Good engineers need good laws

Abstract

In this paper, a critical analysis is presented of aspects of contemporary legal systems, from the perspective of engineers who desire to perform their profession in an ethical or socially responsible way, or who wish to contribute positively, through their professional work, to human well-being. It is argued that such aspirations are at present obstructed or impaired by certain aspects of contemporary legislation. Three such aspects are analysed, that is, the legal stipulations governing (1) secrecy, (2) liability and (3) responsibility of and within hierarchical organizations. Indications are given of the directions in which these areas of law may be changed to enable and safeguard ethical and socially responsible conduct of engineers. Implications are drawn for the engineering curriculum and for the community of engineers.

Notes

I presume that, for the context of this paper at least, the terms ‘ethical conduct’ and ‘socially responsible conduct’ by and large refer to the same thing. But in case some readers might not agree, I shall use the expression ‘ethical and socially responsible conduct’ throughout the paper. An explanation of what may be meant by socially responsible conduct will be provided in section 3.3.

An earlier version of the present article was presented to the 2003 SEFI Annual Conference, Porto, 7–10 September 2003. Aspects of the issues dealt with were previously discussed in Zandvoort (2000a–c).

See van de Poel (2004) for an overview of the contents of a number of ethical codes for engineers.

Elsewhere (Zandvoort 2004) I have discussed this issue in the context of an ongoing discussion concerning the risks of modern scientific and technological developments and concerning relinquishment.