Engineering Ethics Education in China II: People, Places, and Challenges

This chapter continues to unpack the nature of engineering ethics education in China, focusing on people, places, and challenges that have been, are, and will be central to engineering ethics education in China. Since the late 1990s, Chinese scholars throughout the country have made systematic attempts to study engineering ethics, resulting in the publication of many books and articles, and the organization of conferences and meetings. However, challenges remain: Scholars debate whether the focus of engineering ethics should be on professional or applied ethics education, and it is unclear to whom engineering ethics should be taught. Further, engineering ethics is often treated as an item to be checked off a list in reviewing engineering practice, rather than as a guiding and constitutive element of it. How engineering ethics will be perceived and taught in the future depends on how these challenges are addressed. 摘要：本章继续深入探讨工程伦理教育在中国的发展情况，扼要地介绍了中国工程伦理教育的过去、现在，一些核心人物的观点以及其所面临的切实挑战。自20世纪90年代末开始，全国各地的中国学者开始系统地研究工程伦理，陆续出版了许多书籍，发表了一系列文章，组织了多次专门座谈会来研讨这一主题。在取得一系列成果的同时，中国工程伦理教育的现实挑战也很紧迫：一方面学者们仍在争论工程伦理教育究竟应该侧重职业伦理教育还是应用伦理教育，同时，工程伦理教育的主要对象究竟是哪些群体也远未达成共识。此外，工程伦理当下仍然被视为审查工程实践的一个清单表，而非作为一个构成性要素来指导并塑造工程实践。中国工程伦理教育的未来与发展取决于如何应对这些具体的挑战。