Resumen de The Engineer as Designer and as a Morally Responsible Individual
The pre-eminent problem that engineers are confronted with is engineering design. Engineering design is intended as a preparation towards action; more specifically, technological action. Technological action is just like any other kind of action, ultimately aiming at the realization of mental entities: the generation of values. Because of this intrinsic connection of engineering design with values, the engineer as designer shall not only be answerable for his/her engineering capabilities, but also and always for his/her ethical conceptions and behaviour as a moral person. A structural analysis of action, more in particular of engineering action, raises a great number of questions of an ethical nature, many of them pertaining to environmental problems. The engineer should not evade these questions, but face them. In his/her moral considerations the engineer should reject the doubtful behavioural conduct expressed by 'the ends justify the means'. Instead of this, the engineer should adhere to the rule 'the side effects (of the technical action intended), both to their environmental and social aspects, justify the means'.
