Welcome to Ethics for Engineers!
6 UNITS: 1.082 2.900 6.904 10.01 16.676 22.014
9 UNITS: 20.005 (BE Restricted Elective)
12 UNITS: 6.9041 (EECS Independent Inquiry)
At MIT you’re learning a lot about how to engineer things.
Have you thought enough about why, and when, it’s good to do so?
Ethics for Engineers gives you a chance to explore the ethical principles by which an engineer ought to be guided.
It’s a course for everyone who will go out and modify the environment, human society or the human body. And for everyone who wants to live a good life.
- Sections meet once per week, and feature vigorous discussion and debate
- Weekly readings include both foundational texts in ethics and contemporary engineering case studies
- We offer four different versions of the course: Regular, AI Focus, BE Focus, and CS Focus
- Topics include Justice, Utility, Rights, Safety, AI, CRISPR, Bias, the Environment, and Human Flourishing
- Can be taken for 6 units, or 9 units (20.005), or 12 units (6.9041)
- There are short weekly writing assignments, no exams or papers (except in the 9 and 12 unit versions)
The schedule for Spring 2022 is as follows:
Mondays 3-5 | CS version | Dr. Peter Hansen |
Tuesdays 3-5 | Regular version | Dr. Peter Hansen |
Wednesdays 3-5 | BE version | Dr. Kathryn Hansen, Prof. Lauffenburger |
Wednesdays 7-9 | Regular version | Dr. Peter Hansen |
Pictured above: Nikola Tesla, Aristotle, Chien-Shiung Wu, Mary Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barbara McClintock.