PHL 316: Engineering Ethics
Winter Term, 2004
Other web sites related to this course:
Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science (Case Western Reserve)
We will use this site for some of our assignments. The
site has been constructed by Dr. Caroline Whitbeck, the author of one of our
texts and holder of a joint position in Philosophy and Mechanical Engineering at
Case Western. In addition to very good discussions of some important cases
(e.g., the Challenger and the Citicorp building), this site includes an
interesting section on "moral leaders" in engineering and many useful links to
other engineering ethics sites.
Web Clearinghouse for
Engineering and Computing Ethics (North Carolina State Univ.)
This is quite a comprehensive engineering ethics web site.
It includes cases, codes of ethics, material from the professional engineering
societies, and numerous useful links. Maintained by Dr. Joseph Herkert.
Engineering Ethics (Texas A&M)
Numerous detailed and extensive analyses of well known cases,
including the "Aberdeen Three" and the collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt-Regency
walkway.
National Institute for Engineering Ethics (Texas Tech Univ.)
Contains a good bibliography of engineering ethics resources.
The NIEE web site also offers other useful information.
Ethics Updates (University of San
Diego)
The single most useful web site for philosophical material on
ethical theory and applied ethics. Good links to other general ethics
sites. An excellent resource for ethics students. Maintained by Dr.
Lawrence Hinman.
Government Accountability Project (Washington, D.C.)
The most up-to-date site on whistleblowing among federal employees and contractors. GAP offers legal defense services for whistleblowers and workplace dissenters. Publishes especially good reports about safety and environmental problems at federal nuclear weapons production facilities. See their page on "How to Blow the Whistle."
Langdon Winner's Home Page
Langdon Winner, a professor of political science at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in New York, is one of the leading philosophical analysts
of technology and its social and political functions. In addition to writing a
number of influential books, including The Whale and the Reactor (1986),
Winner has been a regular columnist for MIT's Technology Review. Winner
has also raised probing questions about the increasing use of computers in
education. Some of Winner's latest writing appears in the free on-line
newsletter,
"Net
Future: Technology and Human Responsibility," edited by Steve Talbott.
McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry
Web site for the company founded by William McDonough and
Michael Braungart to develop sustainable, "environmentally intelligent"
products. We will read about McDonough and Braungart's work in Unit 4.
A particularly instructive site for those who are skeptical about the scientific respectability of mainstream environmentalism. Continues to do excellent work on global climate change. Also see the UCS's work on fuel-efficient SUVs.
Rachel's Environment and
Health Weekly (REHW)
Named after ecology pioneer Rachel Carson, REHW is a weekly
newsletter on environmental issues published by the Environmental Research
Foundation in Annapolis, MD. It is timely, well researched, and normally
thought-provoking. It reflects a grassroots environmentalist perspective
while also utilizing up-to-date scientific information. This web site
begins with the most recent issue of REHW, but includes a searchable archive of
past issues. We will read an REHW article on environmental justice near
the end of the course.
Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering (Ellen Spertus, Mills College)
Extensive links to organizations, articles, etc. dealing with
special concerns and problems facing women and persons of color in engineering.
Women
and Computer Science (Ellen Spertus, Mills College)
Again, extensive links to material on women in electrical
engineering, artificial intelligence, and computer science.
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