Professional Ethics

Ethics: - Ethics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to help us understand which ways of life are worth following and which actions are right or wrong. Ethics addresses questions of right and wrong using reason rather than faith or tradition. The discipline of ethics has three branches: normative ethics, meta-ethics and applied ethics. Normative Ethics: - Normative ethics is the branch of ethics that asks general questions about the morality of behavior; it attempts to provide general moral norms of behavior. Normative: - A normative statement, or question, or theory, concerns how things should be, how they ought to be, rather than how they actually are. [The opposite of “normative” is descriptive: A descriptive statement, or question, or theory, concerns how things actually are, not how they ought to be.] So normative ethics is the branch of ethics that tries to answer general questions about how we should behave, how we ought to act. In other w

Applied ethics is a discipline of philosophy that attempts to apply ‘theoretical’ ethics, such as utilitarianism, social contract theory, and deontology, to real world dilemmas. Topics falling within the discipline include medical ethics, legal ethics, environmental ethics, computer ethics, engineering ethics, media ethics, corporate social responsibility, or business ethics. Ma ny considerations of applied ethics also come into play in human rights discussions. Applied ethics seeks to engage formal ethics in attempts to solve actual dilemmas. In so doing, it illuminates the potential for disagreement over the way theories and principles should be applied. Strict, principle-based ethical approaches often result in solutions to specific problems that are not universally acceptable. Drawing on medical ethics for an example, a strict deontological approach would never permit the deception of a patient about their condition, whereas a utilitarian approach would involve con

Arriving at a short list of representative normative principles is itself a challenging task. The principles selected must not be too narrowly focused, such as a version of act-egoism that might focus only on an action’s short-term benefit. The principles must also be seen as having merit by people on both sides of an applied ethical issue. For this reason, principles that appeal to duly to God are not usually cited since this would have no impact on a nonbeliever engaged in the debate. The following principles are the ones most commonly appealed to in applied ethical discussions: Personal benefit: acknowledge the extent to which an action produces beneficial consequences for the individual in question. Social benefit: acknowledge the extent to which an action produces beneficial consequences for society. Principle of benevolence: help those in need. Principle of paternalism: assist others in pursuing their best interests when they cannot do

Why do we need Professional Codes in the first place? Isn’t it a given that anyone with specialized training will, by definition, behave ethically on the job? Actually, it isn’t that simple. No one starts out trying to be unethical—it’s more a question of juggling several responsibilities at once. One way to look at Professional Codes is to see them as a systematized approach to mediating the conflicts that can occur when one person wears several hats. Another view is that formal Codes of Conduct are a reflection of the relationship between society and trained experts. The topic of professional responsibility is about more than right or wrong conduct however. What of the goals, ideals and desires that bring one to a profession in the first place? The ideal of scientific training as a form of public service is what drives many scientists for whom research is more a way of life than a time clock to punch. Professional ethics concerns one’s conduct of behavio