Evaluating Codes of Professional Ethics

My aim here is to develop a general strategy for evaluating codes of professional ethics. We will examine some provisions of the Code of Ethics of Engineers adopted by the Board of Directors of the Engineers’ Council for Professional Development (ECPD) in 1974. This code has been adopted, with modifications and in most cases sans the Guidelines provided by ECPD, by a majority of the engineering societies participating in the Council. 1 We will consider some of the strengths and weaknesses of the ECPD Code in comparison with other codes of professional ethics. We will not attempt to reach a final judgment on the merits of the Code because, as I will note, this would require empirical data that are not available at this time. Indeed, one byproduct of the discussion will be an indication of the empirical investigations that are needed to evaluate a code fairly. My critical remarks about the ECPD Code will be designed only to illustrate a strategy, not to carry it out all the way. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.