Spiritual Dimensions of Environmental Ethic for Engineers

Autor: P. Aarne Vesilind, Alastair S. Gunn
Rok vydání: 1999
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. 125:83-87
ISSN: 1943-5541
1052-3928
DOI: 10.1061/(asce)1052-3928(1999)125:3(83)
Popis: Engineers are often the guardians of the environment, and just as often the instruments of environmental destruction. They are constantly called on to make ethical decisions that will affect the future of the planet Earth and its inhabitants. Little guidance is available, however, to the engineer on how such decisions should be made. No formal environmental ethic for engineers exists. Classical ethical theory does not seem to provide a useful tool for helping engineers understand their responsibilities toward the environment or for making decisions where environmental values conflict. One approach to developing an acceptable environmental ethic is to turn to the spiritual dimension. This paper shows how many of the world's religions can be useful in the development of an environmental ethic, and it also illustrates that the acceptance of organized religion is not necessary for the formulation of an environmental ethic. It shows that a useful and satisfying environmental ethic can be developed on individual and personal spiritual foundations and suggests that most people already use spirituality to condition their attitudes toward the environment.
Databáze: OpenAIRE