Abstract
In this paper we present the authors’ experience of teaching a course in Ethics for Engineers, which has been delivered four times in three different universities in Spain and Chile. We begin by presenting the material context of the course (its place within the university program, the number of students attending, its duration, etc.), and especially the intellectual background of the participating students, in terms of their previous understanding of philosophy in general, and of ethics in particular. Next we set out the objectives of the course and the main topics addressed, as well as the methodology and teaching resources employed to have students achieve a genuine philosophical reflection on the ethical aspects of the profession, starting from their own mindset as engineers. Finally we offer some results based on opinion surveys of the students, as well as a more personal assessment by the authors, recapitulating the most significant achievements of the course and indicating its underlying Socratic structure.
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Notes
Plato, Gorgias 458a, Socrates says: “Of what sort am I? One of those who would be glad to be refuted if I say anything untrue, and glad to refute anyone else who might speak untruly; but just as glad, mind you, to be refuted as to refute”. Translation by (Lamb 1924).
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Acknowledgments
This work is part of the research developed within Project FFI2012-37670, “Fundamentos filosóficos de la idea de solidaridad: amor, amistad y generosidad” (philosophical foundations of the idea of solidarity: love, friendship and generosity), supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad.
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Génova, G., González, M.R. Teaching Ethics to Engineers: A Socratic Experience. Sci Eng Ethics 22, 567–580 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9661-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9661-1