The Need for Ethical Reflection in Engineering Design: The Relevance of Type of Design and Design Hierarchy Export

@article{citeulike:5031954, abstract = {The authors explore whether the need for ethical reflection on the part of designing engineers is dependent on the type of design process. They use Vincenti's (1992) distinction between normal and radical design and different levels of design hierarchy. These two dimensions are coupled with the concept of ill-structured problems, which are problems in which possible solutions cannot be ordered on a scale from better to worse. Design problems are better structured at lower hierarchical levels and in cases of normal design. Better structured design problems require less ethical reflection on the part of designing engineers if such situations are characterized by the existence of generally accepted normative frameworks. Engineers could then deal with moral problems within the bounds of such frameworks and without the need for further reflection. On the basis of a number of empirical cases, the authors explore whether these ideas hold water. They discuss four cases ranging from a high-level radical design process to a low-level normal design process. 10.1177/0162243905285846}, author = {van de Poel, Ibo and van Gorp, A. C.}, citeulike-article-id = {5031954}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243905285846}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://sth.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/3/333}, doi = {10.1177/0162243905285846}, journal = {Science Technology Human Values}, keywords = {design, engineerg, ethics, regulation, responsibility}, month = {May}, number = {3}, pages = {333--360}, posted-at = {2009-07-01 12:10:09}, priority = {2}, title = {The Need for Ethical Reflection in Engineering Design: The Relevance of Type of Design and Design Hierarchy}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243905285846}, volume = {31}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5031954 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5031954 N2 - The authors explore whether the need for ethical reflection on the part of designing engineers is dependent on the type of design process. They use Vincenti's (1992) distinction between normal and radical design and different levels of design hierarchy. These two dimensions are coupled with the concept of ill-structured problems, which are problems in which possible solutions cannot be ordered on a scale from better to worse. Design problems are better structured at lower hierarchical levels and in cases of normal design. Better structured design problems require less ethical reflection on the part of designing engineers if such situations are characterized by the existence of generally accepted normative frameworks. Engineers could then deal with moral problems within the bounds of such frameworks and without the need for further reflection. On the basis of a number of empirical cases, the authors explore whether these ideas hold water. They discuss four cases ranging from a high-level radical design process to a low-level normal design process. 10.1177/0162243905285846 IS - 3 JF - Science Technology Human Values EP - 360 TI - The Need for Ethical Reflection in Engineering Design: The Relevance of Type of Design and Design Hierarchy VL - 31 SP - 333 KW - design KW - engineerg KW - ethics KW - regulation KW - responsibility AU - van de Poel, Ibo AU - van Gorp, AC PY - 2006/05/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243905285846 ER -