THE IMPORTANCE OF

HONESTY
The requirement of total candor would mean
that people would be brutally frank about their
opinions of each other and unable to exercise
the sort of tact and reticence that we associate
with polite and civilized society
Even then, honesty is an important part of life
The requirement never to conceal truth would
mean that engineers, physicians, lawyers, and
other
professionals
could
not
exercise
confidentiality
or
protect
proprietary
information

THE IMPORTANCE OF
HONESTY
Dishonesty and the various other
ways of misusing the truth are
generally wrong
Actions are wrong if they violate the
moral agency of individuals
Moral agency = autonomy; capable
of formulating and pursuing goals
and purposes of their own

THE IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY RE:

ENGINEERS
There are these so-called three conditions of
autonomy: (1) informed consent, (2) the capability
to make decisions without undue coercive
influence, and (3) knowledge of the consequences
of their decisions
As far as engineers are concerned, their
responsibility probably extend only to the third of
these three conditions of autonomy, ensuring that
employers, clients, and the general public make
decisions
regarding
technology
with
understanding, particularly understanding of their
consequences

THE IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY RE:

ENGINEERS
The IEEE code requires members to
disclose promptly factors that might
endanger the public or the environment
The safety, health, and welfare of the
public are endangered ASCE members
must inform their clients or employers of
the possible consequences.
This applies to such issues as product
safety and the provision of professional
advice and information

THE IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY RE:

ENGINEERS
To be informed, decision makers must not only
have the relevant information but also understand
it
Nobody has all of the relevant information or has
complete understanding of it so that being
informed in both of these senses is a matter of
degree
The extent of the engineers obligation regarding
informed consent will sometimes be controversial,
and whether or not the obligation has been fulfilled
will also sometimes be controversial

HONESTY IN ENGINEERING AND

UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism requires that our actions
promote human happiness and well-being
The profession of engineering contributes to
this utilitarian goal by providing designs for
the creation of buildings, bridges, chemicals,
electronic devices, automobiles, and many
other things on which our society depends
It also provides information about technology
that is important in decision making at the
individual, corporate, and public policy levels

THE IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY RE:

ENGINEERS
Dishonesty in engineering research
can undermine these functions, and
can undermine the relations of trust
on which a scientific community is
founded
Dishonesty can also undermine
informed decision making

DISHONESTY ON CAMPUS
A students experience in engineering school is a
training period for his or her professional career
If
dishonesty
is
detrimental
to
engineering
professionalism, then part of this training should be in
professional honesty
The pressures that students experience in the academic
setting are not that different from (and perhaps less
than) those they will experience in their jobs
If it is morally permissible to cheat on exams and
misrepresent data on laboratory reports and design
projects, then why isnt it permissible to misrepresent
data to please the boss, get a promotion, or keep a job?

DISHONESTY IN ENGINEERING
RESEARCH AND TESTING
Dishonesty in science and engineering takes several
forms: falsification of data, fabrication of data, and
plagiarism
Falsification involves distorting data by smoothing
out irregularities or presenting only those data which
fit ones favored theory and discarding the rest
Fabrication involves inventing data and even
reporting results of experiments that were never
conducted
Plagiarism is the use of the intellectual property of
others without proper permission or credit; takes
many forms, and a form of theft

DISHONESTY IN ENGINEERING
RESEARCH AND TESTING
Drawing the line between legitimate and
illegitimate use of the intellectual property of
others is often difficult, and the method of linedrawing is useful in helping us discriminate
between the two
Some cases are undeniable examples of plagiarism
(quoting anothers passages verbatim, without
proper attribution, and representing them as ones
own)
On the other side of the spectrum, the quotation of
short statements by others with proper attribution
is clearly permissible

RE: MULTIPLE AUTHORSHIP

Multiple authorship of papers can often raise particularly vexing
issues with regard to honesty in scientific and technological work
Sometimes, as many as 4050 researchers are listed as the
authors of a scientific paper
Several justifications for this practice: (1) often a large number of
scientists participate in some forms of research, all making
genuine contributions; (2) the distinction between whether
someone is the author of a paper or merely deserves to be cited
may indeed be tenuous in some circumstances
However, there are less honest motives for the practice, the most
obvious one being the desire of most scientists for as many
publications as possible, which holds true in both academic and
non-academic scientists
In addition, many graduate and postdoctoral students need to be
published to secure jobs

RE: MULTIPLE AUTHORSHIP

Two
potential
problems
with
multiple
authorship: (1) it is fraudulent to claim
significant credit for scientific research when,
in
fact,
a
contribution
is
relatively
insignificant, which robs those who are
evaluating the scientist or engineer of the
chance to make informed decisions in their
evaluations;
(2)
fraudulent
claims
to
authorship give one an unfair advantage in
the competition for jobs, promotions, and
recognition in the scientific community