Abstract
Ethical decision-making within engineering has not been broadly studied, although there is a growing body of evidence supporting the view that missteps in ethical decision-making result in changes in organizational culture and in disasters which in turn negatively impact a broad number of stakeholders. The ethical decision-making framework we propose in this paper builds on the notion of empathy as central, although not sufficient in of itself, to the ethical decision-making process. We build on work outside of engineering on the role of empathy in ethical reasoning along with an emerging model of empathy within engineering, drawing on literature in the fields of philosophy, social psychology, neuroscience, and engineering education. We first discuss what empathy is and how empathy informs ethical decision-making in general, with a specific focus on the cognitive form of empathy or what we call empathic perspective-taking. Next we explore methods through which engineers might empathically think and act in ethically challenging situations. Finally, we explore a range of engineering contexts and cases that highlight the role empathy plays in coming to an ethically justifiable decision in specific contexts. We conclude with the suggestion that engineering ethics educators need to develop effective tools for developing and assessing empathic perspective-taking to promote ethical decision-making within the practice of engineering.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Stakeholder theory in the corporate setting refers to “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of an organization’s purpose” (Freeman 2010). More broadly, stakeholder theory involves the adoption of a unit of measurement, which may be “the relationship between a business and the groups and individuals who can affect or are affected by it” (Freeman et al. 2010). On this account, “How value gets created for stakeholders is just how each is affected by the actions of others as well as managers” (Freeman et al. 2010).
References
Baillie, C., Pawley, A., & Riley, D. (2012). Engineering and social justice: In the university and beyond. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.
Baldwin, M. W., Carrell, S. E., & Lopez, D. F. (1990). Priming relationship schemas: My advisor and the Pope are watching me from the back of my mind. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 26(5), 435–454.
Barry, B. E., & Ohland, M. W. (2012). ABET criterion 3.f: How much curriculum content is enough? Science and Engineering Ethics, 18(2), 369–392.
Batson, C. D., Early, S., & Salvarani, G. (1997). Perspective taking: Imagining how another feels versus imaging how you would feel. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(7), 751–758.
Beauchamp, T. L. (2007). The ‘four principles’ approach to health care ethics. In R. Ashcroft, A. Dawson, H. Draper, & J. McMillan (Eds.), Principles of health care ethics (pp. 3–10). West Sussex: Wiley.
Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2013). Principles of biomedical ethics (7th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Beever, J., & Brightman, A. O. (2016). Reflexive principlism as an effective approach for developing ethical reasoning in engineering. Science and Engineering Ethics, 22(1), 275–291.
Berenguer, J. (2007). The effect of empathy in proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors. Environment and Behavior, 39(2), 269–283.
Bovy, M., & Vinck, D. (2003). Social complexity and the role of the object: Installing household waste containers. In Everyday engineering: An ethnography of design and innovation (pp. 53–74). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Catalano, G. D. (2006). Engineering ethics: Peace, justice, and the earth (Synthesis lectures on engineering, technology and society). San Rafael: Morgan & Claypool.
Cotkin, G. (2010). Morality’s muddy waters: Ethical quandaries in modern America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Davis, M. H. (1991). The place of a code of ethics in the practice of a profession. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 20(2), 150–167.
Davis, M. H. (1996). Empathy: A social psychological approach (Social psychology series). Boulder: Westview Press.
de Waal, F. (2009). The age of empathy: Nature’s lessons for a kinder society. New York: Harmony Books.
Deigh, J. (1995). Empathy and universalizability. Ethics, 105(4), 743–763.
Finelli, C. J., Holsapple, M. A., Ra, E., Bielby, R. M., Burt, B. A., Carpenter, D. D., Harding, T. S., & Sutkus, J. A. (2012). An assessment of engineering students’ curricular and co-curricular experiences and their ethical development. Journal of Engineering Education, 101(3), 469–494.
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Parmar, B. L., & De Colle, S. (2010). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gibbs, J. C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Harris, C. E., Pritchard, M. S., Rabins, M. J., James, R., & Englehardt, E. (2014). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases (5th ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning.
Haws, D. R. (2001). Ethics instruction in engineering education: A (mini) meta-analysis. Journal of Engineering Education, 90(2), 223–229.
Hess, J. L. (2013). Global applications of engineering ethics education: A systematic literature review. Paper presented at the American Society of Engineering Education, Atlanta, GA.
Hess, J. L., Sprowl, J. E., Pan, R., Dyehouse, M., Wachter Morris, C. A., & Strobel, J. (2012). Empathy and caring as conceptualized inside and outside of engineering: Extensive literature review and faculty focus group analyses. In ASEE annual conference & exposition. San Antonio, TX.
Hess, J. L., Beever, J., Iliadis, A., Kisselburgh, L. G., Zoltowski, C. B., Krane, M. J. M., & Brightman, A. O. (2014). An ethics transfer case assessment tool for measuring ethical reasoning abilities of engineering students using reflexive principlism approach. In Opening innovations and internationalization in engineering education: Frontiers in education. Madrid: IEEE.
Hickok, G. (2014). The myth of mirror neurons: The real neuroscience of communication and cognition. New York: WW Norton & Company.
Hodges, S. D., & Wegner, D. M. (1997). Automatic and controlled empathy. In W. Ickes (Ed.), Empathic accuracy (pp. 311–339). New York: The Guilford Press.
Hoffman, M. L. (2000). Empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Iacoboni, M. (2009). Mirroring people: The science of empathy and how we connect with others. New York: Picador.
Johnson, D. G., & Noorman, M. E. (2014, May–June). Responsibility practices in robotic warfare. Military Review.
Kisselburgh, L., Zoltowski, C. B., Beever, J., Hess, J. L., Iliadis, A., & Brightman, A. (2014). Effectively engaging engineers in ethical reasoning about emerging technologies: A cyber-enabled framework of scaffolded, integrated, and reflexive analysis of cases. In American Society for Engineering Education. Indianapolis, IN.
Konrath, S. H., O’Brien, E. H., & Hsing, C. (2011). Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(2), 180–198.
Mullen, B., Brown, R., & Smith, C. (1992). Ingroup bias as a function of salience, relevance, and status: An integration. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22(2), 103–122.
National Academy of Engineering. (2008). Changing the conversation: Messages for improving public understanding of engineering. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
National Society of Professional Engineers. (2013). NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers. http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html.
Niewoehner, R. J., & Steidle, C. E. (2009). The loss of the space shuttle Columbia: Portaging leadership lessons with a critical thinking model. Engineering Management Journal, 21(1), 9–18.
Oxley, J. C. (2011). The moral dimensions of empathy: Limits and applications in ethical theory and practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rasoal, C., Danielsson, H., & Jungert, T. (2012). Empathy among students in engineering programmes. European Journal of Engineering Education, 37(5), 427–435.
Riley, D. (2008). Engineering and social justice (Synthesis lectures on engineering, technology, and society). San Rafael: Morgan & Claypool.
Roeser, S. (2012). Emotional engineers: Toward morally responsible design. Science and Engineering Ethics, 18(1), 103–115.
Rogers Commission. (1986). Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/letter.htm.
Sandel, M. J. (2009). Justice: What’s the right thing to do? New York: Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux.
Spier, R., & Bird, S. J. (2007). Science and engineering ethics at Springer. Science & Engineering Ethics, 13, 1–3.
Stotland, E. (1969). Exploratory investigations of empathy. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 4, 271–314.
Strobel, J., Hess, J. L., Pan, R. (C.)., & Wachter Morris, C. A. (2013). Empathy and care within engineering: Qualitative perspectives from engineering faculty and practicing engineers. Engineering Studies, 5(3), 137–159.
Titus, C., Zoltowski, C. B., Huyck, M., & Oakes, W. C. (2011). The creation of tools for assessing ethical awareness in diverse multi-disciplinary programs. In American Society for Engineering Education. Vancouver, BC.
Vallero, D. A. (2008). Macroethics and engineering leadership. Leadership and Management in Engineering, 8(4), 287–296.
Vallero, D. A., & Vesilind, P. A. (2006). Preventing disputes with empathy. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 132(3), 272–278.
Vallero, D. A., & Vesilind, P. A. (2007). Socially responsible engineering: Justice in risk management. Hoboken: Wiley.
van der Burg, S., & van Gorp, A. (2005). Understanding moral responsibility in the design of trailers. Science and Engineering Ethics, 11(2), 235–256.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hess, J.L., Beever, J., Strobel, J., Brightman, A.O. (2017). Empathic Perspective-Taking and Ethical Decision-Making in Engineering Ethics Education. In: Michelfelder, D., Newberry, B., Zhu, Q. (eds) Philosophy and Engineering. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 26. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45193-0_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45193-0_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-45191-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-45193-0
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)