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Ethics Unit-I

This document contains a question bank for the subject of Professional Ethics in Engineering. It begins with 20 multiple choice questions in Part A related to key concepts in engineering ethics like defining ethics, engineering ethics, the need to study ethics, differentiating between ethics, morals and values, and methods to solve ethical problems. Part B contains a single question asking to describe Kohlberg and Gilligan's theories on moral autonomy, specifically discussing Kohlberg's three levels of moral development - pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional - and how they relate to an individual's reasoning and motivation regarding moral questions. The document provides a question bank to assess students' understanding of fundamental topics in professional ethics
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
37 views11 pages

Ethics Unit-I

This document contains a question bank for the subject of Professional Ethics in Engineering. It begins with 20 multiple choice questions in Part A related to key concepts in engineering ethics like defining ethics, engineering ethics, the need to study ethics, differentiating between ethics, morals and values, and methods to solve ethical problems. Part B contains a single question asking to describe Kohlberg and Gilligan's theories on moral autonomy, specifically discussing Kohlberg's three levels of moral development - pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional - and how they relate to an individual's reasoning and motivation regarding moral questions. The document provides a question bank to assess students' understanding of fundamental topics in professional ethics
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EXCEL ENGINEERING COLLEGE

(Autonomous)
Department of Aeronautical Engineering
VI Semester
20AE603 Professional ethics in engineering
Regulations 2020
Question Bank
UNIT – I (Human Values)
PART- A
Q.No Questions Marks CO BL
Define Ethics?
 Study of right or wrong.
 Good and evil.
1 2 CO1 U
 Obligations & rights.
 Justice.
 Social & Political deals.
Define Engineering Ethics?
 Study of the moral issues and decisions confronting individuals and
organizations engaged in engineering / profession.
2 2 CO1 U
 Study of related questions about the moral ideals, character, policies and
relationships of people and corporations involved in technological activity.
 Moral standards / values and system of morals.
What is the need to study Ethics? (OR)
What are the objectives of studying engineering ethics?
 To responsibly confront moral issues raised by technological activity.
 To recognize and resolve moral dilemma.
3  To achieve moral autonomy. 2 CO1 U
 To stimulate the moral imagination.
 To recognize ethical issues.
 To develop analytical skills.
 To address unclarity, uncertainty and disagreement.
Write the difference between ethics, morale and values. [Apr / May 2021]
Ethics: defined as the discipline that deals with what is good and bad and with moral duty
and obligation.
4 2 CO1 U
Moral: are the welfare principles enunciated by the wise people, based on their experience
and wisdom.
Values: A value is defined as a principle that promotes well-being or prevents harm
What is the method used to solve an Ethical problem?
 Recognizing a problem or its need.
 Gathering information and defining the problem to be solved or goal to be achieved
5  Generating alternative solutions or methods to achieve the goal. 2 CO1 R
 Evaluate benefits and costs of alternate solutions.
 Decision making & optimization.
 Implementing the best solution
Differentiate between sympathy and empathy. [Apr / May 2021]
Empathy: The ability to imagine oneself in another‟s place and understand the other‟s
6 feelings, desires, ideas and actions 2 CO1 U
Sympathy: The sharing of the painful feelings of another person
Define work ethics. [Apr / May 2019]
7 Work ethics is defined as a set of attitudes concerned with the value of work, which forms 2 CO1 R
the motivational orientation.
Brief on Spirituality. [Apr / May 2021, Apr / May 2019]
8 Spirituality is a broad term that refers to the way of living. It emphasizes a constant 2 CO1 R
awareness of the spiritual dimensions of nature.
What is meant by integrity? How is it related to work ethics? [Apr / May 2021, Nov / Dec
2018]
Integrity is defined as the virtue, which reflects a consistency of one‟s attitude, emotions and
9 2 CO1 R
conduct in relation to justified moral values. Since work ethics is set of attitudes with the
value of work, then a person having integrity can exhibit a very good work ethics in his
profession.
Define the term self-confidence. How is it related to character development? [Nov / Dec
2018]
Self-confidence is positive attitude, wherein the individual has some positive and realistic
10 2 CO1 U
view of himself, with respect to the situations in which one gets involved. Self-confidence will
lead to into character development like embodying the spirits of purity, kindness, patience,
diligence, discipline, generosity of which brings great harmony.
What is meant by civic virtue and how is it related to respect for others? [Apr / May 2018]
Civic virtue is morality or a standard of righteous behavior in relationship to a citizen‟s
11 involvement in society. If we have civic virtue then we are respecting the entire society, for 2 CO1 R
example our parents, teachers, elders, college rules, traffic laws, family and cultural
traditions, other people’s‟ feelings and rights.
Define the term empathy and how is it related to Emotional Quotient? [Apr / May 2018]
The ability to imagine oneself in another‟s place and understand the others‟ feelings,
12 desires, ideas and actions. If a person having empathy then his emotional quotient will be 2 CO1 R
always above average. (Emotional Quotient means emotional intelligence often as
represented by a score in a standardized test)
Define moral values with suitable examples. [Nov / Dec 2020, Apr / May 2017, Apr / May
2015]
 Moral values reside both in the acts of a person chooses to do and in the results of
13 those acts on the character of the person. They are defined as the ideals and 2 CO1 R
principles that guide how people act.
 Honesty, respect for others, loyalty, responsibility for personal actions. Generosity
and kindness are all examples of moral values
Define the term “Service Learning” [Apr / May 2017]
Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community
14 2 CO1 R
services with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic
responsibility, and strengthen communities.
List the factors that enhance the self-confidence in a person. [Apr / May 2015]
 Positive self-image

15
 Your view to the world 2 CO1 R
 Deal your mistakes by yourself
 List your weakness and strength

What are human values in engineering ethics? [Nov / Dec 2016]


16 Human values are basic moral values one ought to possess to live as a citizen or a person. 2 CO1 R
Typical human values are love, truth, right conduct, peace, non-violence, etc.
17 List out any two aspects of honesty. [Nov / Dec 2016] 2 CO1 U
 Truthfulness – Meeting responsibilities concerning truth-telling
 Trustworthiness – Meeting responsibilities concerning trust
What are the values? [May / Jun 2016]
18 A value is defined as a principle that promotes well-being or prevents harm. 2 CO1 U
Example: Right conduct, Peace, Truth, Love and Non-violence
What is meant by self-confidence and moral leadership? [Apr / May 2015, May / Jun 2016]
Self-confidence is positive attitude, wherein the individual has some positive and realistic
19 view of himself, with respect to the situations in which one gets involved. 2 CO1 R
Moral leadership: When the leaders‟ goal is not only permissible but also morally valuable,
then it known as moral leadership.
Define “Professionalism‟. [Nov / Dec 2020, Apr / May 2015]
20 It is the status of a professional which implies certain attitudes or typical qualities that are 2 CO1 U
expected of a professional
PART- B
Q.No Questions Marks CO BL
1 Describe Kohlberg and Gilligan’s theories on Moral Autonomy? 16 CO1 U

KOHLBERG’S THEORY
Moral Autonomy is based on the psychology of moral development. The
first psychological theory was developed by Jean Piaget. On the basis of
Piaget‟s theory, Lawrence kohlberg
developed three main levels of moral development which is based on the
kinds of reasoning and motivation adopted by individuals with regard to
moral questions.
The Pre Conventional Level
It is nothing but self-centered attitude. In this level, right conduct is very
essential for an individual which directly benefits him. According to this
level, individuals are motivated by their willingness to avoid punishment, or
by their desire to satisfy
their own needs or by the influence of the power exerted by them. This level
is related to the moral development of children and some adults who never
want to go beyond a certain limit.
The Conventional Level
The level deals with the respect for conventional rules and authority. As per
this level the rules and norms of one‟s family or group or society has been
accepted as the final standard of morality. These conventions are regarded
as correct, because they represent with authority.
When individuals are under this level, always want to please/satisfy others
and also to meet
the expectations of the society and not their self-interest. Loyalty and close
identification with others have been given much importance. No adult tries
to go beyond this level.
The Post Conventional Level
This level is said to be attained when an individual recognizes the right and
the wrong on the basis of a set of principles which governing rights and the
general good which are not based on self-interest or social conventions.
These individuals are called “autonomous”, because they only think for
themselves and also they do not agree that customs are always correct.
They want to live by general principles which are universally applied to all
people. They always want to maintain their moral integrity, self-respect and
the respect for other autonomous peoples.
Kohlberg‟s theory of moral development is very much related to the goals of
studying ethics at college level. To become morally responsible, an
individual must be able and willing to undergo with moral reasoning. Moral
responsibility comes out of the foundation of early moral training given by
an individual‟s parents and culture. This early training helps to complete the
above said three levels of moral development by an individual.
As per Kohlberg‟s view only few people would reach the post conventional
level which is based on assumption that movement towards autonomous is
morally desirable.
GILLIGAN’S THEORY
Gilligan’s argument
Caorl Gilligan was one of the students of Kohlberg. She criticizes
Kohlberg‟s theory on the basis of approached made by both male and
female towards morality. On the basis of her studies and researches, she
criticizes Kohlberg‟s theory which is only based on male bias and his
studies are of typically male preoccupation with general rules and rights.
She also suggest that men are always more interested in resolving moral
dilemmas by applying some most important moral rules. But women always
want to keep up the personal relationship with all those involved in a
situation and they always give attention only on the circumstances
responsible for that critical situation and not on general moral rules.
She also states that Kohlberg‟s theory is only on ethics of rules and rights.
But her theory is known as ethics of care. i.e. context oriented emphasis
required to maintain the personal relationship.
Levels of Moral Development
Gilligan recasts Kohlberg‟s three levels of moral development on the basis
of her own studies of women, as follows:
The Pre-Conventional Level
This is more over the same as Kohlberg‟s first level i.e. Right conduct is a
selfish thing as solely one what is good for oneself.
The Conventional Level
This level differs from Kohlberg‟s second level. According to her, women
don‟t want to hurt others and want to help others i.e. women always want to
give up their interests in order to help the others to fulfill their needs.
The Post Conventional Level
This level is also differed from Kohlberg‟s level. In this level, individual
(particularly women) want to balance between caring about other people
and their interests. The main aim here is to balance an individual‟s needs
with those of others on the basis of mutual caring. This can be achieved
only through context-oriented reasoning and not by abstract rules.
Heinz’s Dilemma
Gilligan‟s criticism on the Kohlberg‟s theory can be made very clear with
the help of a famous example used by Kohlberg in his questionaries and
interviews. This is called Heinz‟s Dilemma.
This example was about a woman and Heinz, her husband living in Europe.
The woman was affected by cancer. The doctors told her to use an
expensive drug to save her life. The pharmacist who also invented that
medicine charged ten times the cost of making the drug.
Besides his poverty, Heinz took a lot of effort to borrow money, but he could
get only half of the amount needed. He approached to the pharmacist and
begged him to sell the medicine ata cheaper price or allow him to pay for it
later. But the pharmacist refused to do so. Finally, without any hope, Heinz
forcibly entered into the pharmacy and stolen the drug. The question Nhere
is “Was the theft morally right or wrong?”
By asking this question among the male, Kohlberg has received two sets of
answers: One is based on the conventional level i.e. Heinz did a wrong
thing. Another one is based on the post conventional level i.e,Heinz was
correct as the life of the wife is more important than the property right of the
pharmacist.
But when the same question was asked among the women, they gave (all
women) same answers. They replied that Heinz was wrong. They further
told that instead of stealing the medicine, Heinz could have tried other
alternative solutions. They also told that Heinz should have convinced still
the pharmacist to get the medicine.
From the above, Kohlberg concluded that women‟s decisions are always
based on conventional rule and they always have different opinions in
applying the general moral rules and principles about the right to live.
On the basis of the Kohlberg‟s comment on the women, Gilligan came to a
different conclusion. She tells that it shows greater sensitivity to people and
personal relationships.
She concluded that the decision taken by women is context-oriented and
not on the basis of general rules ranked inorder of priority.
Now, the question here is, how Gilligan‟s theory of moral development
relates to moral autonomy as a goal of studying ethics at the college level?
Autonomy requires independent reasoning on the basis of moral concern
and not separated from other people. As per Gilligan‟s theory and
Kohlberg‟s theory, moral autonomy should be consistent with context-
oriented and also with an awareness of general moral principles and rights.

2 Write a brief note on the types of inquiries? 16 CO1 U

TYPES OF INQUIRY
Inquiry means an investigation. Like general ethics, Engineering ethics also
involves investigations into values, meaning and facts. These inquiries in
the field of Engineering ethics are of three types.
1. Normative Inquiries
2. Conceptual Inquiries
3. Factual or Descriptive Inquiries
Normative Inquiries
These inquiries are mostly helpful to identify the values which guide the
individuals and groups in taking a decision. These are meant for identifying
and justifying some norms and standards of morally desirable nature for
guiding individuals as well as groups. In most of the cases, the normative
questions are given below:
1. How do the obligations of engineers protect the public safety in given
situations?
2. When should an engineer have to alarm their employers on dangerous
practices?
3. Where are the laws and organizational procedures that affect
engineering practice on moral issues?
4. Where are the moral rights essential for engineers to fulfill their
professional obligations?
From these questions, it is clear that normative inquiries also have the
theoretical goal of justifying moral judgments.
Conceptual Inquiries
These are meant for describing the meaning of concepts, principles, and
issues related to
Engineering Ethics. These inquiries also explain whether the concepts and
ideas are expressed by single word or by phrases. The following are some
of the questions of
conceptual inquiries:
1. What is the safety and how it is related to risk?
2. What does it mean when codes of ethics say engineers should protect
the safety, health and welfare of the public?
3. What is a „bribe‟?
4. What is a „profession‟ and „professional‟?
Factual / Descriptive Inquiries
These help to provide facts for understanding and finding solutions to value
based issues.
The engineer has to conduct factual inquiries by using scientific techniques.
These help to
provide information regarding the business realities such as engineering
practice, history of engineering profession, the effectiveness of professional
societies in imposing moral conduct, the procedures to be adopted when
assessing risks and psychological profiles of engineers.
The information about these facts provide understanding and background
conditions which create moral problems. These facts are also helpful in
solving moral problems by using alternative ways of solutions.
These types of inquiries are said to be complementary and interrelated.
Suppose an engineer
wants to tell a wrong thing in an engineering practice to his superiors, he
has to undergo all these inquiries and prepare an analysis about the
problem on the basis of moral values and issues attached to that wrong
thing. Then only he can convince his superior. Otherwise his judgment may
be neglected or rejected by his superior.
1. What is the safety and how it is related to risk?
2. What does it mean when codes of ethics say engineers should protect
the safety, health and welfare of the public?
3. What is a „bribe‟?

4. What is a „profession‟ and „professional‟?

3 Discuss in detail the uses and limitation of ethical theories? 16 CO1 U

USES OF ETHICAL THEORIES


Ethical theories have so many uses. Out of them, the following three are the
most important
uses:
1. Understanding moral dilemmas.
2. Justifying professional obligations and ideas and
3. Relating ordinary and professional morality
1. Understanding and resolving moral dilemmas
Ethical theories are useful in understanding moral dilemmas. Some of the
uses of ethical
theories we have already studied are as follows:
a. Ethical theories help the professionals in identifying the moral
considerations or the reasons that constitute a dilemma.
i) “Virtue ethics” emphasizes loyalty to employer and colleagues and loyalty
to the publics including safety of the public.
ii) “Duty ethics” emphasizes that professional has duties to protect the
public affected by his work. Also he has to respect his employers‟ authority.
iii) Rights ethics” emphasizes the rights of the public that are to be
protected, while at the same time, the rights of the management have to be
respected.
b..Ethical theories provide relevant information in solving moral dilemmas.
c.Some times ethical theories offer ways to rank the relevant moral
considerations in order of importance and thereby provide a rough guidance
in solving moral problems.
d.Ethical theories help us to find alternative courses or action in solving
moral dilemmas
.e.Ethical theories strengthen our ability to reach balanced judgments.
2. Justifying moral obligations and ideals
In one way or another, safety is involved in most of the issues in
engineering ethics.
Engineering ethics focuses the safety of public, while bringing useful
technological products to the public. Medical ethics emphasizes or insists
on the professional roles in promoting health of patients. Under the “act
utilitarianism”, one of the obligations of engineers is to act in any situations
so as to maximize the good consequences for every one affected by
engineering projects and products.
“Rule-utilitarianism” stresses the engineers to act according to the rules, if it
would produce the best consequences for everyone affected. “Duty-Ethics”
emphasizes the obligations of engineers based on basic principles of duty.
“Rights-Ethics” emphasizes the engineers how engineers safety obligations
are based on the moral rights of those affected by their work. A rights-
theory assumes that every person has an inherent right as a human being
to pursue his or her interests, that is, interest of not harming others. No
doubt, there is a direct link between basic human rights and the safety
obligations of engineers.
3. Relating professional and ordinary morality
The special obligations regarding safety that engineers acquire are well
connected withordinary or everyday morality. The same ethical theories that
are useful in expressing everyday moral experience are also useful in
justifying the obligations of professionals. There are four views concerning
the origin and justification of the safety obligations of engineers.
(a) The first view is that engineers acquire moral obligations concerning
safety subject to laws.
(b) The second view is that engineers acquire special obligations by joining
a professional society and thereby agrees to live by the code of ethics of
the society.
(c) The third view is that engineers acquire safety obligations, through the
contractual agreements by which they are hired by their companies or
employers.
(d) The fourth view is that engineers acquire safety obligations, upon
entering into their careers, to protect and safeguard the public interests
while performing their tasks.
Any how each of these four views prove to be inadequate by itself without
reference to ethical theory. Engineers have special safety obligations in
respect of their work. Special obligations
of engineers arise out of special employment agreements or agreements
with professional societies.
All engineers do have special safety obligations. Projects are directly
related to the rights of persons affected by engineers‟ work.

4 Enumerate the steps to resolve problems of disagreement in solving 16 CO1 U


moral problems in engineering companies?
i) Why study engineering ethics?
Engineering ethics is not only teaching moral behavior in knowing about
immoral and moral in
a set of beliefs, but also increasing the ability of engineers and other
professional to face
boldly the moral problems arising from technological advancements,
changes and other related activities. This can be imparted among the
engineers, only through college courses, seminars, etc., which involve
individual study.
ii) Moral dilemmas:
Dilemmas are certain kind of situations in which a difficult choice has to be
made.
Moral dilemmas can also be called moral problems. Moral dilemmas have
two or more folding-moral obligations, duties, rights, goods, or ideals come
into disagreement with each other. One moral principle can have two or
more conflicting applications for a particular given situation.
Moral dilemmas can occur in so many ways. For example, suppose one
gives a promise to
his friend that he will meet him on the evening of a particular day, but
unfortunately on the same day his brother has met with an accident and he
has to take him to hospital.
The dilemma here consists of a conflict, between the duty to keep the
promise and the obligations to his brother. In this situation, to solve this
moral problem, he can make a phone call to his friend and make apology
for his inability to come. So, from the above it is clear that the duty to keep
promises always has two different can conflicting applications. The moral
dilemmas cannot easily be addressed or resolved always. It requires an
elaborate searching which sometimes causing extreme suffering and
reflection of a situation. The modern engineering practice compels that all
the engineers have to face boldly the moral dilemmas in their careers.
To find a simple and clear solution to the moral problems in the field of
engineering there must be some provision to allocate time for learning
ethics in engineering course. But at the same
time, it should not be ignored in the following three categories of complex
and gloomy moral
situations:
i) The problem of Vagueness:
The problem of Vagueness is related to individuals. The individuals may not
know how to use moral considerations or principles in resolving a moral
problem at a particular situation.
For example, an engineer in a higher position of a company, is responsible
and having sole right to make purchase on his own on behalf of the
company. There may be many suppliers for supplying materials.
In this situation, a sales representative from one of the suppliers
approaches him with a gift. In
this case, the engineer may have some doubts like i) whether this is an
acceptance of a bribe? ii) Does it create a conflict of interest? The solution
is only with that engineer.
He can also discuss with his colleagues about the problem. The colleague
may find the
solution on the basis of previous experiences;-it may not be a kind of a
bribe,but at the same
time it should not be encouraged in future because there is the possibility of
supplying substandard materials. It is difficult to arrive at the conclusion
whether the gift is an innocent amenity or an unacceptable bribe.
ii) The problem of conflicting reasons:
These occur more frequently. In a difficult situation of a moral problem, an
individual may clearly know about what moral principles has to be applied to
resolve the problem. When it arises, there are two or more moral principles
with clear solutions in conflict with one another or one particular moral
principle.
Simultaneously, there can be of two different directions. In this case, that
individual has to choose a better one among them among them on the
basis of the importance and the applicability.
For example, an engineer has given a promise to his employer and another
one to a colleague. If it is difficult to fulfill both the promises, he can drop off
one promise which is of the least importance. If he explains the situation to
his colleagues, it can be understood.
iii) The problem of disagreement:
The individuals and groups in engineering companies may disagree with
resolving moral problems in difficult situations. The disagreement will be
normally about how to interpret, apply and balance the moral problems. In
this situation they have to use the following steps to resolve the problems.
STEPS IN FACING MORAL DILLEMMAS:
All the above said three problems pave the way for the need of several
steps in resolving the moral dilemmas. All the steps are interrelated and
they can also be used jointly.
1) Identifying the relevant moral factors and reasons: i.e., Finding solutions
for i) the
conflicting responsibilities ii) the competing rights and iii) the clashing ideals
involved.
2) Collecting and gathering all the available facts which are relevant to the
moral factors while resolving.
3) Ranking the moral considerations or principles on the basis of
importance as applicable to the situation.
4) Considering alternative courses of action for resolving the problems and
tracing the full implications of each i.e., conducting factual inquiries.
5) Having talked with the colleagues, friends about that problem getting
their suggestions
and alternative ideas on resolving that dilemma
6) Arriving at a careful and reasonable judgment or solution by taking into
consideration all important moral factors and reasons on the basis of the
facts or truths. But it seems to be difficult.
Conclusion:
Only the study of engineering ethics can help in developing the skills and
attitudes to follow
the above steps in resolving moral problems among the engineers and
other professionals by means of case studies, class room discussions and
debating.

5 5. Write short notes on ’professionals’, ’professionalism’ and 16 CO1 U


‘profession’?
Profession, Professional and Professionalism Profession : Profession
means a “job” or an “occupation”.
Professional : A Professional is someone who is member of a profession
or someone who is practicing a profession.
Professionalism : Professionalism means employed engineers as
professionals having obligations to both employers and the public.
Professionalism also mean as services to some important aspects of the
public good.
Profession can be applied only to certain occupation, which meets special
criteria. They
are given :
Knowledge
The works involves sophisticated skills, theoretical knowledge, judgment
and discussion to be engaged in the work. It also requires extensive formal
education, technical studies in more areas. Generally continuing education
and updating knowledge are also required.
Organization
Special societies and organizations, controlled by members of the
profession play a major role in setting standards for admission to the
profession. Societies also craft “Codes of ethics”, and enforce standards of
conduct. Such societies (professional bodies) represent the profession to
the public and the Government.
Public good
The occupation serves the public good a mentioned in codes of ethics. For
example, medicine
is directed towards promoting health. Law is directed towards promoting
legal rights of the public. Engineering is directed towards promoting public
health, safety and welfare as they are related to technology. There are
many options, “which occupations meet these criteria?”
The traditional professions like Medicine, Law, Teaching are cited as
examples. Professions like Engineering and business Administration can
also be cited as examples of professions.
Sanitation works, Taxi driving and playing Basketball are not counted as
profession, because they lack required advanced education.
Herbert Hoover describes the honours and liabilities of engineering
profession as follows:
Honours of Engineering Profession
It is a great profession. An engineer imagines with the help of science to
draw a plan on a paper. Then it is realized in stone or metal or energy.
Then it brings jobs and homes to men and women. Then it elevated the
standards of living and adds comforts of life. That is, the engineers have
high privilege.
Liabilities of Engineering Profession
The greatest liability of an engineer compared to other professionals is that
he works out in the open area, where all can see them. He works in hard
substance. He cannot busy his mistakes in the grave as the doctors. He
cannot argue like the lawyers blaming the judges,
Like the politicians blaming the opponents and so on. The engineer simply
cannot deny that he did not do it. If his works do not work, he is cursed.
Professional ideals and virtues
The spirit of professionalism is shown in moral ideals to which a profession
is dedicated.
Virtues are desirable features of character. Virtues are desirable ways of
relating to other individuals, groups and organizations, sometime being
ethical, is equated to being soft hearted. To act ethically, what is required is
a high degree of courage.
Theories about virtues 1. Aristotle Theory 2. Mac Intyre Theory
Aristotle Theory
Aristotle defined the virtues as acquired habits that enable us to engage
effectively in rational activities. That is, the activities that define us as
human being. He considered wisdom or good judgment as most important
virtue. Good judgment is necessary for successful rational activities, in the
fields like engineering, medicine, philosophy and so on.
“Moral Virtues” are tendencies acquired through habit conducting emotion,
desire and attitude. Virtues are tendencies to find the golden need between
the extremes of excess and deficiencies. For example, courage
truthfulness, generosity, friendliness are added virtues of one individual.
Aristotle thought that each virtue must govern a particular aspects of our
life, thus courage governs confrontations with danger and risk. Truthfulness
governs truth telling. Generosity governs giving. Friendliness governs
personal relationships.
Moral virtues enable us to do a variety of social virtues within a community.
They enable us to attain happiness. By this, Aristotle meant an active life, in
accordance without reason rather than life of pleasure and contentment.
Mac Intyre Theory
Mac Intyre is an ethicisist. He was interested in virtue ethics and then he
applied it to professional ethics. He started with the idea of “Social
Practices”, which means activities
towards public good. This is also known as service to the society. These
goods are “internalgoods”. Money, prestige, luxury are “external goods”.
For example, the internal good of medicine is promotion of health. The
internal good of law is social justice. The internal good of teaching is
learning and self development. Thus moral aims the good qualities of
persons practicing professions and hence professionalism.

(Note:*Blooms Level (R – Remember, U – Understand, AP – Apply, AZ – Analyze, E – Evaluate, C – Create)


PART A- Blooms Level : Remember, Understand, Apply
PART B- Blooms Level: Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate(if possible)
Marks: 16 Marks, 8+8 Marks, 10+6 Marks)

Subject In charge Course Coordinator HOD IQAC


(Name & Signature) (Name & Signature)

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