PHIL 315Ethics and the Engineering Profession
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Arts
- Subject
- Philosophy
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 0 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
An analysis from the standpoint of philosophical ethics of moral issues arising in professional engineering practice. Issues include the social responsibility of engineers, conflict of interest and obligation, morally acceptable levels of risk, and moral implications of technology.
Prerequisites
- Students must be in level 2A or higher
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Reviewed on UW Flow
100% liked it92% easy67% useful
From 4 ratings and 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Great course but mainly because I took it with perhaps the best prof at UW, Dr. Orend. He makes the content so clear and engaging. Who would have thought an engineering ethics course can be this fun. The first half of the course covers 5 major moral theories and the second half of the course applies what you've learned to specific engineering situations. IP and AI are discussed in detail. He uses a lot of documentaries and they're very informative. Dr. Orend's lectures are recorded by himself over the lecture notes and it gives you a lot of context. No mandatory textbook, just the lectures and documentaries are needed. Overall if you can take this course with this prof and there's room left…
May 2023 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
3 posts and comments in 3 threads mention PHIL 315, December 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2015
How can I find out the historical frequency of a course's availability? 5 points, 5 comments
“Preferably without making a new search for each term?”
u/RegenerationX: “Using the course calendar (I'll assume it's for Math) pick the unit your course falls under. For each course, it'll say [Offered: ], some combination of F, W, S. …”
u/Tangmeister: “Great advice, unfortunately PHIL 315 (and other philosophy courses) don't have this information in the calendar.”
Spring 2014
MSCI 211 Online. Easy course? 1 point, 2 comments
[deleted]: “… SOC 101 Humanities-based Courses English: ENGL 105A History: HIST 253, 254, 275 Philosophy: PHIL 250A, 250B, 315 (GENE 412) Thanks in advance!”
Fall 2011
PHIL 315 - ethics and the engineering profession - Have you taken it? 2 points, 1 comment
u/moose_antlers: “Has anyone taken this class? I am a CS student, would I be lost in this class? Trying to finish my chain of 3 requirement for my degree, and wonder if I will regret taking it.”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
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