Ethics for Engineers

2-0-4 units · Undergraduate

Explores how to be an ethical engineer. Students examine engineering case studies alongside key readings by foundational ethical thinkers from Aristotle to Martin Luther King, Jr., and investigate which ethical approaches are best and how to apply them. Topics include justice, rights, cost-benefit analysis, safety, bias, genetic engineering, climate change, and the promise and peril of AI. Discussion-based, with the aim of introducing students to new ways of thinking. All sections cover the same core ethical frameworks, but some sections have a particular focus for case studies, such as bioengineering, or have an in-depth emphasis on particular thinkers. The subject is taught in separate sections. Students are eligible to take any section regardless of their registered subject number. For 20.005 , students additionally undertake an ethical-technical analysis of a BE-related topic of their choosing.