招待講演シリーズ「工学倫理の理論的問題」
Invited Lecture Series: Theoretical Problems in Engineering Ethics
講師
マイケル・デイビス教授（イリノイ工科大学）
Prof. Michael Davis (Illinois Institute of Technology)
ロバート・マギン教授（スタンフォード大学）
Prof. Robert McGinn (Stanford University)
日時
２００２年１２月７日（土）〜８日（日）
各１４：００〜１７：００
場所
スケジュール
１２月７日
デイビス教授「工学倫理に関して哲学的におもしろい問題とは何か」
"What's Philosophically Interesting about Engineering Ethics?"
１２月８日
マギン教授「工学専門職の道徳的諸責任：経験的および理論的視点」
"Moral Responsibilities of Engineering Professionals: Empirical and
Theoretical Perspectives"
両日とも、講師の先生に１時間話していただいたあと、休憩をはさんで時間までつっ
こんだディスカッションを行いたいと思います。講演は英語で、通訳はつきません
が、ディスカッションに関しては必要に応じて通訳を行います。
趣旨：
現在、全国の大学の工学系学部で倫理に関する授業の取り組みが広まりつつありま
す。その動きに応じて哲学系研究者の間でも工学倫理への関心は高まりつつあるよう
に思いますが、工学倫理教育の需要ということだけからいってもまだまだ人手不足の
感があります。そこで、今回は、哲学の観点から工学倫理に切り込むにはどうしたら
よいのか、ということについて、アメリカでこの分野をリードする二人の哲学者の方
にご講演いただき、討論を深めたいと思います。したがって、今回の招待講演は、主
に、「工学倫理というのをやっている人たちがいるようだが本当におもしろいんだろ
うか」というような感じで工学倫理の動きを見ておられる哲学系研究者の方々を念頭
に置いて企画しています。もちろん、すでに工学倫理にかかわっている哲学系研究者
の方々、そして工学倫理の理論的問題について関心のあるすべての方々の参加を歓迎
します。この講演会を通じて、工学倫理というものへの理解と関心を深めていただけ
れば幸いです。
主催：
名古屋工学倫理研究会
（文部科学省科学研究費・基盤研究「工学倫理の基礎づけと教育実践のための総合的
研究」）
問い合わせ先
名古屋大学情報文化学部
ABSTRACTS
Prof. Michael Davis (Illinois Institute of Technology)
"What's Philosophically Interesting About Engineering Ethics?"
I assume that what makes a subject philosophically interesting is hard-to-resolve confusion about fundamental concepts. Engineering ethics suffers from at least three such fundamental confusions. First, there is confusion about what the "ethics" in engineering ethics is (ordinary morality, philosophical ethics, special standards, or something else)? Second, there is confusion about what the profession of engineering is (a function, discipline, occupation, kind of organization, or something else?) Third, there is confusion about what the discipline of engineering is. Definitions of the discipline have a surprising tendency to be circular or far too broad ('applied science'). These fundamental confusions in engineering ethics connect with philosophically interesting work in moral theory, political philosophy, and philosophy of science. Work in these areas may help with the philosophical problems of engineering ethics. But, equally important, work in engineering ethics may help with the philosophical problems in these others fields.
Prof. Robert McGinn (Stanford University)
"Moral Responsibilities of Engineering Professionals: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives"
Discussion of the moral responsibility of the engineering professional is irritatingly vague, general, and abstract. The general goal of this talk is to discuss the moral responsibility of the engineering professional on more specific "middle-range" levels, ones that can be more clearly understood by engineers and influence how they behave in concrete engineering practice. To begin, selected results of a survey of Stanford engineering students and practicing engineers in the area of engineering ethics will be discussed. In particular, the focus will be on some striking results obtained from several survey questions that relate moral responsibility.
With these results as background, the notion of the moral responsibility of the engineering professional will be subjected to critical analysis. That notion will be unpacked along several dimensions, most importantly the "to whom" dimension, that is to say, the various parties to whom the engineering professional can have one or another kind of moral responsibility.
Then, a number of fairly specific moral responsibilities that engineering professionals can have to one or more of these parties will be identified and discussed. Careful attention will be paid to the conditions under which each of these moral responsibilities applies and to what the engineer has a moral responsibility to do if those conditions are satisfied. Finally, several real-life case studies in which some of these specific moral responsibilities are implicated will be related and discussed. Pertinent lessons that they hold for the topic of this talk will be extracted.