Science and Engineering Ethics, Overview

Abstract

Science and engineering ethics focuses both upon the professional behavior of scientists and engineers as well as the products of their professions. Whereas previously the work of scientists and engineers may have attracted little ethical scrutiny, this field of ethical inquiry has come to attract greater interest, as many areas in science and engineering such as biotechnology, computing, and nuclear physics have undergone periods of significant growth and change. The fields of science and engineering have come to face many new challenges such as an increasing need for accountability, increasing collaborations between university-based and industry-based research and development, and a growing awareness of environmental issues, as well as issues with both human and animal rights. Providing a clear definition of science and engineering ethics is particularly challenging, given the broad scope that is to be covered. It is clear, however, that science and engineering ethics continues to be confronted by a multiplicity of challenges and dilemmas, especially within an increasingly commercial political and social environment: particular practical issues include the sabotage between competitors, lack of information-sharing, the provision of misleading information, intellectual property theft, disregard for safety, mistreatment of animals, and the disruption of collegiality in the face of heightened self-interest.