Quote: For this ethics assignment, you will submit a position paper that will identify a current or emerging problem, failure, or dilemma within your discipline, analyze its ethical dimensions, and recommend an ethically responsible solution to that issue. Your goal will be to persuade reasonable, intelligent readers your solution is a sound and ethically responsible course of action.


SUBJECT
Research which issue or issues currently and/or most importantly face your profession and write a position paper, taking a clear stand on that topic. Saying “it all depends” or that “different people will approach the issue differently” is not acceptable. Also be aware that, in order to make your thesis convincing, you should consider various points of view, so it would be wise to consult several sources, including industry professionals and professors, your professional code of ethics, policy and laws, as well as philosophy and religion.

A good anchor, or starting point, for your paper, regardless of your discipline, might be one of the NAE’s Grand Challenges, especially since they represent the defining issues of the future of engineering and technology. Within those broader categories, there will be ethical challenges to face, which you would define for your paper. Note that the Grand Challenges will only guide you—none of them presents an ethical challenge, per se. You would have to find an ethical issue to address within one of the categories of the challenge.

There is no specific length requirement or limit for this assignment. But you must be thorough. A rough target might be between 6 and 8 pages.

Quote: Consider the following dilemma: Mike is supposed to be the best man at a friend’s wedding in Maine this afternoon. He is carrying the wedding rings with him in New Hampshire, where he has been staying on business. One bus a day goes directly to the coast. Mike is on his way to the bus station with 15 minutes to spare when he realizes that his wallet has been stolen, and with it his bus tickets, his credit cards, and all his forms of ID.
At the bus station Mike tries to persuade the officials, and then a couple of fellow travelers, to lend him the money to buy a new ticket, but no one will do it. He’s a stranger, and it’s a significant sum. With five minutes to go before the bus’s departure, he is sitting on a bench trying desperately to think of a plan. Just then, a well-dressed man gets up for a walk, leaving his jacket, with a bus ticket to Maine in the pocket, lying unattended on the bench. In a flash, Mike realizes that the only way he will make it to the wedding on time is if he takes that ticket. The man is clearly well off and could easily buy himself another one.
Should Mike take the ticket?

Quote: You are driving along, and then when you’re not paying attention, you cause an accident and kill someone. During the accident, multiple cars are involved. When you get out of the car, a woman frantically comes to you and asks if the person on the ground is okay. She believes she caused the accident and killed the person. You, however, know very well you caused the accident. When the police do the investigation, what are you going to tell them? Whoever is convicted of this will probably go to jail for a long time. Will you tell the police the truth or let the woman believe she killed the person?

Variation: How would your answer change if you were a single parent raising two kids and you really cannot afford them to be in foster care?

Variation 2: What if the woman is the one with two kids and is a single parent?

Quote:Currently my main idea is alcohol addiction, and how companies are making profit off of people. Is it wrong of them to do so? Are the drinkers the ones to blame? If we took the alcohol away, how would that effect people as some use it for stress reflief.

Quote:Currently my main idea is gambling addiction, and how companies are making profit off of people. Is it wrong of them to do so? Are the gamblers the ones to blame? If we took the casinos & online poker away, how would that effect people as some use it for stress reflief.

larmie Wrote:I'm pissed off about outsourcing (but not for its ethics but w/e). Shouldn't companies that use public roads, employ people who received public education/private education w/ public funds, and rely on the government for running its businesses and protecting their assets be liable to hire citizens of that country? A company should be forced to hire nationals unless they cannot operate using nationals, in which case they should GTFO and move to India. You're taking money you earn from domestic customers and paying off international employees who pay taxes to other governments. I call bullshit.

Cancambo Wrote:But, would we live with the higher costs? Many people say "I hate offshoring" (it is offshoring that you're speaking of by the way, not outsourcing), but they don't realize they have what they have do to it. Without offshoring we wouldn't be able to go to a Wal-Mart and save boatloads of money on everything we buy. We, as nations, profit as a whole by having poorer countries do our work. If anything, the real ethical problem here is profiterring off cheap labor - not taking jobs away from an affluent country. We exploit the labor of poorer peoples in order to have a richer, better standard of living.