People are morally autonomous when their moral conduct and principles of action are their own. Moral beliefs and attitudes must be a critical reflection and not a passive adoption of the particular conventions of one’s society, religion or profession.
Moral beliefs and attitudes cannot be agreed to formally and adhered to merely verbally.
They must be integrated into the core of one’s personality and should lead to committed action.
It is wrong to think that as an employee when one performs ‘acts’ serving company’s interests, one is no longer morally and personally identified with one’s actions.
Viewing engg as a social experimentation helps to overcome this flawed thought and restores a sense of autonomous participation in one’s work.
As an experimenter, an engineer is exercising the specialized training that forms the core of one’s identity as a professional.
A social experiment that can result in unknown consequences should help inspire a critical and questioning attitude about the adequacy of current economic and safety standards.
In turn, this leads to better personal involvement with work.
