He would miss his paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials.
It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed over the house key to the carpenter. What a Shame! If only he had known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.
Now he had to live in the home he built none too well. How do we regain our focus as individuals and organizations? This is the challenge for the employee and the employer.
Ethics are fundamental standards of conduct by which we work as a professional. Take your time to decide what they are but once you do, do not compromise on them for any reason. Integrity is one such value. Ethics entails action. Rickover, father of the US nuclear navy. Rickover mean by this? It is the activity of understanding moral values, resolving moral issues and the area of study resulting from that activity. An inspector discovered faulty construction equipment and applied a violation tag, preventing its use.
The supervisor, a construction manager viewed the case as a minor abrasion of the safety regulations and ordered the removal of the tag to speed up the project. When the inspector objected to this, he was threatened with disciplinary action. An electric utility company applied for a permit to operate a nuclear power plant. The licensing agency was interested in knowing what emergency measures had been established for humans safety in case of reactor malfunctioning.
The utility engineers described the alarm system and arrangements with local hospitals for treatment. They did not emphasize that this measures applied to plant personnel only and that they had no plans for the surrounding population. When enquired about their omission, they said it was not their responsibility. A chemical plant dumped wastes in a landfill. Hazardous substances found their way into the underground water table.
Electronics Company ABC geared up for production of its own version of a popular new item. The product was not yet ready for sale, but even so, pictures and impressive specifications appeared in advertisements.
Prospective customers were led to believe that it was available off the shelf and were drawn away from competing lines. These questions identify and also justify the morally desirable norms or standards.
Some of the questions are: A. How far engineers are obligated to protect public safety in given situations? When should engineers start whistle blowing on dangerous practices of their employers? Whose values are primary in taking a moral decision, employee, public or govt? Why are engineers obligated to protect public safety? When is govt justified in interfering on such issues and why? C What is a bribe? These inquiries get to information about business realities, history of engineering profession, procedures used in assessment of risks and engineers psychology.
I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty… is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
Martin Luther King, Jr. A person becomes morally autonomous by improving various practical skills listed below: i Proficiency is recognizing moral problems and issues in engineering. This is the level of development of all young children.
Most adults do not mature beyond this stage. Ethics of rules and rights Ethics of care II. Application of abstract rules ranked in Application of context-oriented reasoning. A woman living in Europe would die of cancer unless she was given an expensive drug. Her husband, Heinz, could not afford it.
But the local pharmacist, who had invented the drug at only one tenth of the sale price refused to sell it to Heinz who could only raise half the required money from borrowings. Desperation drives Heinz to break into the pharmacy and steal the drug to save his wife. When respondents were asked whether and why Heinz should or should not steal a drug to save his wife from a life-threatening illness.
The responses of the individuals were compared with a prototypical response of individuals at particular stages of moral reasoning. Kohlberg noted that irrespective of the level of the individual the response could be same, but the reasoning could be different.
CONSENSUS: The conductor of a music orchestra has authority over the musicians and his authority is respected by them by consensus as otherwise the music performance will suffer. Hence the authority and autonomy are compatible. On the other hand, tension arises between the needs for autonomy and the need for concerns about authority. The difference between the two should be discussed openly to resolve the issue to the common good.
Responsibility to the public is essential for a professional. Who is a professional? What is a profession? Who is a professional engineer? Professional restraints are to be imposed by only laws and government regulations and not by personal conscience. The main pleasure of the engineer will always be to contribute to the well-being of his fellow-men. SAVIOR: The representative engineer is a savior who will redeem society from poverty, inefficiency, waste and the drudgery of manual labour.
They help management and society understand their own needs and to make informed decisions. They play by the economic game rules that happen to be in effect at a given time. This encompasses a wide variety of the more specific virtues grouped as follows: 1. Benificence, sense of community, generosity are other virtues falling in this category. The unity is consistency among our attitudes, emotions and conduct in relation to justified moral values. Self-respect takes two forms. Appraisal self-respect is properly valuing ourselves according to how well we meet moral standards and our personal ideals.
By virtue: A person is said to be a responsible person when we ascribe a moral virtue to the person. We expect that the person is regularly concerned to do the right thing, is conscientious and diligent in meeting obligations. In this sense, professional responsibility is the central virtue of engineers. By obligation: Moral responsibilities can be thought of as obligations or duties to perform morally right acts.
By general moral capacity: When we view a person as a whole rather than one with respect to a specific area, we are actually thinking about the active capacity of the person for knowing how to act in morally appropriate ways e. By accountability: Responsibility also means being accountable, answerable or liable to meet particular obligations. By being blameworthy: When accountability for a wrongdoing is at issue, responsible becomes a synonym for blameworthy.
When right conduct is the issue, the context is praiseworthiness. Maximize positive utilities benefits against negative utilities costs. Adoption of commonly accepted rules. A moral code is justified when followed, would maximize the public good more than alternative codes would.
They must be universalisable. It expresses command for autonomous moral agents. Duties prescribe certain actions categorically, without qualifications or conditions attached. Valid principles of duties are Categorical Imperatives. They contrast with non-moral commands called Hypothetical Imperatives which are conditional. Each person is entitled to the most extensive amount of liberty compatible with an equal amount for others and 2. Differences in social power and economic benefits are justified only when they are likely to benefit everyone, including members of most disadvantaged groups.
Individuals do not have rights to life because others have duties not to kill them. Instead, possessing the right to life is the reason why others ought not to kill them. It is believed that there are areas in which each theory complements others by how they differ. Procedure for General Evaluation: 1. The theory must be clear and formulated with concepts that are coherent and applicable.
It must be internally consistent in that none of its tenets contradicts any other. Neither the theory nor its defense can rely upon false information. It must be sufficiently comprehensive to provide guidance in specific situations of interest to us. It must be compatible with our most carefully considered moral convictions about concrete situations. All major theories acknowledge the importance of Self Interest. But all these theories also emphasize that the pursuit of self interest must be balanced with our moral responsibilities to others.
Hence taking bribe is not acceptable since it would not do any good on a long-term. This was professed by Thomas Hobbes and Ayn Rand It means that customs can have moral significance in deciding how we should act.
Reasons for Acceptance Of Ethical Relativism The reasons professed for acceptance of ethical relativism is threefold. Laws seem so tangible and clear-cut. They provide a public way ending seemingly endless disputes about rights and wrongs. But many times, moral reasons seem to be at variance with laws e. Moral standards vary dramatically from one culture to another.
The only kind of objectivity possible is limited to a given set of laws in a given society. Acknowledging this relativity of morality encourages the virtue of tolerance of differences among societies. Moral judgments should be made in relation to factors that from case to case, usually making it impossible to formulate rules which are simple.
Customs and laws are usually morally relevant factors that should be taken into account. We can view that moral reasons are not reducible to religious matters, although religious belief may provide an added inspiration for responding to them. Uses Of Ethical Theories 1. Ethical theories aid in identifying the moral considerations or reasons that constitute a dilemma.
They provide a precise sense of what kinds of information are relevant to solving moral development. They sometimes, offer ways to rank the relevant moral considerations in order of importance and provide a rough guidance in solving moral problems.
The theories help us identify the full moral ramifications of alternative courses of action, urging a wide perspective on the moral implications of the options and providing a systematic framework of comparing alternatives.
The theories augment the precision with which we use moral terms and they provide frame works for moral reasoning when discussing moral issues with colleagues. By providing frame works for development of moral arguments, the theories strengthen our ability to reach balanced and insightful judgments.
It means taking up a struggle with the forces of nature without the assurance of emerging as a victor after the first attack. Modifications are made based on the outcome of these experiments. Even though various tests and experiments are conducted at various stages, the engineering project as a whole in its totality can be viewed as an experiment. The final outcome of engineering projects, like those of experiments, is generally uncertain. Very often, possible outcomes are not even known and great risks may be presented which could never be thought of.
Effective Engineering relies upon knowledge gained about products both before and after they leave the factory- knowledge needed for improving current products and creating better ones.
That is, ongoing success in engineering depends upon gaining new knowledge. Engineers repeat the past mistakes of others due to the following reasons. Examples: 1. The Titanic lacked sufficient number of life boats resulting in the death of out of life boat capacity available was only , a few decades later Arctic perished due to the same problem. A bridge of similar design, erected by the same bridge- builder in Melbourne, Australia, also partially collapsed in the month of October, same year.
During this incident 33 people were killed and many were injured. Malfunctions occurred at nuclear reactors at various locations and the information reports were with Babcock and Wilcox, the reactor manufacturer. In spite of these, no attention was paid leading to a pressure relief valve giving rise to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident on March 28, Members of one group receive special experimental treatment.
But this is not true in engineering, since most of the experiments are not conducted in laboratories. Thus it is not possible to study the effects of changes in variable on different groups.
Hence only historical and retrospective data available about various target groups has to be used for evaluation. Hence engineering as a social experimentation seems to be an extended usage of the concept of experimentation. The subjects human beings should be given all the information needed to make a reasonable decision.
Next, they must get into the experiment without being subjected to force, fraud or deception. Supplying complete information is neither necessary nor in most cases possible. But all relevant information needed for making a reasonable decision on whether to participate should be conveyed. Generally, we all prefer to be the subject of our own experiments rather than those of somebody else. Conditions defining Informed or Valid Consent a. The consent is given voluntarily b.
The consent is based on information a rational person would want, together with any other information requested and presented to them in understandable form.
The consenter was competent to process the information and make rational decisions. Information has been widely disseminated. Is this distinction necessary? This distinction is not vital because we are concerned about the manner in which the experiment is conducted, such as valid consent of human subjects being sought, safety measures taken and means exist for terminating the experiment at any time and providing all participants a safe exit.
Features of morally responsible engineers in social experimentation Conscientiousness: A primary obligation to protect the safety of human subjects and respect their right of consent. Relevant information: A constant awareness of the experimental nature of any project, imaginative forecasting of its possible side effects and a reasonable effort to monitor them.
Moral autonomy: Autonomous, personal involvement in all steps of the project. Accountability: Accepting accountability for the results of the project. Conceiving engineering as social experimentation restores the vision of engineers as guardians of the public interest in that they are duty bound to guard the welfare and safety of those affected by engg projects. Moral concern involves a commitment to obtain and assess all available pertinent information. Another dimension to factual information is the consequences of what one does.
While regarding engg as social experimentation points out the importance of context, it also urges the engineer to view his or her specialized activities in a project as part of a larger whole having a social impact that may involve a variety of unintended effects.
This is because of i Only a small contribution is made by one individual, when large scale engineering work is fragmented. The area of personal accountability is delimited to the portion of work being carried out by one. This makes people accountable only for meeting schedules and not for the consequences of action. Viewing engineering as a social experimentation makes one overcome these difficulties and see the problem in whole rather than as part.
Are Engineering Codes Needed? NO: —Engineers are capable of fending for themselves —Common law is available to defend in ethical disputes —Offended public can seek redress through courts Are Engineering Codes Needed? YES: —Engineers have few or no resources to defend themselves in an ethical dispute —Common law is available in reality only with great difficulty —Conversely, the public has similar problems in seeking redress through legal channels Objections to Existing Engineering Codes of Ethics: —Relatively few engineers are members of engineering societies.
Which ethical codes apply? Locke, Kant, Mills The Hammurabi Code If a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work sound, and the house he has built has fallen down and so caused the death of the householder, that builder shall be put to death.
Hammurabi, King of Babylon, B. Education and mutual understanding: The codes can be used for discussion and reflection on moral issues and thereby improve the understanding of moral responsibilities among all engineers, clients, public and good organizations. Protecting status quo: Codes establish ethical conventions, which can help promote an agreed upon minimum level of ethical conduct.
Promoting business interests: Codes can place unwarranted restraints of commerce on business dealings. This is so because, only this support enables engineers, speak out clearly and openly their views, to those affected by engg projects.
Those with unethical conduct when exposed are subject to law. Developing elaborate paralegal procedures within professional societies duplicates a function which can be done better by legal system. At best, codes should try to discipline engineers in areas which are not covered by law. The best way to increase trust is by encouraging and aiding engineers to speak freely and responsibly about public safety. Limitations of Codes of Ethics 1. Codes are restricted to general and vague wording.
They cannot be straightaway applied to all situations. It is impossible to foresee the full range of moral problems that can arise in a complex profession like engg. It is easy for different clauses of codes to come into conflict with each other. Usually codes provide no guidance as to which clause should have priority in those cases, creating moral dilemmas.
They cannot serve as the final moral authority for professional conduct. If the code of a professional society is taken as the last word, it means that we are getting into a particular set of conventions i. The current codes are by no means perfect but are definitely steps in the right direction.
The problems of law in engineering 1. Engineers and employers can search for loop holes in the law to barely keep to its letter while violating its spirit. Engineers will tend to refer to standard readymade specifications rather than come up with innovative ideas.
Continually updating laws and regulations may be counter-productive and will make law always lag behind technology. This also overburdens the rules and regulators. These merely serve as window dressing, frequently gives a false sense of security to the public. The opponents of the law may burden it intentionally with many unreasonable provisions that a repeal will not be far off.
Highly powerful organizations, like the government can violate the laws when they think they can get away with it by inviting would be challengers, to face them in lengthy and costly court proceedings. This also creates frustration with the law. Good laws, effectively enforced, clearly produce benefits. Here the regulations should be broad based guidelines but should hold the engineer accountable for his or her decisions.
You get a job as an engineer in a large atomic power plant. What is safe to Entrepreneurs, may not be so to Engineers. Each group may differ in what is safe and what is not. Concept of Safety 1. So, this definition won't do in real life. We take a risk when we undertake something or use a product that is not safe. Risk in technology could include dangers of b.
What degree of risk is acceptable? Safety is a matter of how people would find risks acceptable or unacceptable, if they knew the risks, and are basing their judgments on their most settled value perspective. So, to this extent, it is objective. Perspectives differ. To this extent, it is subjective. So, Safety is 'acceptable risk'. They take voluntary risk, part of being engaged in such a potentially dangerous sport.
Connected to this notion of voluntarism is the matter of Control. In the example cited, the Smiths are aware of the high probability of accident figures in such a sport, but they display characteristically unrealistic confidence of most people when they believe the dangers to be under their control. Chauncey Starr informs us that individuals are more ready to assume voluntary risks than involuntary risks, even when voluntary risks are times more likely to produce a fatality than the involuntary ones.
Effect of information on risk assessments The manner in which information necessary for decision making is presented can greatly influence how risks are perceived. Consider this example: In a particular case of disaster management, the only options available are provided in 2 different ways to the public for one to be chosen where lives of people are at stake.
Alternate 1 If program A is followed, people will be saved. The option perceived as yielding firm gain will tend to be preferred over those from which gains are perceived as risky or only probable.
Option emphasizing firm losses will tend to be avoided in favour of those whose chances of success are perceived as probable. Problems faced by engineers about public concept of safety The optimistic attitude that things that are familiar, that have not caused harm before and over which we have some control present no risks.
The serious shock people feel when an accident kills or maims people in large numbers or harms those we know, even though statistically speaking such accidents might occur infrequently. Absolute safety is never possible to attain and safety can be improved in an engineering product only with an increase in cost.
On the other hand, unsafe products incur secondary costs to the producer beyond the primary production costs, like warranty costs loss of goodwill, loss of customers, litigation costs, downtime costs in manufacturing, etc. Figure indicates that P- Primary costs are high for a highly safe low risk product and S- Secondary costs are high for a highly risky low safe product.
If the risk at Minimum Total Cost Point is not acceptable, then the producer has to choose a lower acceptable risk value in which case the total cost will be higher than M and the product designed accordingly. Here the one product tested may not be representative of the population of products. The above testing procedures are not always carried out properly. Hence we cannot trust the testing procedures uncritically. Some tests are also destructive and obviously it is impossible to do destructive testing and improve safety.
In such cases, a simulation that traces hypothetical risky outcomes could be applied. Fault Tree Analysis FTA : A system failure is proposed and then events are traced back to possible causes at the component level.
This method most effectively illustrates the disciplined approach required to capture as much as possible of everything that affects proper functioning and safety of a complex system. Are their rights violated? Risks can be expressed in one set of units deaths on the highway and benefits in another speed of travel?
Many projects, which are highly beneficial to the public, have to be safe also. In these studies, one should find out i What are the risks involved?
The issue here is not, say, cost-effective design but it is only cost of risk taking Vs benefit analysis. Engineers should first recommend the project feasibility based on risk-benefit analysis and once it is justified, then they may get into cost-effectiveness without increasing the risk visualized.
There is no over the counter trade in lives. Hence it should be presented in a way to improve realistic interpretations. If it is wrong to violate certain rights, then figuring out the benefit of the consequences of doing so is irrelevant. Negligence and operator errors are not the principal causes of accidents. It is the design changes done at a later date that are costly. Even then life cycle costs can be made lower for the redesigned or retrofitted product for safety.
Safe exit is to assure that i when a product fails, it will fail safely, ii that the product can be abandoned safely and iii that the user can safely escape the product. More than the questions of who will build, install, maintain and pay for a safe exit, the most important question is who will recognize the need for a safe exit. This responsibility should be an integral part of the experimental procedure. The central elements of collegiality are respect, commitment, connectedness and co- operation.
Respect: Acknowledge the worth of other engineers engaged in producing socially useful and safe products. Commitment: Share a devotion to the moral ideals inherent in the practice of engineering. Connectedness: Aware of being part of a co-operative undertaking created by shared commitments and expertise.
Collegiality, like most virtues, can be misused and distorted. It is not defaming colleagues, but it does not close the eyes to unethical practices of the co-professionals, either. When some important goals are met by and through a group in which the engineers participate 2.
When employees are treated fairly, receiving the share of benefits and burdens. But clearly, identification-loyalty is a virtue and not strictly an obligation.
Relationship - Professionalism and Loyalty 1. Acting on professional commitments to the public is more effective to serve a company than just following company orders. Professional obligations to both an employer and to the public might strengthen rather than contradict each other. There is not always a perfect match between the authority granted and the qualifications needed to exercise it. In large companies, engineers, advisors and consultants in staff function carry expert authority, while institutional authority is vested only with line managers.
Authority Vs Power Ineffective persons, even if vested with authority by their institution, may not be able to summon the power their position allows them to exercise. Highly respected engineers of proven integrity belong to this class. Authority - Morally justified Observations on authority.
Board of Ethical Review argued that engineers have a higher standard than self interest and that their ethical duty is to act for their employer as a faithful agent or trustee. Collective bargaining is inconsistent with loyalty to employers because it o is against the desires of the employer o uses force or coercion against the employer and o involves collective and organized opposition.
But every instance of such conduct need not be unethical. An example: Three engineers sincerely feel that they are underpaid. After their representations to their bosses are in vain, they threaten their employer, politely, that they would seek employment elsewhere. Here, even though, they act against the desires of their employer and have acted collectively, they have not acted unethically or violated their duty.
Though the argument is a valid one, it looks at the worst possible scenarios with unions and decides that engineering unions act only irresponsibly. Benefits of Collective Bargaining. Harms Caused by Collective Bargaining. A trade secret can be virtually any type of information that has not become public and which an employer has taken steps to keep secret. Obligation of Confidentiality 1. Based on ordinary moral considerations: I. Respect for autonomy: o Recognizing the legitimate control over private information individuals or corporations.
Respect for Promise: o Respecting promises in terms of employment contracts not to divulge certain information considered sensitive by the employer III.
Regard for public well being: o Only when there is a confidence that the physician will not reveal information, the patient will have the trust to confide in him. Based on Major Ethical Theories: oAll theories profess that employers have moral and institutional rights to decide what information about their organization should be released publicly.
Effect of Change of Job on Confidentiality o Employees are obliged to protect confidential information regarding former employment, after a change of job.
Conflict of Interest Conflict of Interest arises when two conditions are met: 1. The professional is in a relationship or a role that requires exercising good judgment on behalf of the interests of an employer or client and 2.
The professional has some additional or side interest that could threaten good judgment in serving the interests of the employee or client. Conflicts of Interest created by Insider information o Using inside information to set-up a business opportunity for oneself or family or friends. Avoiding Conflicts Of Interests o Taking guidance from Company Policy o In the absence of such a policy taking a second opinion from a coworker or manager. This gives an impression that there no intension on the part of the engineer to hide anything.
Some of these codes have very explicit statements that can help determine whether or not the situation constitutes conflict of interest. Albanese, Price Fixing An act was passed, which forbade prevented companies from jointly setting prices in ways that restrain free competition and trade. Employees Endangering Lives of Employees Employers indulge in exposing their employees to safety hazards.
They escape criminal action against them, by paying nominal compensations even if their crimes are proved in court. And even this happens only when the victim sues company for damages under civil law. Right of Professional Conscience o There is one basic and generic professional right of engineers, the moral right to exercise responsible professional judgment in pursuing professional responsibilities. Right of Conscientious Refusal The right of Conscientious refusal is the right to refuse to engage in unethical behaviour and to refuse to do so solely because one views it as unethical.
Two situations to be considered. Where there is widely shared agreement in profession as to whether an act is unethical Here, professionals have a moral right to refuse to participate in such activities. Where there is room for disagreement among reasonable people over whether an act is unethical. Here, it is possible that there could be different ethical view points from the professional and the employer.
But what if we've got Darwin wrong? What if the principles instead were: survival of those who cooperate for the greater good, selection guided by a moral sense, etc. We would have a completely different society from that which we have today. Understanding and internalising the principles that comprise 'the nature of things' is perhaps the single most powerful determining factor in the shaping of the society in which we live. It is vital that we maintain a continual dialogue around principles so those we internalise and institutionalise are up-to-date and are our current best shot at the truth.
Some readers may be surprised to discover that Darwin believed in the evolution of a moral sense which provided both the core drive and structure for mind Loye , pp. Alas, that this should be so difficult for us to see this!
But having for so long lost the language or the social encouragement to know ourselves and the meaning of life this way, it is asking for mind to step out into the unknown. But we must try for the future hangs on the effort.
Large buildings, even hundreds of people, are being blown up; people trying to check a potentially disastrous population explosion globally and save rape victims are being machine gunned; being poor is being relabelled evil; our right to bear assault rifles is being defended as a holy cause; whole villages are being slaughtered down to the last woman and child; and, via the booming persuasion of the media in all its forms, political character assignation and actual assignation is becoming an advanced art - all in the name of Jesus, Allah, or some other supposedly unquestioned source of "moral" law.
This is moralism, not morality. And how may the difference be defined? If we examine closely what the Darwin in his own time and we in ours find appalling, we see that moralism can be defined as a false, fake, or hypocritical self-promotional 'morality.
But what then is morality? Darwin's central concept of the moral sense is what today we would call moral sensitivity. As he makes evident in the warm wonder and all the ins and outs of his tales of goodness at work in the so-called animal world, but also more abstractly at our level, this is the ability to emphasise, to feel sympathy for, to care for, to resonate to, to want to nurture, or heal, or help - in short, to be morally sensitive to others.
But what his exploration makes clear is that he is writing about considerably more than moral sensitivity. If we are morally sensitive to another we may resonate to their needs or plight with mind and heart - or cognition and affection. This, however, doesn't necessarily mean we are going to get up out of our easy chair with book or watching television to do anything to help them. This depends on courage and all the other components of what we call the will, or in psychological terms, conation.
Throughout Darwin's explanation of how the moral sense developed and operates both in animals and humans, we can see that what holds everything together - advancing the individuals over its lifetime and the species over aeons - is the more active involvement in the fate of one another. It is the drive of moral agency. An agent acts on behalf of another. Moral agency is then the force of action on behalf of moral sensitivity and of another.
A moral agent is then the person who acts in such a way. This is why Darwin's is actually a theory of moral agency rather than of the moral sense, which carries only the more passive meaning that the old philosophical term conveys. And what is moral intelligence? Out of the grand sweep of the second and third levels for his theory of the moral agent, the evolutionary picture Darwin provides is of the drive of moral sensitivity. Through inspiration and education, this drive is given the edge of moral agency.
Then comes what builds true wisdom for our species. And what of morality? It is the codes, the programming, the human software of whatever evolutionarily prevails at any point or place in time. It is the huge inbuilt user's manual that provides the guidelines for human-to-human and human-to-prehuman behaviour. It is everything that, based on the experience of the past, we have collectively agreed to be ruled by. It is the norms, the rules, the customs, the laws, the commandments whereby out of the power of caring, the power of reflection, the power of language, and the power of habit, we establish social expectancies for moral sensitivity, moral intelligence, and moral agency.
Ethics is then all the sub-booklets in mind, the sub-routines or more finely- tuned differentiations, of how these codes are to be applied in specific situations.
The 'moral sense' for Darwin and more broadly considered is all this. But still it is more. Yearning for comfort and reassurance, sensing a transcendent reality and source of meaning, for the sake of a word that might bring this concept to earth, for thousands of years most of us have called this 'more' God, or earlier and again increasingly in our time Goddess.
For many of us - including at least four of the greatest Asian spiritual visionaries, Gautama, Lao Tsu, Confucius, and Mencius, as well as Darwin historically - this has posed difficulties.
However, this may be, more important than what now or in the future this Greater Force may be called, it is something that is more felt than named, and seems to me undeniable - and here, too, groping in this direction can be detected in Darwin.
Out of something that is timeless and larger than ourselves, embracing the future as well as the present and the past, there works within us something else that additional to our experience of the past also seems to speak to us in the shaping of all moral codes. It is simply there. Out of the evolution of the cosmic mystery that is both within ourselves and that surrounds us, unknowable by that part of our self we think is our mind, yet at times most surely felt within all our being, there seems to be this voice that quietly but persistently urges everything emergent on this earth, including ourselves, to be the best that is in us.
The old theory encourages us to just sit back and enjoy the medium. For supposedly the message is settled. Having been scientifically worked out and certified by people much smarter than we are, who are we to question what we have been and will again and again be told? Oh, sure the message may not be what we want to hear, but the old theory affirms that this is the grim reality we must each - as best we can - adapt to.
The new theory tells us that the message is open-ended and eternal, stretching out of the dim past into the mists of the future for our species. It tells us we have a voice in the shaping of the message - but that this message needs a great deal more nurturance, and understanding, and the assignment of much more of the power of the media to its spreading. Much more importantly, we are what we refuse to adapt to. Concluding Comments Whether we are prepared to accept it or not, science has had a profound impact on our world-view and our understanding of 'the nature of things'.
Many of the principles from science we unconsciously use to inform our morality and structure our society today are in desperate need of revision. Our blind acceptance of the old interpretation of Darwin, with its emphasis on competition and survival of the fittest is leading us into troubled waters.
Likewise the materialistic model of Newton is still powerfully influencing us today - with its emphasis on forces and objects. If our morality and the way we structure society today were to be informed by the principles of today's science, what a different world we would live in.
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