i have hw on philosophy
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Spring2018HW3.docx
PHIL 323: Engineering Ethics and Professionalism NAME:__________________________
Spring 2018
Homework 3
I. True/False
1. The hired guns approach implies that an engineer should work on a project only if he or she deems it to be on balance of positive value to humanity. T F
2. Johnson criticizes Unger’s personal values approach to the social responsibility of engineers for not acknowledging that professions have specific values of their own. T F
4. Sustainability can never be legitimately traded off for other things. T F
5. Adhering to the principles of sustainable development is clearly an eco-centric duty. T F
II. Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is an objection to the optimal risk approach to holding safety paramount?
a. a technology that is not minimally safe because its risks are not adequately outweighed by utility
b. a safe technology with a level of risk greater than the level at which people would begin to withhold informed consent.
c. a safe technology with significantly more risk than an alternative technology with the same essential character
d. a technology that is not safe because people would not give their informed consent to its risks
2. Which of the following is implied by the consent approach to sustainability?
a. an acceptable environmental impact is one that people ought to be willing to accept
b. if people would accept the environmental impact associated with a product given all the relevant information, then it is sustainable
c. it is possible for an environmental impact to be acceptable even if people would not give their informed consent to it
d. an environmental impact that is not sufficiently outweighed by utility is unacceptable.
3. Which of the following is an objection to the compensation approach to sustainability?
a. an acceptable environmental impact is one that people are in fact willing to accept
b. the public has a right to just compensation for problems resulting from unsustainable technology
c. it is possible for a technology to be sustainable even if its environmental impacts significantly outweigh its utility
d. an environmental impact that is not sufficiently outweighed by utility is unacceptable.
4. Which of the following system features is inversely related to managing unintended inputs by means of engineered safety devices?
a. Idiot proof
b. Fail safe
c. Loose coupling
d. Linear connections
5. Which of the following would not be part of the environmental impact profile of a technological system?
a. Degree of reliance on non-renewable resources
b. Rate of production of non-manageable toxins
c. Efficiency
d. Probability of harm to non-human animals
Short Essay
Explain the professional expertise objection to the consent approach to holding safety paramount.
