PE020IU Engineering Ethics and Professional Skills

LECTURE 14: CASE STUDY

Instructor: Dr. Huynh Vo Trung Dung

School of Electrical Engineering
International University, VNU-HCM

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 CASE STUDY 1

The just-war theory considers a war acceptable when it satisfies several stringent criteria: The war must be fought for
a just cause, the motives must be good, it must follow a call from a legitimate authority, and the use of force must be
based on necessity (as a last resort) . Central to notions of a just war are the principles of noncombatant immunity and
proportionality. Noncombatants are those who will not be actively participating in combat and therefore do not need to
be killed or restrained. Proportionality addresses the extent of damage or consequences allowable in terms of need
and cost. Describe a scenario for the conduct of a just war and describe the kinds of weapons engineers might have to
develop to wage one. In your view, is the U.S.-Iraq war a just war?

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 CASE STUDY 2

Wernher von Braun designed Hitler’s V-2 rocket that terrorized London
toward the end of World War II; after the War he worked for the U.S. Army
and designed the Saturn rockets that launched Apollo astronauts to the
moon. Research his career and comment on its implications for thinking
about engineering

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 CASE STUDY 3

Discuss the “last person scenario”: You are the last person
left on earth and can press a button (connected to nuclear
bombs) destroying all life on the planet. Is there a moral
obligation not to press the button, and why? How would
each of the environmental ethics answer this question?

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 CASE STUDY 4

Discuss the “last person scenario”: You are the last person
left on earth and can press a button (connected to nuclear
bombs) destroying all life on the planet. Is there a moral
obligation not to press the button, and why? How would
each of the environmental ethics answer this question?

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 CASE STUDY 5

Exxon’s 987-foot tanker Valdez was passing through Prince

William Sound on March 24, 1989, carrying 50 million
gallons of oil when it fetched up on Bligh Reef, tore its
bottom, and spilled 11 million gallons of oil at the rate of a
thousand gallons a second.42 The immediate cause of the
disaster was negligence by the ship’s captain, Joseph J.
Hazelwood, who was too drunk to perform his duties.
Additional procedural violations, lack of emergency
preparedness, and a single- rather than double-hull
on the ship all contributed in making matters worse. This
was one of the worst spills ever, not in quantity, but in its
effect on a very fragile ecosystem. No human life was lost,
but many thousands of birds, fish, sea otters, and other
creatures died.

Discuss how each of the human-centered and nature-

centered ethical theories would interpret the moral issues
involved in this case, and apply your own environmental
ethic to the case.

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 CASE STUDY 6

A student gives Elaine a copy of a professor’s midterm

exam from last year. (a) Is it all right for her to accept the
exam, without asking any questions? (b) Elaine decides to
ask about how the exam was obtained. She learns that the
professor had required all copies of the exam sheet to be
returned but had inadvertently missed this copy, which a
student then circulated to selected other students. She
decides to decline the exam, but does she have any
additional responsibilities?

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 CASE STUDY 7

A company advertises for an engineer to fill a management

position. Among the employees the new manager is to
supervise is a woman engineer, Ms. X, who was told by her
former boss that she would soon be assigned tasks with
increased responsibility. The prime candidate for the
manager’s position is Mr. Y, a recent immigrant from a
country known for confining the roles for women. Ms. X was
alerted by other women engineers to expect unchallenging,
trivial assignments from a supervisor with Mr. Y’s
background. Is there anything she can and should do?
Would it be ethical for her to try to forestall the appointment
of Mr. Y?