Carl Mitcham, Lille, and the Emergence of Engineering Ethics in France

Résumé En

Lille, and more precisely The Catholic University of Lille, is one place in France where engineering ethics started to develop in the 90s. Although this field of academic interest couldn’t be said to have had a great deal of success within the French context, especially if compared with the Netherlands, it has nevertheless made a significant contribution. But this story would not have been the same without Carl Mitcham’s interest for and support given to the little team of scholars gathered by Bertrand Hériard Dubreuil from 1994 on. In 1991, back to Lille after a Master Degree in the US, Hériard Dubreuil taught courses in a completely new topic for France whose mere translation was problematic: “engineering ethics”. Carl Mitcham and him met in 1992, in Lyon, and from this meeting many international collaborations occurred (until this panel today), contributing to build bridges between a handful of European scholars from various backgrounds, discipline and countries, interested in engineering culture and scholar from US first, then from all over the world. Although this panel would not exist without the tremendous energy of Steen Christensen, who made visible this community through the many volumes he edited, it would also not exist if Carl Mitcham did not give the Lille team, and myself, the courage to take engineering as a legitimate object for philosophy and SHS. Although there are places in France other than Lille where Carl Mitcham built strong and long-lasting professional relationships, such as with Daniel Cezeruelle in Bordeaux for example, this communication wishes to highlight the role that Mitcham has played in the development of engineering ethics in France, through his connection with Lille.