Regulation or Responsibility? Autonomy, Moral Imagination, and Engineering

Dados Bibliográficos

ID5336973
AutoresMark Coeckelbergh (0000-0001-9576-1002, Maastricht University, autor correspondente)
Ano2006
Volume31
Fascículo3
Páginas237-260
Data de publicação2006-05-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoScience Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0162243905285839
OpenAlexW2127473504
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas17
Referências citadas15

A prima facie analysis suggests that there are essentially two, mutually exclusive, ways in which risk arising from engineering design can be managed: by imposing external constraints on engineers or by engendering their feelings of responsibility and respect their autonomy. The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. However, he then shows that this opposition is a false one and that there is no simple relation between regulation and autonomy. Furthermore, the author argues that the most pressing need is not more or less regulation but the further development of moral imagination. The enhancement of moral imagination can help engineers to discern the moral relevance of design problems, to create new design options, and to envisage the possible outcomes of their designs. The author suggests a dual program of developing regulatory frameworks that support engineers' autonomy and responsibility simultaneously with efforts to promote their moral imagination. He describes how some existing institutional changes have started off in this direction and proposes empirical research to take this further

Autonomy · Engineering ethics · Epistemology · Moral responsibility · Political science · Prima facie · Sociology · Design Education and Practice · Engineering · Engineering Education and Curriculum Development · Ethics in Business and Education · Law · Philosophy