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After completing this module, students will be able to understand basic concepts of philosophical ethics and apply them to engineering issues. The main aim is to understand the basics of various ethical concepts (e.g. risk ethics) and then apply them to various natural and engineering science issues. This includes the ability to evaluate and apply various ethical approaches and theories. As a result, students will be able to identify the ethical dimensions and responsibilities in various areas of engineering, including but not limited to environmental ethics, safety standards, data protection, robotics and artificial intelligence. After the course, students will be able to make informed personal judgements on ethical issues in engineering on their own and in teams and justify their decisions based on ethical principles. By working together in teams from their own discipline, but also in interdisciplinary teams, students will be able to understand each other's language, justify their own decisions and convince others with arguments. The content of the lecture enables students to assess the long-term effects and side effects of engineering decisions and activities, particularly with regard to the environment, society and future generations (intergenerational responsibility). As a result, students will then be able to develop inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to link the three elements (environmental, social and economic development).

In the modern world, in which science and technology play a central role, progress in the engineering sciences not only brings improvements to our lives, but also raises important ethical questions. The Engineering Ethics course aims to develop a deep understanding of the ethical dimensions of engineering specialisms and to think critically and discerningly about the limits and possibilities of ethical decision-making in science and engineering. This includes an understanding of potential ethical dilemmas and conflicts in practice. The lecture highlights how ethical principles can be applied in practice to make responsible decisions in a variety of engineering disciplines. The lecture covers various ethical challenges in science and engineering such as artificial intelligence or robotics. It combines theoretical ethical concepts with real-life case studies and current examples from the engineering world. This approach encourages students to think about the long-term impact and social responsibility of their work.

No prerequisites are required; the course can be attended by all students of engineering subjects.

In the lecture, the course content is conveyed by means of a lecture and presentation (Power Point). More complex issues are derived and illustrated using a tablet PC. During the lecture, explicit questions are asked that require students to transfer their knowledge and where students are given the opportunity to speak up and discuss a possible solution. In this way, difficult ethical issues are explored in depth and the transfer to various engineering applications (e.g. artificial intelligence, robotics) is achieved. The lecture also explains simple situational examples of ethical issues that engineers have to solve today. These examples can be actively solved by the students.

The module examination takes place as part of a group project. Students must work on an ethical issue in the natural and engineering sciences as part of this group. The final grade of the module is composed of the following parts:

1. students must present the solution to an ethical problem in a presentation. This presentation is carried out in a 15-minute final presentation by each working group. The presentation is based on the group work and shows how the group has applied the methods and knowledge acquired in the module. Recognizable individual contributions must be made in the final presentation. (30%)

2. students must give a short, reflective report (approx. 3 pages, 2000-2500 words) on how they have answered the ethical question from the group work (70%).

P. H. Breitenstein and J. Rohbeck, Eds., Philosophie – Geschichte, Disziplinen, Kompetenzen. J.B. Metzler, 2011. doi: 10.1007/978-3-476-00402-4.
Michael Funk, Roboter- und KI-Ethik: Eine methodische Einführung – Grundlagen der Technikethik Band 1
Kornwachs, K. (2018). Wozu eigentlich Philosophie? In Philosophie für Ingenieure (pp. 1–18). doi:10.3139/9783446455047.001
Poszler, F., Geisslinger, M., Betz, J., & Lütge, C. (2023). Applying ethical theories to the decision-making of self-driving vehicles: A systematic review and integration of the literature. In Technology in Society (Vol. 75, p. 102350). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102350