Ethics and Professionalism

THE QUEST FOR A CODE OF PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS: AN INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL
CONFUSION

John Ladd

My role as a philosopher is to act as
a gadfly. If this were Athens in the
fifth century B. c. you would probably
throw me in prison for what I shall
say, and I would be promptly condemned
to death for attacking your idols. But
you can’t do that in this day and age;
you can’t even ask for your money
back, since I am not being paid. All
that you can do is to throw eggs at me
or simply walk out!
My theme is stated in the title: it is
that the whole notion of an organized

professional ethics is an absurdity-
intellectual and moral. Furthermore, I

shall argue that there are few
positive benefits to be derived from
having a code and the possibility of
mischievous side effects of adopting
a code is substantial. Unfortunately,
in the time allotted to me I can only
summarize what I have to say on this
topic.
1. To begin with, ethics itself is
basically an open-ended, reflective
and critical intellectual activity. It
is essentially problematic and
controversial, both as far as its
principles are concerned and in its
application. Ethics consists of issues
to be examined, explored, discussed,
deliberated, and argued. Ethical
principles can be established only as
a result of deliberation and
argumentation. These principles are
not the kind of thing that can be
settled by fiat, by agreement or by
authority. To assume that they can be
is to confuse ethics with law-making,
rule making, policy-making and other
kinds of decision making. It follows
that, ethical principles, as such,
cannot be established by associations,
organizations, or by a consensus of
their members. To speak of codifying
ethics, therefore, makes no more sense
than to speak of codifying medicine,
anthropology or architecture.
2. Even if substantial agreement
could be reached on ethical principles
and they could be set out in a code,
the attempt to impose such principles
on others in the guise

Reprinted from Rosemary Chalk, Mark S.
Frankel, and Sallie B. Chafer, eds.,
AAAS Professional Ethics Project:
Professional Ethics Activities in the
Scientific and Engineering Societies
(Washington, D.C.: AAAS, 1980), pp.
154-59, with permission from the
American Association for the
Advancement of Science.

Answer Preview……………

Ethics refers to a code of conduct that people must uphold to systemize, recommend, and defend the rightness and wrongness of actions. Ethics informs values that are a part of everyday life. Ethics is not only about morality, but it is also a reflective activity that consists of issues to examine and explore, which can lead to high performance in organizations and society. Ethics and professionalism go hand in hand, as they provide a framework under which professionals must act. However, there is no specific moral conduct belonging to professionals because they are not exempt from the everyday moral duties and responsibilities that bind human nature. Justice, courtesy, and honesty form the foundation of ethics, and whether one is a lawyer, a doctor, or a teacher, all these ethics apply to their behavior. While ethics are essential in enhancing morality, discipline, and image of professionalism, they also present with them some disadvantages such as complacency and tyranny of the majority…………….
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Ethics and Professionalism

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