Engineering, Ethics, and the Environment

by P. Aarne Vesilind, Alastair S. Gunn

Overview

This book makes the case that engineers have special professional obligations to protect and enhance the environment, and the authors—one an engineer and the other a philospher— seek to provide an ethical basis for these obligations. In exploring these ethical issues, the authors aim to show that engineers make a difference. The text opens with a series of case studies in which engineers face complex and challenging decisions about the environment. Succeeding chapters examine different ideas about environmental ethics for engineers, including professional codes and both modern and historical discussions of environmental responsibility. The book concludes with a collection of readings that complement the text. Students, as well as practicing engineers, will find much of interest in this well-argued and thought-provoking book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521581127
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/13/1998
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.33(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Part I: 1. The problem of environmental ethics in engineering; 2. Engineering as a people-serving profession; 3. The search for environmental ethics in professional codes of ethics; 4. The search for environmental ethics by applying classical ethical theories; 5. The search for environmental ethics by extending the moral community; 6. The search for environmental ethics by appealing to spirituality; 7. Incorporating environmental ethics into engineering; Part II: 8. Supplemental readings.

Editorial Reviews

"This welcome and timely book makes the case that engineers have special professional obligations to protect and enhance the environment; the authors aim to provide an ethical basis for discharging these obligations. The book certainly makes a good start on that important project." Engineering Science & Education Journal

From the Publisher