Topic 1-Introduction to Professional Ethics

7/28/2019 Topic 1-Introduction to Professional Ethics

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Introduction to Professional Ethics


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PHLOSOPHY = Greek for love of wisdom

=philia meaning love or friendship

Sophia meaning wisdom


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Philosophy components Epistemology

ie the study of knowledge

Metaphysics

The study of nature of reality

Axiology (ethics)

The study of morality


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ETHICS Ethos (a Greek word)

Habit, custom, love of wisdom

Normative ethics Rational reasoning

Theoretical reasoning

Standards in regards Right wrong

Good bad

In relation to conduct, behavior, character

One ought to be acceptable by an individual or groups.


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Included within these concepts, themeanings

Kantian

Utilitarian

Ethics


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Whereby the priority refers to whatought, the way an individual ought to

think and behave.

The main objective is to form a validnorm on the conduct and also

emplacing valve on behavioral conduct.


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Social ethicsA doctrine related to what is (accepted)

as right/as wrong

What is good

What is bad

Upon the behavioral conduct these

characteristics, can be observed in religiousethics.


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Ethics From the Greek word ethos, meaning

character

Focus on what is right or wrong in humanbehavior and conduct

Question focusing on: What constitutes any person or action being good,

bad, right or wrong? How and what part does self interest or interests

of other people play in the making of moraldecisions and judgment ?


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Question arise then,

How do we define right or wrong?Good or bad action?

What are the standards by which suchdecisions can be made?


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What is considered good?

Is good associated with happiness?

Pleasurable? Bad then is associated with

unhappiness and pain?

How do we determine what ishappiness, pleasure, pain,unhappiness?


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Society ? Culture? Individual?Independence?

What about human experience? Humanrelationships? .. In the context ofwhat is good, what is right.


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Knowledge we can utilize it for good.

What about bad? .actions based on knowledge.

Similarly power ..

How do we decide actions that willbring good (for some, some one) butpain for others?


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EPISTEMOLOGY Question such as :

What is knowledge?

What are the truth and falsity?

How, where do they apply?

What is required for an individual to

actually know something? What is the nature of perception?

What are logic and logical reasoning?


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EPISTEMOLOGY How can we attain them?

What is the difference betweenknowledge and belief?


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METAPHYSICS Question such as :

What exists in reality?

What is the nature of what exist? Is there really a cause and effect in reality?

How does it work if it exist?

What is the nature of human beings?

What is the nature of the physical world?

Is there a mental or spiritual world?

Is there freedom in reality or is it predetermined?


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As normative science, ethics involvesthe focus on the study of norms;

criteria related with decision making(choice) done by man which can bedifferentiate between good and wrong.


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ETHICS

Ethics as philosophyRelativismAbsolutismMotivation in morals


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Introduction to Ethics

The unexamined life is not worth living(Socrates).

What is right?

What is wrong?

Hamlet wonders, to be or not to bebut according to Levine (1986), that isnot the question.

The question is, How to be.


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ETHICS

Are all standards of what is right and wrong, whatconstitutes a good personal life or a good societymerely relative to the individual person or to a

particular social group expressing nothing more thanhabit or prejudice and serving individual or groupinterests and needs? These are the questions of thebranch of philosophy called ethics. Ethics asks ifthere is a highest good for human beings, an

absolute good? What is the meaning of right andwrong in human action? What are our obligations?And why should we be moral? (Lavine, 1984, p.3 inFreeman, 2000, p. 29).


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ETHICS

Ethics as Philosophy


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RELATIVISM

In addressing relativism, the distinctionbetween ethical relativism and cultural

relativism is of paramount importance. Ethical relativism is a highly

controversial philosophical theory, while

cultural relativism is an acceptedsociological description of someimportant differences between cultures.


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Ethical relativism concerns itself with thequestion, What actions are morally right?.

Cultural relativism concern itself with thequestion, What actions do different culturesbelieve to be morally right?

Because differing cultures have diverse moral

beliefs, there is no way to decide whether anaction is morally right or morally wrong otherthan by asking the people of that particularculture to judge.


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Ethical relativism may be seen as the viewthat if the members of certain culture believe

that a certain action is morally right, then it ismorally right to perform that act in thatculture.

Likewise, if the members of a different

culture view the same act as morally wrong,then in that culture to perform that act wouldbe morally wrong.


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With that basic difference noted, thelarger questions involving relativism can

be addressed. Who are you to judge someone elses

behavior?

What gives you the right to impose yourvalues on others?


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Some people doubt that the moral judgmentsof others can be valid.

They reject the idea that there are validuniversal moral principals applicable toeveryone.

Ethical relativism questions whether what isright for one person or culture or society isany indication that is right for another.


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Relativism states that morality isrelative to something else.


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It denies that there are any absolutemoral standards and states that

different moral standards exist fordifferent cultures and societies.

Relativism is one of the largest areas of

controversy in the study of ethics.


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Holmes (1993) distinguishes three theses relevant torelativism.

1. Moral beliefs and practices vary from culture to culture.2. Morality depends on:

a. human nature (e.g., reason, motivation, emotions, andcapacity for pleasure and pain);b. The human condition (the natural order places constraintson human life such as death);c. specific social and cultural circumstances, or somecombination of all three of the above.

3. What is right and wrong may vary from person to person andculture to culture.


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Holmes (1993) states that thesis 1simply affirm cultural diversity.

Variations in moral beliefs andpractices, some of which might bepronounced, are possible but not

required in different cultures.


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Thesis 2, the dependency thesis, statesthat morality is dependent on or

conditioned by human nature and/orthe world people live in.

This view states that moralitys function

is to guide human conduct, and that ithas evolved over time in response tohuman needs.


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Thesis 3 is ethical relativism. It contains boththese 1 and 2 and goes beyond them.

Ethical relativists believe in right and wrong;however, they contend that what is right forone person or culture has the possibility ofbeing wrong for another.


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Relativism allows for the possibility ofdiffering moral judgments about the

same behavior being (relatively) correctat the same time.


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ABSOLUTISM

Absolute moral standards are bothuniversal and objective.

They are universal in that the apply toeveryone at all times and also apply toall situations equally.

Consistency without contradiction is akey factor in this universal application.


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Absolute moral standards are objectivein that they do not depend on a

persons culture beliefs, thoughts,feelings or customs.


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Introduction to ProfessionalEthics

Professional ethics is about beingconfident one has the correct

combination of attributes to alleviatehuman distress a promised.


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Specifically, ethics encompasses four dimensions:

1. Having sufficient knowledge, skill, and judgment touse efficacious interventions.

2. Respecting the human dignity and freedom of theclient.

3. Using the power inherent in the counselors roleresponsibly.

4. Acting in ways that promote public confidence inthe profession of counseling. (Welfel, 2002).


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THE DEVELOPMENT OFCODES OF ETHICS


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Ethical standards written by professionalassociations represent a consensus of

members beliefs and concerns about ethicalbehavior.

Kitchener (1984), addressing the issues ofethical principles in counseling, noted that

when our ordinary moral judgment fails us,as professionals we must move to a moresystematic and evaluative level in our ethicalthinking.


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Tennyson and Strom (1986) suggest twoconditions are necessary in the moralreasoning of counselors who exerciseresponsibleness.

One is a commitment to rational thinking andthe other an orientation to moral principles.

They suggest professional ethical standardscan be viewed as an attempt at the formationof ethical sense (responsibleness).


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The codes of ethics of professionalorganizations are not static; rather, there areliving documents that reflect movement and

growth within the profession. The American Counseling Association (ACA)

code of ethics was adopted in 1961 and hasalso undergone several minor as well asmajor revisions (i.e., 1974, 1981, 1988,1995). Most codes of ethics of professionalorganizations undergo revisions as theprofession grows.


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Topic 1-Introduction to Professional Ethics