What is Professional Ethics?

Professional ethics emanates from moral reflection in work. A relation exists between applied ethics and professional ethics. It’s closely related to how ethics are applied in specific jobs. For example, doctors follow medical ethics, while businessmen follow business ethics. These ethics are guided by factors like education, the importance of the job, professional associations, and ethical codes. However, professional ethics and applied ethics have some inherent differences. Professional ethics is based on the practice of a profession, while applied ethics is primarily an academic endeavor.

When we compare professional ethics and general ethics, there are some differences. Professional ethics is about how to act in a job, while general ethics are basic principles we live by. Professionals like doctors make important decisions that affect people’s lives, so their ethics are really important.

The following criteria for distinguishing professions are often mentioned:

1.Academic education,

2. Importance of services provided,

3. Professional degree,

4. Professional association,

5. Autonomy and

6. Ethical code or code of conduct.

From an ethical point of view, the fifth criterion, autonomy, is particularly important.

Independence, or autonomy, is particularly important because it means making your own decisions. Doctors have autonomy in their work, while assembly-line workers usually don’t.

The ethics in a profession are about how professionals should treat others in their job. This includes how they treat people who depend on their services, their co-workers, and their employers. Different kinds of relationships create different ethical rules. For example, teachers should be honest and caring toward their students, just like doctors should be honest and safe with their patients.

Sometimes, professional ethics might clash with other important morals. Imagine a lawyer whose client might be guilty of a serious crime. The lawyer’s loyalty to the client might conflict with a general moral rule to protect human life. In situations like this, it’s not always easy to decide what’s right.

Professional codes of ethics help professionals know what’s expected of them. These codes have two parts: a statement about the profession’s main goal and rules for behavior. They help guide professionals when they face tough moral choices, give a reference for good behavior, and raise the ethical standards of the profession.

Various Approaches To Professional Ethics

Professional ethics as virtue ethics

Professional ethics develops among professionals. For well-established professions, it comes from a long history of thinking about what’s right and wrong in that job. Think about what makes a “good doctor” or a “good lawyer” – that’s a big part of professional ethics.

There’s this idea called “virtue ethics” by philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre. It’s about having good character traits, or virtues, that help you do your job well. MacIntyre talks about “internal goods,” which are like the things that make a job worthwhile. For example, for engineers, it might be making technology better without causing harm.

Now, let’s connect this to professional ethics. A profession is like a special kind of job, and it has its own standards and internal goods that define it. Professionals work to achieve these standards and goods, and that’s what gives their job meaning. For instance, engineers might say their job is about improving technology responsibly.

To understand and follow these standards, professionals need more than just knowledge. They have to develop good character traits, or virtues, that help them make the right choices, especially when things get morally tricky. These virtues come from practice and reflection on what’s right and wrong in their profession. So, being a good professional means having the skills and desire to do what’s right, which you get through thoughtful practice.

Deontological Ethics

Deontological ethics, often associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant, focuses on duty and the inherent rightness or wrongness of actions. In this approach, professionals have a duty to adhere to specific ethical rules and principles, regardless of the consequences. For example, a medical professional’s duty to prioritize patient welfare above all else is a deontological perspective.

Consequentialism

Consequentialism evaluates the ethicality of actions based on their outcomes. Professionals following this approach consider the potential consequences of their decisions and actions. Utilitarianism, a well-known consequentialist theory, suggests that ethical actions are those that maximize overall happiness or minimize harm.

Rights-Based Ethics

This approach, rooted in the concept of human rights, emphasizes the protection of individual rights and freedoms. Professionals are expected to respect and uphold these rights in their actions. For example, a journalist adhering to rights-based ethics would prioritize freedom of speech and the right to privacy in their reporting.

Overall In practice, professionals often blend these approaches to address complex ethical dilemmas. Ethical decision-making requires a thoughtful consideration of various factors, including the specific context, the values of the profession, and the potential consequences of actions. Moreover, ethical awareness, ongoing education, and a commitment to ethical behavior are crucial for professionals to navigate the complexities of their respective fields while upholding high ethical standards.

Conclusion

In recent years, people have become more interested in both applied ethics and professional ethics. Applied ethics is a field where experts, like philosophers and professionals, work together to understand and solve moral problems in different parts of society. It’s important because we no longer have clear moral authorities, so we need experts to help us make moral decisions. Also, new technologies bring new moral issues that we need to discuss. Additionally, many people are fighting for social justice, the environment, and animal rights, and applied ethics helps us understand these important issues.

In applied ethics, we use methods like “reflective equilibrium” to analyze and justify moral judgments. This means that a good moral decision is one that matches the relevant principles and what people think is right after careful thought. Another method is “designing-in-ethics,” which looks at how we can design social institutions and technical systems to promote good values.

Professional ethics is a lot like applied ethics but specifically for professionals in their jobs. For example, healthcare workers think about moral issues in medicine, and engineers consider the moral consequences of new technologies. Professionals need a common set of moral rules, which they often create through professional codes.

You can also think of professional ethics as a type of “virtue ethics,” where the goal is to make professionals better at making moral choices. This means developing their moral character so they can act in ways that are rational and ethical.