Ethics for life sciences engineers

Abstract: Ethics is generally seen as a branch of philosophy, as something which involves abstract thinking about moral questions.  As a result it is commonly seen as very distinct from science and engineering, which are regarded as being more mathematical, empirical and applied.  Philosophical ethics is, however, only part of ethics, which is primarily concerned with what is ‘right and wrong’: this question goes far beyond philosophy.  

Ethics has been defined as “the social organizing of morality, the process by which accepted and contested models are fixed and refixed, by which morality becomes ingrained in the various customary ways of doing things” (Clegg et al. 2007, p. 111).  Our focus in this course is on the customary ways of doing ‘good’ life science engineering (working with scientific integrity, with care for people and living organisms; with a recognition of risks), the thinking that goes on behind those practices (application of principles such as non-malfeasance, beneficence, autonomy, trustworthiness), and the way people work with each other in organisations and groups (how lab practices ensure integrity, ethical review processes, the role of regulatory bodies) to do ‘good’ life science engineering. 

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