Ethics and engineering design: special session "towards a research program in engineering ethics"

This paper aims at contributing to a research agenda in engineering ethics by exploring the ethical aspects of engineering design processes. It is argued that technological development and engineering design are not ethically neutral activities. Different ethically relevant topics with respect to design process are identified. These topics could be a subject for further research in the field of engineering ethics. In addition, it is argued that the way design processes are now organized and should be organized from a normative point of view is an important topic for research.