Research On C.Mitcham's Thoughts Of Engineering Ethics

Professor Carl Mitcham is one of the most distinguished philosopher of technology and ethicist of engineering in contemporary America or in the world.He has undertaken groundbreaking research and exploration in modern philosophy of technology and engineering ethics,and has a high prestige in academic circles.In the system of Mitcham's academic thoughts,engineering ethics research is one of the distinctive components.Since the 1970s,it has been increasingly clear that the ethical issues were highlighted with the rapid expansion of engineering development.How to accurately analyze and solve the ethical problems of engineering activities,is an important task to our country and other countries in the world.Under this circumstance,it is obviously very necessary to study on Mitcham's engineering ethics thought and to reveal its enlightenment and significance to the development of engineering ethics in China.The thesis is to systematically analyze and study on Mitcham's thought of engineering ethics,to understand the theoretical basis that forms his engineering ethics,to explore the inner structure and context of his thought,to show the theoretical significance and realistic values,and to make it to be the important resources to promote the research and practice of engineering ethics in China.There are four aspects of theoretical resources for Mitcham's thought of engineering ethics,namely,historical-philosophical criticism tradition,technological criticism tradition,social criticism tradition and the Chinese and western cultural traditions.In terms of historical-philosophical criticism tradition,Mitcham has taken philosophical approach from Leo Strauss and Etienne Henri Gilson,has learned the "technological reflection" from Martin Heidegger,the imperative of responsibility from Hans Jonas,the anxiety and worry from Hannah Arendt and Gunther Anders,and on the basis of critical inheritance,he formed an unique research perspective.In terms of technological criticism tradition,Mitcham has been influenced by what he called "the third generation" of philosophers of technology and their ideas,such as Albert Borgmann's "device paradigm" theory,Don Ihde's"postphenomenology",Kristin Shrader-Frechette's thought of environmental ethics,and Andrew Feenberg's critical theory of technology,as a result,Mitcham paid special attention to the ethical problems in engineering design.In terms of social criticism tradition,Mitcham has been under the influence of STS scholars as Jacques Ellul,Langdon Winner,Ivan Illich,etc,and absorbed the methodology of pragmatism from John Dewey and Paul Durbin,which made him think deeply about the ethical issues in the relation of engineering and society.Mitcham's thought of engineering ethics was also influenced by Chinese and western cultural traditions.The rational spirit of western cultural tradition and its regional characteristics,made Mitcham realize the diversity of cultures in different regions and the importance of the cultural comparative approach by which he put his research of engineering ethics into different cultural backgrounds.In Chinese cultural tradition,Mitcham found the characteristics of inclusiveness and harmony in the combinations of Confucianism,Buddhism and Daoism,which further promoted the development of his cultural comparative dimension.Under the influence of the above four theoretical aspects,Mitcham developed his theoretical system of engineering ethics from "historical-philosophical","technological criticism","social criticism" and "cultural comparative" perspectives,formed his thought on engineering ethics composed by the four dimensions.From historical-philosophical perspective,Mitcham has formed an integral view of engineering ethics.Firstly,he analyzed philosophically to the concept of 'responsibility',discussed the relation between engineering and responsibility at multiple levels and different places,and proposed his ethics of responsibility as "plus respicere".Secondly,influenced by technological criticism tradition,especially by the empirical turn of philosophy of technology,Mitcham begun to study the design in engineering,paid attention to the ethical thinking between engineering and design,discussed the ethical principle,methodology of engineering design,and explored the ethical problems in software engineering design.Thirdly,with the influence of social criticism,Mitcham has concerned on the relation between engineering and society.He initiated and promoted the "Humanitarian Engineering" projects,described the historical background,realistic approach and facing challenges of the projects.Fourthly,Mitcham has realized that different cultural influences have significant effect to engineering ethics.He analyzed the cultural context for engineering ethics,described the development of engineering ethics in Europe,and concluded his cultural comparative view of engineering ethics in the perspective of globalization.The internal logical relation of the four dimensions in Mitcham's thought of engineering ethics is that,the theoretical system based on the theory of responsibility ethics of plus respicere,gradually put the research vision from philosophical study of the relation between engineering and responsibility to the practice of engineering activities,and made the practical problem of engineering in the broader background of engineering-social relations to be explored,then eventually reflected and expected the ethical issues in engineering from a macro perspective of cultural comparison.Mitcham's thought of engineering ethics has been mainly applied in engineering ethics education.Mitcham has explored the institutional background,educational background and engineering background of engineering ethics,and specifically analyzed the engineering ethics education in both narrow and broad senses.The narrow engineering ethics education referred to the education in university system,and related to the evaluation standard,curriculum system and educational approach;the broad engineering ethics education referred to the education in professional training and policy making.Mitcham has made a unique contribution to the above aspects.In conclusion,according to the four dimensions perspectives of his thought of engineering ethics,the thesis elaborates the significance and values of his thought to the engineering ethics in China from four related aspects.Firstly,it has discussed the influence of his thought to the research of engineering ethics in China,and argued that the Chinese researchers communicated and learned from his academic viewpoints,and on that basis,have made efforts for the two-way interaction of the engineering and the ethics.Secondly,it has examined the enlightenment of his thought on China's engineering practice,and pointed out that Mitcham's engineering ethics under four dimensions framework has provided a more open perspective for the ethical norms and assessments in China's engineering activities.Thirdly,it has analyzed the meaning of his thought for China's engineering ethics education,and stated that the theory and practice of his thought on education can offer model and enlightenment for the theoretical development,curriculum reform,course program and pedagogy in China.At last,it has explored the values of his thought on China's engineering ethics application,to analyzed the significance to the improvement of Chinese policy of science and technology,and discussed how to develop the construction of China's engineering ethics in the context of Chinese cultures.