Teaching Ethics to Science and Engineering Students

In April, 2005, the Center for the Philosophy of Nature and Science Studies hosted a symposium focusing on the World Conference on Science recommendation: That the ethics of science should be an integral part of the training of scientists and engineers. In this paper one of the main conclusions of the symposium is presented and discussed: If the teaching of ethics to science and engineering students is seen as part of a strategy for securing sustainable development and betterment of the human condition, then the basic ethical principles and responsibilities of science, which the students are required to internalise must refer to something more than the main types of ethical theories (i.e. consequentialism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, deontological theories and contractua-lism).