Research Catalog

Title

Engineering, ethics, and the environment / P. Aarne Vesilind, Alastair S. Gunn.

Author

Vesilind, P. Aarne.

Publication

New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Gunn, Alastair S.

Description

xvi, 314 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

• Engineering is "the people-serving profession." The work of engineers involves interaction with clients, other engineers, and the public at large. More than any other profession, their work also directly involves and affects the environment. This book makes the case that engineers have special professional obligations to protect and enhance the environment, and the authors - one an engineer and the other a philosopher - seek to provide an ethical basis for these obligations.
• Students, as well as practicing engineers, will find much of interest in this well-argued and thought-provoking book.

Subjects

• Engineering ethics
• Environmental ethics

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents

• 1. The Problem of Environmental Ethics in Engineering -- 2. Engineering as a People-Serving Profession -- 3. The Search for Environmental Ethics in Professional Codes of Ethics -- 4. The Search for Environmental Ethics by Applying Classical Ethical Theories -- 5. The Search for Environmental Ethics by Extending the Moral Community -- 6. The Search for Environmental Ethics in Spirituality -- 7. Incorporating Environmental Ethics into Engineering -- Supplemental Readings for Chapter 1. The Kepone Tragedy / William Goldfarb. The Hooker Memos / CBS News. The Bunker Hill Lead Smelter / Cassandra Tate -- Supplemental Readings for Chapter 2. The Existential Pleasures of Engineering / Samuel Florman. Decision Making in the Corps of Engineers: The B. Everett Jordan Lake and Dam / P. Aarne Vesilind. Future Generations and the Social Contract / Kristin Shrader-Frechette. Consumption, Conservation, Use, and Preservation / Alastair S. Gunn. The Tragedy of the Commons / Garrett Hardin --
• Supplemental Readings for Chapter 3. The Philosophical Basis of Engineering Codes of Ethics / Albert Flores. The Quest for a Code of Professional Ethics: An Intellectual and Moral Confusion / John Ladd. What Are Codes of Ethics For? / Judith Lichtenberg. The Code of Ethics of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Supplemental Readings for Chapter 4. Justification for the Use of Animals / Thomas Aquinas. Animals Are Machines / Rene Descartes. Why We Have No Obligations to Animals / Immanuel Kant. The Ethical Relationship Between Humans and Other Organisms / R. D. Guthrie -- Supplemental Readings for Chapter 5. The Case for Animal Rights / Tom Regan. The Land Ethic / Aldo Leopold. Reverence for Life / Albert Schweitzer. The Ethics of Respect for Nature / Paul Taylor. Should Trees Have Standing? / Christopher D. Stone. Sierra Club vs. Morton, Secretary of the Interior. The Rights of Natural Objects / Kristin Shrader-Frechette -- Supplemental Readings for Chapter 6.
• Ecological Feminism / Karen J. Warren. The Judeo-Christian Stewardship Attitude Toward Nature / Patrick Dobel. The Sanctity of Life in Hinduism / O. P. Dwivedi. Islamic Environmental Ethics / Mawil Y. Izzi Deen (Samarrai). Respect for Nature / Gary Synder.

ISBN

• 0521581125 (hc)
• 0521589185 (pbk.)

LCCN

97000083

OCLC

• 35772704
• ocm35772704

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries