PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Being morally responsible as a professional.

• Most basic and comprehensive professional virtue.

•       Creation of useful and safe technological products while respecting the autonomy of clients and public, especially in matters of risk taking.

This encompasses a wide variety of the more specific virtues grouped as follows:

1.  SELF DIRECTION VIRTUES:

Fundamental virtues in exercising our moral autonomy and responsibility. E.g. self-understanding, humility, good moral judgment, courage, self-discipline, perseverance, commitments, self-respect and dignity

2.  PUBLIC SPIRITED VIRTUES:

Focusing on the good of the clients and public affected by the engineers’ work by. Not directly and intentionally harming others i.e. ‘no maleficence’.

Beneficence, sense of community, generosity are other virtues falling in this category.

3.  TEAMWORK VIRTUES:

Enables professionals to work successfully with others. E.g. collegiality, cooperativeness, the ability to communicate, respect for authority, loyalty to employers and leadership qualities.

4.  PROFICIENCY VIRTUES:

Mastery of one’s craft that characterize good engineering practice e.g. Competence, diligence, creativity, self-renewal through continuous education.

MORAL INTEGRITY

Moral integrity is the unity of character on the basis of moral concern, and especially on the basis of honesty. The unity is consistency among our attitudes, emotions  and conduct  in relation to justified moral values.