Ethics 2

A thought-provoking image showcasing ethical dilemmas in engineering, with elements symbolizing Kantian ethics and utilitarianism, featuring scales of justice, engineers at work, and abstract representations of moral choices.

Ethics in Engineering Quiz

Challenge your understanding of engineering ethics and moral philosophy with this comprehensive quiz! Dive into the principles that guide ethical decision-making in engineering practice and learn about the critical importance of responsibility and accountability.

Key topics include:

Kantian Ethics
Utilitarianism
Professional Responsibility
Case Studies

30 Questions8 MinutesCreated by EthicalMind304

True or False: Kant claims that happiness (the satisfaction) is good without qualification and is therefore the highest goof.

True

False

According to Kant, and action that has moral with is

An action that may even go against subjective inclination (desire) but is nevertheless done for the sake of duty alone

An action that I do not want to do, but I do anyway in order to avoid punishment

An action to which I am subjectively inclined, but the inclination is not duty, it is to feel good about myself or to enhance my resume

True or False: According to Kant, it is possible for a person to effectively 'throw away' their dignity by allowing themselves to be governed by inclination (their passions) rather than by reason.

True

False

According to Kant, if a person effectively reduces humanity in themselves to something that has a price, such as the prostitute

I am now free to use that person as a mere means to my end of obtaining pleasure

I am still bound by the principle 'never treat humanity merely as a means' and so I cannot rightly use the services offered by the prostititute

Whether it is right or wrong to use the services of the prostitute depends upon the amount of money I pay the prostitute

True or False: Kant says that if the satisfaction of inclination (happiness) were our highest purpose, then nature should have made us creatures ruled by instinct. We are creatures governed by reason, however, which means that we have a higher purpose which Kant calls 'worthiness to be happy.'

True

False

True or False: The Utilitarian approach to ethics always guarantees that every person's human rights will be respected.

True

False

True or False: As I explained in class, the responsibility of engineers to inform the public has nothing to do with the rising level of technology in a given society.

True

False

True or False: Any comparison must be done in some constant term in order to be meaningful. Like it or not, a most practical constant term when doing comparisons of costs and benefits is money, even when the comparison involves the loss of a human life.

True

False

True or False: Under a purely utilitarian analysis, any medical experiment on human subjects, or corpses of human subjects including those of children, the question of informed consent arises. This is primarily for

True

False

Which of the following is false?

Whatever a group of human beings claims to be entitled to is a human right.

An unalienable human right is a claim against any human agency, including the ruler, therefore it must be grounded on something that transcends any human agency, such as God or Nature

Given that human beings are all equally autonomous moral agents, all rights claims must be objectively grounded. Otherwise they are really nothing more than simply the expression of a preference.

True or False: As I explained in class, the 'Cadillac chip case' shows that CO2 has been a regulated pollutant in the U.S. Since at least 1990.

True

False

According to our text, the three characteristics that good engineers will make part of their professional character are

Social awareness, environmental consciousness and political activism

Environmental awareness, professional pride and consumer advocacy

Professional pride, social awareness and environmental consciousness

True or False: Absolutely error-free work is a meaningful, attainable standard; competent engineers simply do not make errors.

True

False

True or False: The judgement that has or has not met the Standard of Care will never be determined by a jury, since they are not competent to judge the decisions of an engineer.

True

False

True or False: There is never any doubt as to exactly how the Standard of Care is defined in any particular instance because the Standard of Care as applied to any particular case is defined a priori in the various Engineering and Building Codes.

True

False

Which of the following is NOT one of the four conditions that must be met in order to successfully prosecute someone for negligence?

A legal obligation to confirm to certain standards of conduct is present

The person being charged must be shown to have intended to cause harm

Actual loss or damage to the interests of others results

Three kinds of liability presented in our text when discussing responsibility for harm are

Accidentally, reckless or unknowingly causing harm

Accidentally, recklessly or negligently causing harm

Intentionally, recklessly or negligently causing harm

True or False: The 'Problem of Many Hands' is a factor that can never prevent an engineer from taking responsibility

True

False

True or False: Organizations as well as individuals can be held responsible for harm, as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report showed.

True

False

The Kansas City Hyatt Regency disaster illustrates

How an engineering firm can be unjustly held responsible for an action of a subcontractor

A paradigm case of an engineering firm failing to meet the Standard of Care

How an event such as a Tea Dance can be a responsible cause of disaster

Our detailed study of the Pinto case reveals

The value of media outlets such as Mother Jones magazine in providing the truth about corporate decision making

The callous heartlessness of Ford Motor Company in assigning a dollar value to a human life and comparing that to production costs involved in producing the Pinto

Neither of the above

Our careful study of the Pinto case reveals

The public perception of professional risk analysis may be very negative based on their emotional responses especially when inflamed by inaccurate media reports

Ford engineers were reckless in placing the fuel tank of the Pinto in an unusual position

The Pinto was statistically much more dangerous than the subcompacts produced by other manufacturers at the time

We read in our text that it was a 'matter of faith' at NASA that the foam strikes could not cause significant damage and were not a safety of flight issue. This dogmatic acceptance of a position regarding the potential hazard from foam strikes is an example of

Corporate culture

An impediment or barrier to responsible action

Both a and b

The story of Citicorp building in Manhattan illustrates

The point that ensuring compliance with existing building codes satisfies the obligation of the ethical engineer

The point that fabricators frequently make changes to ease fabrication of subassemblies

The point that ensuring compliance with existing building codes does not satisfy the obligation of the ethical engineer

A primary difference between criminal law and the law of torts (damages) is

There is no real difference between the two

The standard of proof in tort law is lower than the standard of proof in criminal law

The standard of proof in tort law is higher than the standard of proof in criminal law

Which of the following statements is false

Physical events, such as the foam strike on the wing of the Columbia, can be responsible agents

Organizations, such as NASA, can be responsible agents

Individual engineers can be responsible agents

Which of the following statements is true?

Moral disagreements are rarely disagreements over the relevant facts

Moral disagreements are often disagreements over the relevant facts

Moral disagreements are never disagreements that must be solved in the light of irresolvable factual uncertainty

In our text (p.63) we read "...enthusiasm for good works needs to be tempted with realism." This is very similar to the point I made in class regarding the relationship between imagination and reason, which was

Reason can be overwhelm imagination, but reason needs to be checked by imagination

Imagination can overwhelm reason, but imagination needs to be checked by reason

Imagination and reason always complement each other; neither needs to be checked by the other

When we consider researchers using human subjects, or corpses of human subjects including those of children, the question of informed consent arises. This is a concern primarily for

The Utilitarian ethics

The Respect for Persons ethics

Both the Utilitarian and the Respect for Persons ethics

True or False: Experts should always be honest about what they don't know as well as what they do know

True

False

Unlock and Upgrade

Remove all limits from your Quizzes

Ethics 2

Ethics in Engineering Quiz

More Quizzes