Assignment No: 1 Total marks:20

Date of Issue: Date of Submission:

S.No. Assignment Questions K CO Marks
Level
1. (i) Explain character and spirituality and their importance in
ethics
K2 CO1 10 marks
(ii) What is service learning? Why service learning
important? Explain the characteristics of service learning.
2. Discuss in detail about Kohlberg’s theory and Gilligan’s theory.
K2 CO2 10 marks
Assignment No: 2 Total marks:20
Date of Issue: Date of Submission:
10
1. Explain in detail about Code of ethics for Engineers. K2 CO3
marks
What is Whistle Blowing? Give example for it. State and explain
10
2. the main features that characterise Whistle Blowing and the K2 CO4
marks
measures to prevent it.
Assignment No: 3 Total marks:20
Date of Issue: Date of Submission:
1. What does Environmental Ethics deal with? Discuss the holistic 10
K2 CO5
approaches of Environmental ethics. Write notes on “Acid Rain”. marks
2. Explain with eg about ethics in private and public relationships K2 CO6
10
marks
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Academic Year 2020-2021

Batch 2017-2021
Year/Semester/section IV/VIII/A
Subject Code-Title GE8076 – Professional Ethics in Engineering
Name of the Instructor Dept CSE

Course In charge Course Coordinator Module Coordinator HOD/CSE

 ASSIGNMENT KEY

ASSIGNMENT NO.1

1. (i)

(ii) Service Learning: Service-learning seeks to engage individuals in activities that combine both
community service and academic learning.
Because service-learning programs are typically rooted in formal courses (core academic, elective, or
vocational), the service activities are usually based on particular curricular concepts that are being
taught.
Service-learning is a teaching method which combines community service with academic instruction as
it focuses on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsibility. Service-learning programs involve
students in organized community service that addresses local needs, while developing their academic
skills, sense of civic responsibility, and commitment to the community.

Service-Learning Program Provides Educational Experiences: Under which students learn and
develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experiences that meet actual
community needs and that are coordinated in collaboration with school and community.
2.
ASSIGNMENT NO.2

1. Code of Ethics
The members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life
throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the
communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:
1. To accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of
the public, and to disclose prompt factors that might endanger the public or the environment.
2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties
when they do exist.
3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data.
4. To reject bribery in all its forms.
5. To improve the understanding of technology, its appropriate application, and potential consequences.
6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if
qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations.
7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to
credit properly the contributions of others.
8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national
origin.
9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action.
10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following
code of ethics.

2. Whistle-blowing is alerting relevant persons to some moral or legal corruption, where “relevant persons” are
those in a position to act in response, if only by registering protest. i.e. the employee disclosure of an employer’s
illegal or illegitimate practices to persons or organizations that may be able to take corrective actions.

The conditions to be met for whistle-blowing are; a.Need b.Proximity c.Capability d.Last resort

Features of Whistle Blowing are: a. Act of disclosure b Topic c. Agent d. Recipient

Act of disclosure- information is intentionally conveyed, under pressure

Topic - The problem may be criminal behaviour, unethical policies or practice, injustices to workers within the
organizations and serious threats to public safety and well-being.

Agent-The person disclosing the information it’s an employee or former employee

Recipient- the information is passed on to a person to take action

Whistle blowing is morally permitted when

i. If the harm that will be done by the product to the public is serious and considerable.

ii. If they make their concerns known to their superiors. iii. If getting no satisfaction from their immediate
supervisors, they exhaust the channels available within the corporation, including going to the board of directors.

He or she must have documented evidence that would convince a reasonable, impartial observer that his [or her]
view of the situation is correct and the company policy wrong. ii. There must be strong evidence that making the
information public will in fact prevent the threatened serious harm
ASSIGNMENT NO. 3

1. Environmental ethics • Ethics = the study of good and bad, right and wrong - Moral principles or values held
by a person or society - Promoting human welfare, maximizing freedom, minimizing pain and suffering •
Ethics is a prescriptive pursuit: it tells us how we ought to behave • Ethical standards = criteria that help
differentiate right from wrong • Environmental ethics = application of ethical standards to relationships
between human and nonhuman entities

Definition • Environmental ethics is the descipline that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and
also the value and moral status of, the environment and its nonhuman contents. • It exerts influence on a large
range of desciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics ecology and geography.

There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. • Example: Should
we continue to propagate? Should we continue to cut forests for the sake of human consumption? Should we
continue to make gasoline powered vehicles? What environmental obligations do we need to keep for future
generations?

Importants of environmental ethics • Makes us aware of the indiscriminate and destructive human activities •
Inculcate moral values towards nature and learn to respect various life forms through environmental ethics •
Concerned with the issues of responsible personal conduct with respect to natural landscope , resources,
species, and nonhuman organisms • Conduct with respect to person is, of course, the direct concern of modern
philosophy

Challenge of environmental ethics • Suppose that putting out natural fires, culling domesticated animals or
destroying some individual members of overpulated indigenous species is necessary for the protection of the
integrity of a certain ecosystem. • Will this action be morally permissible or even required? • Is it morally
acceptable for farmers in non industrial countries to practice slash and burn techniques to clear area for
agriculture? • Consider a mining company which has performed open pit mining in some previously unspoiled
area. • Does the company have a moral obligation to restore the landform and surface ecology?

2. Ethics in Private and Public Relationships

Each individual plays various roles in society. The role played by them defines the relations with others.
Every day, we play different roles {father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, teacher,
student, doctor, leader, businessman, fried, foe, worker, employer, colleagues and so on}.

Each of these roles carries expected behaviour called “norms”. The roles define relationships such as
marriage, family, friendship, kinship in private sphere of life and teacher-student, doctor-patient, leader-
followers, author-reader, employee-employer etc. in public life.

a. Private Relationships Each private and personal relationship has its own irreplaceable value. Each of it has
its own unique history, character, and set of implicit and explicit understandings about what is to be expected
of the parties to it. The governing factors for ethics in private relationships include individual virtues,
universal human values, religion, social norms and law.

b. Public Relationships Public relationships are governed by many aspects. They may or may not be inherited.
Many a times, they comprise complex situations, contradictory values and conflict of role and interest.

c. Difference between Private and Public Relationships The private relations are obviously more intimate than
public relations. They are generally inherited, relatively permanent; accommodate more tolerance for
imperfections, and are full with expectations of love and affection.
In contrast, public relations may or may not be inherited, are often temporary; with people who are different
from us or even strangers, are likely to be instrumental, engaged in due to mutual benefits (quid pro quid), full
with expectation of respect, and accountability and are guarded.

d. Conflict of Role for a Public Servant At times, Public servants play conflicting role due to conflict in
private life and public life. The private relationships demand individual’s responsibilities towards the role
played in private life such as father, mother, husband, etc. These are self-imposed and voluntary and are
backed by sanctions of one’s obligations towards self, family and society since ancient times.

For example, in our country, the Dharmashshtras provide moral codes to regulate the private relations.
However, in public relationships, the public servant needs to cope with several roles altogether. This includes
– role in private life, role in personal and family sphere, role as a professional, role for job, role towards his /
her area of jurisdiction, role towards seniors and society / humanity at large.

The public service role invokes legal and constitutional obligations, which when violated invite legal
sanctions and penalties. Thus, a public servant needs to cope with these different roles which many a times
conflict with each other. The question is – how to survive while playing such conflicting roles? The key to this
is “personal integrity”. Personal integrity is simply taking a sincere and ethical stand. It also serves as a
building block of public confidence and to establish a trust in society.

e. Ethical Claims and Managing Ethics in Public Service As per Dwight Waldo, there are 12 spheres of ethical
claims {means, what they should or ought to do} for a public servant viz. constitution; law; nation; people;
democracy; bureaucratic norms; professionalism; family & friends; personal groups; public interest and
welfare and religion. Similarly, the OECD countries publish a set of core values to guide public servants.
These core values include impartiality, legality, integrity, transparency, efficiency, equality, responsibility and
justice.

This apart, Nolan, in his famous report of Committee of standards of Public life in Britain gave seven basic
principles for public servants viz. Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness; Honesty and
Leadership.

Conflicts of Interest Conflict of Interest refers to a situation in which the concerns or aims of two different
individual / parties are incompatible. In other way, it is a situation in which a person is in a position to derive
personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity. There are two levels of arise of
conflict of interest viz. Organisational conflicts of interest; and Personal conflicts of interest.

When a person is not able to render impartial service because of relationships or other activities, it is called
organizational conflict of interest. When a person is not able to render impartial service because of his / her
own private interests, it is called personal conflict of interest. When one is confused between ethical issues in
private and public relationships, the personal conflict of interest is bound to arise.

A public servant must also endeavour to avoid conflict of interest by avoiding situations where he / she either
benefits personally. Ideally, the private and public relationships—should be separate. However, practically it
is not possible. The public office holders do have private lives, which are driven by whole gamut of emotions
and other factors.