Professional Ethics for Engineers

CHE400
2nd semester 2013/2014

Ch 6: Environmental
Ethics

Dr. Mohammad Al-Harahsheh

Faculty of Engineering
Jordan University of Science and Technology

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Most of the material used in this presentation were obtained from Ethics in engineering (2004),by Martin and Schinzinger
Environmental Ethics

General title has several meanings. For us we use it
to refer to :

Study of moral issues concerning the environment

Moral prospective, beliefs and attitudes

Aristotle concept

We tend to be thoughtless about things we dont own
individually and which seem to be in unlimited supply

Acid rain, global warming, water resources and

quality, ozone layer degradation, etc

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Environmental Ethics

Location of pollution vs. location of disaster

Long term vs. short term effects

Governments:

Rules, regulations, standards, etc

Taxes on harmful products

Engineers:

The role in sustainable development

Techno-economic thinking vs. Green philosophy

Techno-thinking assumes that things can be understood by analyzing them
and if something goes wrong can be fixed

Green philosophy demands humility, respect and sensitivity towards the
natural word

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Environmental Ethics

Corporation:

Environmental leadership

Consider environmental solutions from the beginning

Encourage dealing with green companies

Communities

Recycling

Consider green alternatives

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Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics that are being currently
explored:

Human-centered ethics:

only human have inherent worth and that other creatures and ecosystems have at
most instrumental values as mean to promoting human interests

The four ethical theories

Sentient-centered ethics: All conscious animals have inherent

worth

Biocentric ethics: All living organisms have inherent worth

Ecocentric ethics : Ecosystems have inherent worth

Exxon Valdez