Our point of departure will be practical ethical problems. These will vary each time the course is given, but classical examples include conflicts between safety and economy or function, the environmental effects of technology, the conflict between the engineer's professionalism and her/his loyalty to the employer, work with morally disputable technologies, insider problems and industrial espionage, integrity issues related to IT, etc. In order to analyze such questions we will use tools from moral philosophy (ethics). We will acquaint ourselves with important ethical theories such as utilitarianism and deontological ethics, as well as with useful notions, e.g. moral dilemmas.
An important part of this course is an individually written essay under supervision. This work deepens the knowledge of a particular ethical problem that can be selected in accordance to the student's previous experience and education.