Wenk:

1
Wenk New Principles for Engineering Ethics

• Very eloquent intro, worth a second read.
• Engineers should take into account social,
  economic, legal, polital aspects of engineered
  artifacts.
• Basic sequence of engineering practice
• To understand, to predict, then to control
• Technology is more than hardware
• We always live with risk, but technology has
  amplified that risk.

2
Wenk (cont. 1)

• Three types of ethical dilemmas
• 1. Management of risk
• How safe is safe?
• Two steps of analysis probability of threat and
  severity cultural and ethical norms.
• Look at nuclear power (pg. 936)

3
Wenk (cont. 2)

• 2. Managing Institutions
• History teaches that institutions that mediate
  technology, private and public, tend to exploit
  technolgy in order to concentrate their wealth
  and power. (pg. 936)
• How are whistle blowers treated? Intimidation?
  Retaliation? Punishment?
• Challenger and Chernobyl (pg. 937)

4
Wenk (cont. 3)

• 3. Managing the future
• ...by exercise of vision, by a commitment to the
  cutural heritage of two centuries of American
  democracy, and by a balance between social
  interest and self-interest, we can tune and tame
  technolgy to serve what political cosensus
  establishes as a collective goal. (pg. 939)

5
Wenk (cont. 4)

• Engineer as counselor to the public!
• Principles for the social management of
  technology (see pg. 942).