1 2 To clarify the issue, we need to distinguish the motivation to obey the codes of ethics and the justification of such codes. Professional codes of ethics have clear societal virtues, and often essential for the normal functioning of the society. In this sense, the existence of the code is morally desirable and justified. However, there are obligations in codes of ethics that seem to go beyond common sense obligations, such as “engineers shall be guided in all their relations by the highest standards of honesty and integrity,” and “engineers shall at all times strive to serve the public interest,” both listed as “professional obligations” in the Code of Ethics for Engineers by the NSPE (National Society for the Professional Engineers). To use a deontological term, these acts are usually regarded as supererogatory acts for ordinary people, and without special reasons, this should not be different for engineers. Thus, there is a gap between what society needs and what the society can require of engineers as ordinary obligations. The gap can be filled either by justifying the special obligations in a way engineers themselves feel happy with them, or by motivating engineers in other ways to accept these obligations. The problem of professional motivation can be solved and professional integrity will be fostered in either way, but the motivational aspect becomes more crucial when we have to take the second strategy. Since the effectiveness of a solution to the problem is partly dependent on the circumstances engineers are placed in, the most effective solution may differ from one situation to another. One of the main conclusions I intend to draw in this paper is that Japanese ethics teachers face a special predicament that teachers in many other countries (including the U.S.) might not. The quandary, if it is real, calls for a different solution to the problem of professional motivation. I will also provide a solution to the problem based on the notion of “pride”, which I take to be at least more promising in the current Japanese circumstances than the alternatives. Grounds for Professional Integrity of Engineers Let us first examine some common solutions to the problem of professional motivation. This issue is often discussed within the context of the nature of codes of ethics. Although the scope of professional integrity (which is my main concern here) often goes beyond written texts of codes of ethics, for now let us ignore this difference; for if we fail to persuade students to obey the codes of ethics of relevant professional societies, how can we persuade them to have professional integrity? 3 4 5 1 6 7 2 Both views have some advantages and disadvantages, but I will not discuss them here. What I would like to ask is a rather different question: can these views justify special obligations of engineers and motivate engineers to have a sense of professional integrity, especially in Japan? There are some reasons for believing that the situation is apparently different in this eastern country, and this is what I will try to demonstrate in the following. Japanese Peculiarities The peculiarities of the Japanese situation I have in mind involve the environment Japanese engineers are placed in. Both the “social-contract” view and the “membership-requirement” view presuppose the existence of the profession of engineering as a matter of fact (rather than as an ideal), and the former view further presupposes the existence of an implicit contract between the profession and society (again, as a matter of fact). However, neither of these conditions is actually met in Japan. Underdevelopment in Profession of Engineering 8 9 3 4 International competitiveness and the establishment of an accreditation system are not problems of their own making for most individual engineers in Japan. Even though codes of ethics as written texts have been established, what gives life to such texts is the members of the societies who consciously observe them, and in this sense the codes do not yet have real lives. It will take a long time for Japanese engineers to become aware of the importance of codes of ethics and regard engineering as a profession in the proper sense. 5 In summary, no autonomous professional groups existed for engineering students to take part in 10 years ago, and even now these are quite underdeveloped. Anyway, there are no advantages gained by becoming a member. Given these considerations, the “membership-requirement” view is hopeless as a clue to motivating engineering students, and therefore does not seem to solve the problem of professional motivation, at least for the time being, in Japan. This also means that an important part of the supposed community deal in the “social-contract” view is also missing. Do we have to wait until the profession is firmly established before teaching professional ethics? Lack of Implicit Social Contract in Japan Even if engineering is not a profession in the proper sense, if there is an implicit social contract between engineers and society as a matter of fact, the “social-contract” view will do. Privilege and autonomy are not the only things given to engineers by society. For example, if their social status is sufficiently high, that can be an implicit term in the social contract. However, there is evidence that suggests that the social status of engineers is not as high as they might wish. In the following, let us look at a couple of suggestive surveys in this regard. 10 6 1 7 Table 1 10  22–29 years old 30–39 years old 40–49 years old 50–60 years old Bachelor of Social Sciences ¥4,626,000 ($38,600) ¥9,133,000 ($76,100) ¥13,067,000 ($108,800) ¥15,682,000 ($130,700) Bachelor of Engineering ¥5,088,000 ($42,400) ¥7,036,000 ($58,600) ¥10,988,000 ($91,500) ¥14,566,000 ($121,400) Master of Engineering and higher ¥4,370,000 ($36,400) ¥7,392,000 ($61,600) ¥11,457,000 ($95,500) ¥14,004,000 ($116,700) Bachelor of Humanities ¥4,844,000 ($40,300) ¥7,365,000 ($61,300) ¥11,792,000 ($98,300) ¥12,329,000 ($102,700) Dollar amounts are an approximation with $1 = ¥120 at the current rate 8 9 11 2 10 Table 2 11 Doctor 90.1 (highest) Nurse 59.7 CEO of large company 87.3 Police officer 57.9 Lawyer 86.9 Municipal officer 56.8 University professor 84.3 Carpenter 53.1 Congressman 74.9 Restaurant cook 51.6 Architect 71.9 Mechanical assembly worker 51.1 Accountant 70.8 Farmer 45.6 Manager of small company 68.9 Insurance sales person 44.2 Automotive design engineer 66.3 Waitress 38.0 School teacher 63.5 Coal miner 36.6 (lowest) 3 11 Table 3 The percentage of people who think that the occupation has “very great prestige”. Based on survey conducted by Harris Interactive in 2006 Firefighter 63% Athlete 23% Doctor 58% Lawyer 21% Nurse 55% Entertainer 18% Scientist 54% Accountant 17% Teacher 52% Banker 17% Military officer 51% Journalist 16% Police officer 43% Union Leader 12% Priest/Minister/Clergyman 40% Actor 12% Farmer 36% Business executive 11% Engineer 34% Stockbroker 11% Member of Congress 28% Real estate agent/broker 6% Architect 27%  To sum up, most elements of the “social-contract” view, i.e., the engineering profession, codes of ethics, privilege, high income, and prestige, are missing or underdeveloped in Japan. How can there be a social contract under such circumstances? Thus, this view does not seem to solve the problem of professional motivation in Japan either. Pride-based Approach Outline of Pride-based Approach What I have argued so far is that both the “social-contract” view and the “membership-requirement” view lack a factual basis in Japanese society. This also means that they are hard to use in engineering-ethics education in Japan. What then are the alternatives available in Japan, especially in teaching professional integrity? An appeal to common morality may do for many items in codes of ethics. For example, the avoidance of harm to the public can be derived from the harm principle. However, as I pointed out at the beginning of this paper, there are other obligations in codes of ethics that seem to go beyond common sense obligations, and the “social contract” and “membership requirement” are invoked because common morality do not seem sufficient for engineers. 12 Concept of Professional Pride 13 13 14 15 14 15 16 When we think of professional integrity, professional pride has another virtue. Since pride is a positive feeling, it can motivate professionals to overachieve, i.e., to do things that are not required or expected (they overachieve simply because it feels good). This is in strong contrast to negative feelings, such as fear of punishment and feelings of guilt, which do not motivate professionals to achieve more than required. Given these limitations of negative feelings, some sort of positive feelings will be necessary as motivation in the transition from minimal professional responsibility to professional integrity, and professional pride is a good candidate for this. Let us now examine whether this will solve the problem of professional motivation in Japan. Given that the concept of the engineering profession as an autonomous body is absent in Japan, the profession itself may not be suitable as an object of pride. However, we do have individual engineers, and of course they can be the objects of their own professional pride. Some possible causes of professional pride (such as the high moral standards of the profession as a whole) are missing in Japan, but other important ones, such as their excellence as engineers and the importance of services they give to society, do exist. Rewards from society, which will reinforce this pride, can hardly be expected in Japan, but, as I said, pride is self-rewarding. Thus, the pride-based approach seems (at least) a possible solution to the problem. Prospects for Pride-based Education The pride-based approach is yet to be developed. There are many problems to be solved and many questions to be answered before the model outlined here can be implemented in engineering-ethics education. First, does real-world professional pride have desirable characteristics? It is possible for professionals to feel pride because of something other than their skills or services. For example, the sole cause of their pride may be their high income and prestige. If this is the case, the pride-based model does not work where the “social-contract” view does not. This is a psychological question that calls for an empirical investigation. Second, can professional pride become strong enough to support professional integrity? The “social-contract” view seems to provide a fairly strong motivational basis for professional ethics, where it works. Can pride be as strong as such motivation? This is another psychological issue, but harder to answer, given the speculative nature of the question. Third, is it possible to teach pride in the first place? Is pride not something we acquire by ourselves, rather than something taught in school? This is a pedagogical inquiry, which calls for classroom experiments. 17 Since there are many differences between firefighting (which is not even a profession in the strictest sense) and engineering, we need to use a great deal of caution in applying the results of Okamoto et al.’s study. However, their results constitute positive empirical evidence that occupational self-esteem (which is often associated with, or even equated with, pride) can be caused by the importance of the service being provided, and that that kind of self-esteem helps the person to maintain high moral standards. If this is true, there are practical implications for engineering-ethics education under the pride-based approach. The best way to foster the desirable kind of professional pride in engineering students in the classroom is to stress the importance of the service provided by engineers. Professional pride acquired in this way will be conducive to professional integrity. Placing emphasis on professional capacity (e.g., higher education and skill) may also foster professional pride, but we cannot expect this kind of pride to be related to professional integrity. Even though I limited my discussion to Japan, it is plausible that many aspects of my discussion apply to other countries. Professionals play similar roles in other countries, and it is only natural that they have the similar motivational structure. Thus, in countries where the social contract model does not work, the pride-based approach may be a solution. In countries where we can assume the social contract between the society and engineering profession, we may not need the pride-based model, but still it may help in motivating engineering students. To summarize, the notion of pride is a practical one, and engineering-ethics education based on this concept seems promising. Although we have to accumulate more empirical data and undertake more conceptual analyses before drawing conclusions on the effectiveness of such approaches, this approach is worth trying in a country where the profession of engineering and its implicit social contract with society are almost absent.