Reflections on professional engineering ethics – a personalistic perspective
Reflections on professional engineering ethics – a personalistic perspective

Summary/Abstract: Purpose The article attempts to synthesize professional engineering ethics to find key characteristic features of a professional expert engineer and of a managing engineer, who do their duties on job contracts or as contracted professionals within a partnership. Methodology A descriptive analysis has been applied to the content of engineering codes of ethics to obtain core engineering ethical competencies. Findings A review of the content of professional engineering ethics indicates a deontological base of an educated engineer on earlier acquired values and formed attitudes from general and personal ethics. These are beyond the scope of professional higher education, but are an indispensable precondition for an engineer to have been taught effectively about his or her engineering rights and duties, and to have acquired correct attitudes toward professional ethical issues. The analysis of the learning process within technical curricula supports the proposition, generally accepted in engineering ethics textbooks, to apply a case study method during instruction and to adequately define prerequisite knowledge and skills of the students, to have them prepared for studies of the professional ethics subject. Originality The author proposes that such prerequisites be formulated in engineering curricula and justifies this need by professional code norms that state the superiority of personal integrity of an engineer over all other professional qualities. Such integrity, the author foresees, can be attained on personalistic ethics grounds that foster learning through application and formation of an internally consistent system of values by a future professional who wishes to achieve such personal integrity

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