UMT,Lahore

Resource Person: Muhammad Rizwan Younis

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 Course Contents

I. Classical moral theory as applied to science and engineering:

The importance of ethics in science and engineering;
philosophy, religion, and ethics; moral analysis; the role of
codes of ethics, virtues and the psyche; habits and morals;
distinguishing exterior and interior morality; the importance
of intention; hierarchy of moral values; virtuous imprinting.

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 Course Contents

II. Evaluating ethical judgments:

Evaluating exterior acts, factors limiting moral
responsibility and degrees of responsibility; truth in
actions and words; harm from deception, withholding
of truth and spreading truth; whistleblowing; privacy
issues; recognition from scientific publication;
responsible conduct of research; conflict of interest;
credit and blame in team projects; authorship.

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 Course Contents

III. Persuasive communications:

Oral and written communications; persuasive
presentation of ideas; messaging;
communication of ethical breaches with
stakeholders.

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 Course Contents

IV. Ethics in the global engineering profession:

Fairness in supervising; fairness in contracting;
intellectual property and society; environmental and
sustainability issues; social aspects of employment;
resource allocation by merit; social worth; need; ability
to pay, equal or random assignment and similarity;
differing anthropologies; principles and methods;
global cultural considerations.

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 Recommended Books

• Fundamentals of ethics for scientists and engineers,

E. G. Seebauer and R.L. Barry (Oxford) University
Press, 2000). ISBN:9780195134889

• Engineering ethics (4th edition) by Charles B.

Fleddermann, Publisher: Prentice Hall; 4th Edition
(August 14, 2011), ISBN-10:0132145219

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 Ethics:
What’s the
Fuss?
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When evaluating one’s goals and
objectives, a vital question must be
asked: What is your highest
aspiration?
A. Wealth
B. Fame
C. Knowledge
D. Popularity
E. Integrity
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If integrity is second to any of the
alternatives, then it is subject to
sacrifice in situations where a
choice must be made. Such
situations will inevitably occur in
every person’s life.

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 Why talk about ethics?
In the aftermath of major corporate failures and
questionable accounting practices, American
Accounting Association President G. Peter Wilson
said that in the classroom, educators need to
increasingly emphasize the value of integrity, what
has long been a mainstay of accountants’ reputation

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In a recent Wall Street Journal
article, Psychology professor Steven Davis
says that cheating by high school students has
increased from about 20 percent in the 1940’s
to 75 percent today.
“Students say cheating in high school is for
grades, cheating in college is for a career.”

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 If students lack ethics in high school and
college, then there should be little surprise
that they lack ethics in their careers. Greed
and over-reaching ambition often end in
disastrous personal consequences.

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Many institutions of higher education have
developed policies regarding ethics education.
For instance, the Faculty Handbook of the Mays
Business School at Texas A&M University
includes the following statement:
“Therefore, faculty and staff have a
responsibility for creating an academic
environment that promotes honest academic
inquiry and teaches students ethical behavior in
the process.”

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 Educational Institutions
have established ethics
codes for their students,
e.g. the U.S. Air Force
Academy:

"We Will Not Lie, Steal Or Cheat, Nor

Tolerate Among Us Anyone Who Does"

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What do profs think?
In a survey of college faculty, 187 professors responded to
several statements about teaching ethics:
1. The importance of ethics and personal integrity
should be stressed in the courses I teach. 4.75
2. The basis for ethics and personal integrity
should be discussed (e.g. benefit to society as a
whole, moral and religious foundations of
society, etc.) 4.11
Note: Scores are based on a scale from
1: Strongly Disagree to 5: Strongly Agree

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American Institute of CPAs Code of
Professional Conduct, Principles
Article I:
In carrying out their responsibilities as
professionals, members should exercise
sensitive professional and moral
judgments in all their activities.

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 Is there an ethics crisis in
America?
One recent national election day poll
indicated that 56 percent of voters
thought that America’s problems are
“primarily moral and social.” Only 36
percent thought that the nation’s
problems were “primarily economic.” 17
Can ethics be taught? Teddy Roosevelt
said, “To educate a person in mind and
not in morals is to educate a menace to
society.”
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 In his best-seller, The Closing of the American
Mind, Allan Bloom says that the eternal conflict
between good and evil has been replaced with “I’m
okay, you’re okay.”
In fact students must be taught that it is “moral” to
never think they are right because that mean
someone else is wrong.

[Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind,

New York, Simon and Schuster, Inc. 1987]
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More than 200 years ago, Professor Alexander
Tytler wrote of the Athenian Republic, which
had fallen 2,000 years earlier:
“A democracy cannot exist as a
permanent form of government…
The average age of the world’s greatest
civilizations has been 200 years. These nations
have progressed through this sequence: From
bondage to spiritual faith, to great courage, to
abundance, to selfishness, to complacency, to
apathy, to dependency, and back again to
bondage.” 20
“In the quest for educational
reform, we would do well to
turn not only to the great books,
but the great exemplars of
wisdom with which our country
is blessed. To help reclaim our
destiny as human beings and
citizens, we need to rediscover
the generation that really can claim to be the best and
the brightest in American history, at least from the
moral and political point of view: the founders of the
American Republic.”
--Professor C.R. Kesler
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Whereas it is the duty of
all nations to
acknowledge the
providence of Almighty
God, to obey His will, to
be grateful for His
benefits, and humbly to
implore His protection
and favor.

George Washington’s
Thanksgiving
Proclamation of 1789
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 Of all the dispositions
and habits which lead
to political prosperity,
religion and morality
are indispensable
supports… Reason and
experience both forbid
us to expect that
national morality can
prevail in the exclusion
of religious principle.

George Washington’s Farewell

Address, September 17, 1796 23
Ethics is essential to the functioning of a free society: 2nd U.S.
President John Adams observed: “We have no government
armed with power capable of contending with human passions
unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly
inadequate to the government of any other.”

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 “God who gave us life gave us liberty.
Can the liberties of a nation be secure
when we have removed a conviction
that these liberties are the gift of God?”

“Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect

that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep
forever.” Thomas Jefferson

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 U.S. Declaration of
Independence
The second paragraph of
America's founding document
states:
"We hold these truths to be
self‑evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness."
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 Where Do We Start?
Upon What Can We Agree?

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 Whether we
derive a code of
ethics from
religious beliefs, a
study of history
and literature, or
personal
experience and
observation: We
can all agree
upon some basic
values. 28
 In an issue of Management Accounting,
James Brackner stated: The universities are
responding with an increased emphasis on
ethical training for decision making. For the
most part, however, they ignore the teaching
of values. For moral or ethical education to
have meaning there must be agreement on
the values that are considered “right.”
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Be sure you are
right, then go
ahead.
Davy Crockett
1786-1836
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A nation or a culture
cannot endure for long
unless it is undergirded
by common values such
as valor, public
spiritedness, respect for
others and for the
law; It cannot stand unless it is populated by
people who will act on the motives superior to
their own immediate interest.
Chuck Colson, Against the Night
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When the situation
needs improvement,
Gandhi offers
guidance: “You must
be the change you
wish to see in the
world.”

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 Michael Josephson, in Chapter 1 of
Ethical Issues in the Practice of
Accounting, describes the “Ten Universal
Values: “Honesty, integrity, promise
keeping, fidelity, fairness, caring, respect
for others, responsible citizenship, pursuit
of excellence, and accountability.”

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“Until about 50 years ago, it was commonly
accepted that universities were to provide
students not only with knowledge and skills,
but also moral guidance based on the
essentials of the Western tradition.”
Business Prof Geoffrey Lantos

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 “If we want to
produce people
who share the
values of a
democratic
culture, they must
be taught those
values and not be
left to acquire
them by chance.”
Cal Thomas, The
Death of Ethics in
America
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Can you make a difference?

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“To sin by silence when they should
protest makes cowards of men.”
Abraham Lincoln

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“To see what is right
and not to do it is
want of courage.”
(Confucius)

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‘The right way is not always the popular
and easy way. Standing for right when it
is unpopular is a true test of moral
character.’

- Margaret Chase Smith, first woman

elected to both houses of the U.S.
Congress

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“Leadership is a potent combination of
strategy and character. But if you must be
without one, be without strategy.” General H.
Norman

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 The reputation of a thousand
years may be determined by the
conduct of one hour.
Japanese proverb

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At a Congressional
Hearing on Accounting
and Business Ethics,
distinguished
entrepreneur, Truett
Cathy, stated: "A good
name is more desirable
than great riches; to be
esteemed is better than
silver or gold."
 
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President
Lincoln
said:
Honor is
better
than
honors.
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 Importance in religion

Religious preaching also envisages on the

There is no direct meaning of ethic or ethical
behavior from an Islamic point of view. The
term most closely related to ethics in Quran is
KHULUQ. Depending on the translation this
could be interpreted as “Character”.

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 Importance in Islam

“And march forth toward forgiveness from

your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as are the
heavens and the earth, prepared for the
pious.  Those who spend (in the way of God)
in prosperity and in adversity, who repress
anger, and who pardon people; verily, God
loves the doers of the good deeds.”  (Quran
3:133)

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 Importance in religion

Quran uses many times to describe the

concept of Goodness or good behavior all of
which contribute to formation of character.
Some are being listed below:

 Khayer (Goodness)
 Ma’ruf (Know and approved)
 Taqwa
 Adl (Justice)

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 Importance in philosophy

In philosophy ethical behavior is that

which is “good” or “right”. Ethics is a
Greek word comes from ETHIKA, which is
from ethos meaning “character”.

Morality comes from morals – the

principles or standards of human conduct.

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 Ethics

In short ethics or morals are a complex

merge of principles based on culture,
religious or philosophical concepts or beliefs,
by which an individual determines whether
his/her actions are right or wrong.

These concepts and beliefs are often

generalized by a culture and serve to
regulate the behavior of its member.

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