate their knowledge, share experience, provide opportunities for education and training of workers, provide recognition, moral and material support to the school where he studied, in this way revert to the opportunities the company has received. It is the responsibility of the engineer who carried out their work efficiently and supports the laws. In particular, ensure compliance with the standards of worker protection provided by the law As professionals, engineers are expected to commit themselves to high standards of conduct (NSPE) [1]
The engineering ethics is closely linked with human civilization. The ancient Egyptian obtained some technique engineering by building the pyramids. They created the technique to build the pyramids that could stand up against the natural disasters such as earthquake in the windy and dusty desert environment,and it brought about the human concerns to the slave workers. The pyramids were made of thousands of granite blocks weighing up to 80 tons, which were made in the mountains 1,000 kilometers away, the ancient Egyptian transported the granites over by boats along the Nile river.
The ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates was sentenced to death, his students dug the underground tunnel directly to his bed in the prison, and bribed the jailors in order to save the great philosopher. Aristotle first mentioned the concept of "engineering ethics" in his books of "natural philosophy", "physics" at the Academy and the Lyceum, which was the earliest class lessons of "engineering ethics".
In ancient China, there were a large amount of ethical educations in a hundred schools in pre-Qin times, such as golden mean of the path, the relationship of rulers and ministers, Confucian Doctrine of filial piety and fraternal duty, as a principle of family ethics, is the traditional expression of Confucian humanity philosophy in ancient China, the Equality of Things by Zhuangzi. Chinese morale values includes the ancients' unpretending desires for pursuing happy life, harmonious family and peaceful community, and crying up value orientation of harmonious society. The education of engineering ethics of ancient China mainly centered on good timing, geographical convenience and good human relations. There were much more probabilities of car crush at T-junctions, the house insurance should be more expensive, the ancestral graves and living quarters should not be built in the low - lying land, since it collects water. The doors and windows should face the south in order to light and keep warm.
Confucian said "To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools". The engineers should prepare the tools with proficiency so that they can get twice the result with the half effort. There are many elements in the engineering practice, engineers are the first elements, the nature of engineering elements is not the ethics, but every engineering practice implies rich morale issues and ethical problems.
In ancient China, Bin Li in Qin dynasties planned and designed on the Dujiang Weir Project, the PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEM SCIENCE IN THE DUGIANG WEIR PROJECT includes the elite of Chinese ancient engineering ethics that allow the project to work well for 2,000 years.
The tool materials are often considered as the important means to study human history. The Bronze ware is the symbol to differentiate primitive communism and slavery, the iron ware is the watershed between slavery and feudalism. The Han dynasties iron sword is a kind of man made smelted iron, but not natural meteoric iron. The manufacturing technology of the sword was forging from wrought iron regarding to the condition of the unearthed sword by the use of organic silica for conservation. The engineer supervised the forging and smelting of iron ware, the manufacturing procedures are slightly similar to the modern quality control and quality insurance. The engineers had to put the government and public's interest in front of their own, which was the sprout of altruism of engineering ethics.
Dong Zhongshu thought that the social hierarchy was the fundamental law of the universe, the Wuchang Dao was the only element to keep a cordial and harmonious society, which the pyramid management mode of ancient China. His non-religious Feature of Heaven Human Ideology was the basic principles of ancient China. The sui yang emperor ' s opening the canal was overambitious and unrealistic so that his greedy construction plan only focused on the progress of engineering ignoring the human ethics.
John Augustine mentioned his Metaphysical Dimension of Free Will, that God is a omnipresent engineer. . John Calvin in Renaissance created the management mode of Church, which leads also to the modern engineering ethics field.
The military engineers were the earliest technicians in the ancient Rome who were marching with the legions, designed the siege engines, built the fortifications and logistics roads. The great Colosseum was built by the ancient Rome civil engineer. The “Greek fire" was one of the most powerful secret weapons designed by the Rome marine engineers, which guaranteed the Rome to hold the command of sea, and keep the empire of byzantine last over 1,000 years.
French built the Pont du Gard, aqueduct, 275 meters long, 48.8 meters high, by which they created the first engineering responsibility and contract. The aqueduct was owned by the city government that hired the engineers and workers.
Da Vinci was an archetypal Renaissance figure, a mechanical engineer, a civil engineer and a military engineer. "His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination" [2]
In 20th century, the US engineering society reinforced the engineering ethics code, slightly similar to the ancient Rome associations, such as how to avoid the interest conflicts, how to avoid the rat-race competition, how to protect the intelligence properties, which made the engineering ethics a subject of philosophy, law, science, engineering and management.
reference
[1] Layton (1986). pp. 6-9
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci