Professional ethics: Are the ethical principles and standards

Professional ethics are the ethical principles and standards that govern the behavior and decisions of professionals in their specific fields. Learn what professional ethics are, why they are important, and how they apply to various professions, such as medicine, law, engineering, and more. Mackenzie defines ethics as ―the study of what is right or good in human conduct‖ or ―the science of the ideal involved in conduct‖. It is a branch of philosophy, specially the moral philosophy that studies the evolution of concepts; such as right or wrong behaviour. So, it is clear that ethics is the study which determines rightness or wrongness of actions. The idea of professional ethics is built on the twin concepts of profession and ethics. Profession is any work involving superior skills based on specialized knowledge and training. Ethics is the basis for understanding what is right and wrong. Applying the idea of right and wrong to the conduct of a profession rests on professional ethics. In simpler words, practicing a profession in such a manner that the practitioner has an innate sense of right and wrong is following the professional ... Abstract This chapter introduces professional ethics as a specific example of applied or practical ethics. The authors provide a short review of the literature on theoretical and applied ethics in order to give context for the subsequent discussion. They examine three foundational concepts of professional ethics: codes adopted by professional bodies, professional autonomy, and the contested role of gatekeeper. Next, the authors consider ethical pressures experienced by professionals in the ...