Thinking Like an Engineer: The Place of a Code of Ethics in the Practice of a Profession

Abstract

Most discussions of engineering ethics dismiss the idea of codes of ethics from the outset. Codes are described as self-serving, unrealistic, inconsistent, mere guides for novices, too vague, or unnecessary. On the night of 27 January 1986, Robert Lund was worried. The Space Center was counting down for a shuttle launch the next morning. Lund, vice-president for engineering at Morton Thiokol, had earlier presided over a meeting of engineers that unanimously recommended against the launch. So far have assumed that Lund did as his boss asked, that is, that he thought like a manager rather than an engineer. A code of ethics generally appears when an occupation organizes itself into a profession. Usually, the code is put in writing and formally adopted. Given the argument developed so far, engineers clearly are responsible for acting as their profession's code of ethics requires.

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