Rachelle D. Hollander

Science- and Engineering-Related Ethics and Values Studies: Characteristics of an Emerging Field of Research

During the past decade, studies of ethical and value aspects of the interactions between science, technology, and society have begun to develop as a research area. The intellectual impetus behind this development is clear. As with all human endeavors, science and engineering involve management, and managing human endeavors requires making decisions wjth implications for human values and norms. The objective of this article is to describe and comment on the characteristics of this emerging research field. The main source of evidence is proposals funded since the mid-1970s by Ethics and Values Studies (EVS; formerly Ethics and Values in Science and Technology - EVIST) at the National Science Foundation.

Research in Sts Studies

The challenge is there: the social problems of technology--problems related to the environment, the energy crisis, traffic problems, social engineering--so discipline-spanning in their interactions with other realms of life ... are, at bottom, problems of social and political values .... They cannot be solved, in any realistic and adequate way, without the collaboration of philosopher-generalists, broad humanists, and social science generalists working with engineers and technological experts .... The more multidisciplinary technological problems become, the more important such programs [in science, technology, and society] will turn out to be. Hans Lenk, Research in Philosophy & Technology 7 (1984): 50, 52.

Information constraints in medical encounters

This article describes three kinds of information constraints in medical encounters that have not been discussed at length in the medical ethics literature: constraints from the concept of a disease, from the diffusion of medical innovation, and from withholding information. It describes how these limit the reliance rational people can justifiably put in their doctors, and even the reliance doctors can have on their own advice. It notes the implications of these constraints for the value of informed consent, identifies several procedural steps that could increase the value of the latter and improve diffusion of innovation, and argues that recognition of these constraints should lead us to devise protections which intrude on but can improve these encounters.

Remarks on Ethics and Values Studies at the National Science Foundation

Ethics and Values Studies (EVS) is part of the Studies in Science, Technology, and Society (SSTS) program at the National Science Foundation. SSTS results from a recent reorganization at the Foundation, placing History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (HPST) together with EVS. This aggregation and name change indicates the commitment of EVS and HPST to encouraging research in this area. It provides explicit recognition of the importance of this area, which is called by various names, depending on orientation, ranging from science studies, to science policy studies, to science, technology, and society studies. Research in SSTS examines the structures and processes that govern the development and use of science and technology in their social, economic, and political contexts. EVS research and educational efforts focus on ethical or value aspects of the interaction between science, technology, and society. The purpose is to encourage thoughtful and systematic inquiry into the mutual influences of science or engineering and the moral life of individuals, groups, institutions, communities, and nations. EVS supports projects that enhance understanding of the social values and mutual obligations and responsibilities that arise in these interactions. EVS-supported research projects often examine aspects of scientific or professional ethics; controversies surrounding effects of or influences on sciences and technologies; or ethical and value issues in developing and using scientific or technical tools for decision making. Cross-cultural research and interdisciplinary work are encouraged. Projects exclusively focused on ethical issues associated with new military technologies and national defense strategies, or requiring the use of classified materials, are not eligible for consideration. This does not mean that all research of the kind discussed in this volume is ineligible, however. I point with special pride to the contributors whose work has been supported through EVS; there are two in particular whose projects relate to this volumes topic. The work of one of the editors, Carl Mitcham, has been sup-

Conference Report: Engineering Ethics

Do engineers have special professional responsibilities? How should the risks that are part of or byproducts of their work be managed? How can their organizational environments be structured to improve professional responsibility or to manage risk better? What roles can professional societies and engineering educators play in addressing these issues? Although such questions may initially appear esoteric or internalistic, they translate into matters of substantial public and professional concern. Some good measures of the increasing salience of ethical questions in engineering decisions include the consideration being given by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology to the teaching of ethics in engineering curricula, the case studies on ethical matters now frequently appearing in the publications of engineering societies, and changes in state laws which will make “whistle-blowing” mandatory and will offer increased protection to those who blow the whistles. Two recent meetings on engineering ethics, supported by grants from the program on Ethics and Values in Science and Technology of the National Science Foundation, afford good examples of the types of research attempting to address these issues: The Second National Conference on Ethics in Engineering, sponsored by the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, held 5-6 March 1982, in Chicago; and the Workshop on Engineering Ethics-Designing for Safety, held 24-25 May 1982 at the Center for the Study of the Human Di-