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Engineering Ethics

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Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics

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Abstract

Engineering ethics concerns the decisions and actions of engineers, individually as well as collectively. It exists as a field of teaching and research since the 1980s. The professional approach to engineering ethics that initially was dominant in the field is discussed, and codes of ethics are explained. Various general ethical issues in engineering like whistle-blowing, loyalty, conflicts of interests, risk and safety, and the environment and sustainability are highlighted. Attention is also paid to recent developments in engineering ethics, in particular to how new technologies may give rise to new ethical issues, and to more proactive approaches to engineering ethics, like value-sensitive design and responsible innovation.

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Further Readings

  • Harris, C. E., Pritchard, M. S., & Rabins, M. J. (2013). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases (5th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth – Cengage.

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  • Martin, M. W., & Schinzinger, R. (2005). Ethics in engineering (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

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  • Van de Poel, I., & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, technology and engineering. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

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  • van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P. E., & Van de Poel, I. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook of ethics and values in technological design. Sources, theory, values and application domains. Dordrecht: Springer.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. TU Delft, Delft, The Netherlands

    Ibo van de Poel

Authors
  1. Ibo van de Poel
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Correspondence to Ibo van de Poel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Healthcare Ethics, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Henk ten Have

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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van de Poel, I. (2016). Engineering Ethics. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09483-0_171

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