对几种工程伦理观的评析

工程伦理学研究工程技术中的伦理问题,所以,把握工程的本质和特点,是工程伦理学研究的基础.人们持有不同的工程观,就会对工程伦理学形成不同的认识和理解.本文简要分析几种不同的工程和工程伦理学观点,探讨工程伦理学作为一门学科在学理上成立的根据及自己独特的问题.     

关于工程伦理学的对象和范围的几个问题——三谈关于工程伦理学的若干问题

工程是一种独立的社会活动,这是工程伦理学存在的现实基础和学理前提。由于对“工程”的性质、对象和范围存在“广”“狭”两种不同理解,从而也就在工程伦理学的学科定位和学科发展方向上出现了两种理解和两种发展进路。中国学者在进行工程伦理学研究时,不但必须重视“狭义工程伦理学”进路的研究,而且应该更加重视“广义工程伦理学”进路的研究。在研究和分析工程伦理时,必须把伦理分析和其他纬度的分析结合起来,不但应该注意不同纬度之间的相互渗透问题,而且应该注意不同纬度之间的矛盾、冲突、排序和协调问题。     

自然主义伦理学中的"善"

自然主义伦理学是一个有着多种理解的词语,尤其是对"善"的理解,不同的理论家对自然主义以及自然主义的"善,,提出了不同的理解.本文通过澄清伦理学中的自然主义者所理解的"善"的概念,说明自然主义者所说的"善,,在何种意义上并不是非自然主义者批评的那种理论,以及自然主义者和非自然主义者之间的异同.     

绝对命令伦理学和协调伦理学——四谈工程伦理学

绝对命令伦理学和协调伦理学是两种具有不同性质、不同理论假设和不同特征的伦理学立场和伦理学进路。由于决策在工程活动中占据了中心位置,决策伦理问题在工程伦理学中也占据了中心位置。在工程决策中,必须正确认识和处理工程中伦理因素和非伦理因素的关系,强化工程决策中的伦理意识,正确处理决策伦理和伦理决策的关系,特别是要妥善处理工程决策中涉及伦理要素的“内外双重协调”问题。文章最后分析了协调原则和共同体、共识和共赢的关系。     

现象学伦理学的基本问题

严格意义上的"现象学的伦理学"是一种反思—描述的伦理学。胡塞尔、哈特曼、耿宁的案例为我们提供了现象学伦理学的三种可能性,它们的共同特点都是在现象学反思中进行的对道德意识的有意无意的本质直观。这样一种现象学的伦理学与其说是一种价值伦理学,不如说是一种道德心理学或道德意识现象学。现象学的反思—描述伦理学与近代以来的规范伦理学的区别,非常类似于数学—逻辑学中的直觉主义与形式主义的差异。与后面两种数学理论一样,前面两种伦理学说也不能被理解为是非此即彼、相互排斥的。只是对它们之间的奠基关系的不同理解,会导向在伦理学思考中的两种不同立场:反思—描述伦理学的和规范伦理学的。这两种伦理学需要彼此互补才能最终构成完整的人类道德系统。     

信息可视化视野下的工程伦理前沿研究

本文以社会科学引文索引（SSCI）为源数据库,以“engineering ethics”为主题词进行检索,将检索到的所有数据进行下载后,运用科学计量学的最新方法——可视化技术（citespace软件）对这些数据从期刊共引、作者共引、文献共引三个角度进行了统计分析。本文绘制了工程技术伦理前沿领域的知识图谱,分析了工程伦理学发展演化的过程以及工程伦理学的现状,从而展示出科学与工程技术伦理领域的前沿问题。对于工程伦理的研究,在我国方兴未艾,但在国外已进入建制化阶段,因此,在这个阶段分析工程伦理学发展演化的过程及其前沿成果对我国工程伦理学的建立和发展有重要的意义。     

软骨组织工程种子细胞的医学伦理分析

软骨组织工程作为一项新兴技术成为治疗软骨缺损的新途径,本文通过探讨软骨组织工程学研究与临床应用的医学伦理学问题。从组织工程学研究的各种不同的种子细胞来源方面阐述其各自存在的伦理学问题及其对策。从而阐明在进行软骨组织工程种子细胞研究的同时,必须充分考虑相关的伦理学问题,遵循伦理原则,使软骨组织工程不仅在技术上可行,在伦理学上也是可行的。     

工程伦理学的若干理论问题——兼论为“实践伦理学”正名

工程伦理学是伦理学王国的“新出场者”,工程伦理学研究(在西方)已经“开始起飞”。可以预言,工程伦理学的起飞不但具有重大的现实意义,而且具有深远的理论意义。从理论方面看,工程伦理学提出了许多带有根本性的新问题,要求人们给予新的思考和新的回答,本文就是我对这方面几个问题的初步认识。一、工程活动的“伦理主体”在传统的伦理学中,关于“伦理主体”的问题是不存在的,因为两千多年来,人们一向都不言而喻地把“个人”看作理所当然的伦理主体。可是,在研究工程活动的伦理问题时,人们发觉有必要重新考虑这个似乎是不言而喻和毋庸置疑的…     

应用伦理学运用伦理学理论的方式

伦理学理论在泛义上的“被应用”有两种意义 ,即被直接地或间接地作为理解或解释而诉诸。有三种直接诉诸伦理学理论的方式。将一种体系作为解释系统应用于全部领域的方式目标过高。部分地应用伦理学理论的方式具有灵活性 ,但牺牲解释的系统性。将一种理论应用于某一领域的方式较为合理 ,但也容易受到不同推理和不同结论的挑战。更好的选择也许是解除应用伦理学提供理解或解释系统的工作 ,使它专心从事它能最好地从事的工作。     

软骨组织工程种子细胞的医学伦理分析

软骨组织工程作为一项新兴技术成为治疗软骨缺损的新途径,本文通过探讨软骨组织工程学研究与临床应用的医学伦理学问题.从组织工程学研究的各种不同的种子细胞来源方面阐述其各自存在的伦理学问题及其对策.从而阐明在进行软骨组织工程种子细胞研究的同时,必须充分考虑相关的伦理学问题,遵循伦理原则,使软骨组织工程不仅在技术上可行,在伦理学上也是可行的.     

What’s philosophically interesting about engineering ethics?

What makes a subject philosophically interesting is hard-to-resolve confusion about fundamental concepts. Engineering ethics suffers from at least three such fundamental confusions. First, there is confusion about what the “ethics” in engineering ethics is (ordinary morality, philosophical ethics, special standards, or something else?) Second, there is confusion about what the profession of engineering is (a function, discipline, occupation, kind of organization, or something else?) Third, there is confusion about what the discipline of engineering is. These fundamental confusions in engineering ethics connect with philosophically interesting work in moral theory, political philosophy, and philosophy of science. Work in these areas may help with the philosophical problems of engineering ethics. But, equally important, work in engineering ethics may help with the philosophical problems in these others fields.     

Engineering Good: How Engineering Metaphors Help us to Understand the Moral Life and Change Society

Engineering can learn from ethics, but ethics can also learn from engineering. In this paper, I discuss what engineering metaphors can teach us about practical philosophy. Using metaphors such as calculation, performance, and open source, I articulate two opposing views of morality and politics: one that relies on images related to engineering as science and one that draws on images of engineering practice. I argue that the latter view and its metaphors provide a more adequate way to understand and guide the moral life. Responding to two problems of alienation and taking into account developments such as Fab Lab I then further explore the implications of this view for engineering and society.     

Proposed Strategies for Teaching Ethics of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology and nanosciences have recently gained tremendous attention and funding, from multiple entities and directions. In the last 10 years the funding for nanotechnology research has increased by orders of magnitude. An important part that has also gained parallel attention is the societal and ethical impact of nanotechnology and the possible consequences of its products and processes on human life and welfare. Multiple thinkers and philosophers wrote about both negative and positive effects of nanotechnology on humans and societies. The literature has a considerable amount of views about nanotechnology that range from calling for the abandonment and blockage of all efforts in that direction to complete support and encouragement in hopes that nanotechnology will be the next big jump in ameliorating human life and welfare. However, amidst all this hype about the ethics of nanotechnology, relatively less efforts and resources can be found in the literature to help engineering professionals and educators, and to provide practical methods and techniques for teaching ethics of nanotechnology and relating the technical side of it to the societal and human aspect. The purpose of this paper is to introduce strategies and ideas for teaching ethics of nanotechnology in engineering in relation to engineering codes of ethics. The paper is neither a new philosophical view about ethics of nanotechnology nor a discussion of the ethical dimensions of nanotechnology. This is an attempt to help educators and professionals by answering the question of how to incorporate ethics of nanotechnology in the educational process and practice of engineering and what is critical for the students and professionals to know in that regard. The contents of the presented strategies and ideas focus on the practical aspects of ethical issues related to nanotechnology and its societal impact. It also builds a relation between these issues and engineering codes of ethics. The pedagogical components of the strategies are based on best-practices to produce independent life-long self-learners and critical thinkers. These strategies and ideas can be incorporated as a whole or in part, in the engineering curriculum, to raise awareness of the ethical issues related to nanotechnology, improve the level of professionalism among engineering graduates, and apply ABET criteria. It can also be used in the way of professional development and continuing education courses to benefit professional engineers. Educators and institutions are welcome to use these strategies, a modified version, or even a further developed version of it, that suits their needs and circumstances.     

Educating the Humanitarian Engineer

The creation of new technologies that serve humanity holds the potential to help end global poverty. Unfortunately, relatively little is done in engineering education to support engineers’ humanitarian efforts. Here, various strategies are introduced to augment the teaching of engineering ethics with the goal of encouraging engineers to serve as effective volunteers for community service. First, codes of ethics, moral frameworks, and comparative analysis of professional service standards lay the foundation for expectations for voluntary service in the engineering profession. Second, standard coverage of global issues in engineering ethics educates humanitarian engineers about aspects of the community that influence technical design constraints encountered in practice. Sample assignments on volunteerism are provided, including a prototypical design problem that integrates community constraints into a technical design problem in a novel way. Third, it is shown how extracurricular engineering organizations can provide a theory-practice approach to education in volunteerism. Sample completed projects are described for both undergraduates and graduate students. The student organization approach is contrasted with the service-learning approach. Finally, long-term goals for establishing better infrastructure are identified for educating the humanitarian engineer in the university, and supporting life-long activities of humanitarian engineers.     

“亚当·斯密问题”的逻辑张力

“亚当·斯密问题”是指斯密的《国富论》与《道德情操论》之间存在着对立或不一致的问题,最初由十九世纪中叶的德国历史学派所提出。此后,随着现实与理论的发展,出现了不同的看法。学者们普遍认为,斯密的两大著作之间、经济学与伦理学之间存在着对立或者不存在对立,而是相互一致的。这些看法都具有各自的积极合理的内容,但缺乏辩证的观点,而没有看到“斯密问题”自身的逻辑张力,也就是说,“斯密问题”所指涉的是现实的经济与伦理之间及作为其理论表现的经济学与伦理学之间的关系。“斯密问题”所含的这些关系呈现出了一个动态的、由肯定到否定再到否定之否定的辩证过程。     

On the relation between conceptual engineering and conceptual ethics

In recent years, there has been growing discussion amongst philosophers about “conceptual engineering”. Put roughly, conceptual engineering concerns the assessment and improvement of concepts, or of other devices we use in thought and talk (e.g., words). This often involves attempts to modify our existing concepts (or other representational devices), and/or our practices of using them. This paper explores the relation between conceptual engineering and conceptual ethics, where conceptual ethics is taken to encompass normative and evaluative questions about concepts, words, and other broadly “representational” and/or “inferential” devices we use in thought and talk. We take some of the central questions in conceptual ethics to concern which concepts we should use and what words should mean, and why. We put forward a view of conceptual engineering in terms of the following three activities: conceptual ethics, conceptual innovation, and conceptual implementation. On our view, conceptual engineering can be defined in terms of these three activities, but not in a straightforward, Boolean way. Conceptual engineering, we argue, is made up of mereologically complex activities whose parts fall into the categories associated with each of these three different activities.     

CONFUCIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS,CLIMATE ENGINEERING,AND THE “PLAYING GOD” ARGUMENT

The burgeoning literature on the ethical issues raised by climate engineering has explored various normative questions associated with the research and deployment of climate engineering, and has examined a number of responses to them. While researchers have noted the ethical issues from climate engineering are global in nature, much of the discussion proceeds predominately with ethical framework in the Anglo‐American and European traditions, which presume particular normative standpoints and understandings of human–nature relationship. The current discussion on the ethical issues, therefore, is far from being a genuine global dialogue. The aim of this article is to address the lack of intercultural exchange by exploring the ethics of climate engineering from a perspective of Confucian environmental ethics. Drawing from the existing discussion on Confucian environmental ethics and Confucian ethics of technology, I discuss what Confucian ethics can contribute to the ethical debate on climate engineering.     

Discernment and Denial: Nanotechnology Researchers’ Recognition of Ethical Responsibilities Related to Their Work

To what extent do nanotechnology researchers discern specific work-related ethical responsibilities that are incumbent upon them? A questionnaire was designed and administered to answer this question. Analysis of responses to 11 ethical responsibility statements (ERSs) by 213 researchers at the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility revealed widespread agreement about a number of work-related ethical responsibilities and substantial divergence in the views about several others. Explanations of this divergence are proposed. A new variable is defined that gauges the respondent’s overall level of discernment of the ethical responsibilities referenced in the ERSs. The mean discernment level score for respondents who had taken a course that included discussion of ethical issues closely related to science, technology, or engineering was significantly higher than for those who had not. Further, among respondents who had taken such a course, the mean discernment level score for those who had taken an ethics course devoted to exploration of ethical issues closely related to science, technology, or engineering was significantly higher than for those who had taken a technical science or engineering course that typically pays only fleeting attention to such issues. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

PRAGMATISM,REALISM, AND RELIGION

Pragmatism is often thought to be incompatible with realism, the view that there are knowable mind‐independent facts, objects, or properties. In this article, I show that there are, in fact, realist versions of pragmatism and argue that a realist pragmatism of the right sort can make important contributions to such fields as religious ethics and philosophy of religion. Using William James's pragmatism as my primary example, I show (1) that James defended realist and pluralist views in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of religion, and (2) that these views not only cohere with his pragmatism but indeed are basic to it. After arguing that James's pragmatism provides a credible and useful approach to a number of basic philosophical and religious issues, I conclude by reflecting on some ways in which we can apply and potentially improve James's views in the study of religion.