The new responsibility of the engineer

Engineers and scientists are responsible for the technical progress that has been made and they have expert knowledge of what can be done next. For this reason alone, they must take part in deciding public policy. However, the modern technical man has a further contribution to offer¿the ability to understand the views of others, and to incorporate these views into the best possible group decisions. This article points out that this is an ethical concept that can be spelled out in an extension of the ECPD Canons of Ethics and puts forth for consideration three proposals for strengthening the Canons.