Engineering, Ethics, and 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 philospher– seek to provide an ethical basis for these obligations. In exploring these ethical issues, the authors aim to show that engineers make a difference. The text opens with a series of case studies in which engineers face complex and challenging decisions about the environment. Succeeding chapters examine different ideas about environmental ethics for engineers, including professional codes and both modern and historical discussions of environmental responsibility. The book concludes with a collection of readings that complement the text. Students, as well as practicing engineers, will find much of interest in this well-argued and thought-provoking book.