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CHAPTER 16
Engineering Ethics
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
16-1. Q: Which of the five categories of definitions ethicists have developed for “ethics” do you feel best
apply to your activities as an engineer?
16-2. Q: Obtain a copy of the code of ethics subscribed to by your engineering or other professional society.
How much of its content is clearly based on ethical principles? Of what does the rest consist?
16-3. Q: Kohlberg’s moral development scale describes three levels including six distinct stages. One of
your classmates is confused about the difference between Stage 4 and Stage 5, stating that they seem
to describe the same thing. Describe how these stages are different.
16-4. Q: The closing comments of “Bridge Failure and Engineers’ Responsibility” highlight two failures
that occurred in 2018 (Florida International University and Genoa, Italy). Research the accident reports
that have been released since one of these accidents and write a brief summary of the role of
engineering failures and engineering ethics failures in these accidents.
A: Responses must be evaluated individually. The best can be selected for oral presentation and
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© 2020 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved. This material is protected under all copyright laws as they currently exist.
No portion of this material may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.
16-5. Q: The text notes that it is unclear how effective corporate codes or conduct are in achieving the
desired behavior from members of the organization. Identify a recent corporate ethics scandal (e.g.
Volkswagen and Dieselgate or Wells Fargo and creating fake accounts) and find the company’s code
of ethics online. Provide a summary of the scandal and identify how the behavior that created the
scandal violates the code and any ways it did not. Explain how the code might need to be changed to
reduce the odds of this happening in the future.
16-6. Q: Were the guidelines for Facilitating Solutions to Ethical Dilemmas in Professional Practice
followed in the Boeing case study?
16-7. Q: Give an example of a situation where you have a professional responsibility to do something, but
not a legal responsibility.
16-8. Q. Should loyalty or integrity be most important to engineers? Why?