Professional ethics is not a new concept. Each of us should roughly understand what requirements it implies and how it behaves in the refraction of various areas of activity. Consider the historical development of professional ethics, its written regulation, various types and much more.
Labor and professional morality
Labor morality - special moral requirements that apply to specific professional activities along with universal moral values. Another definition of labor morality shows it as a set of generalized moral requirements that have been developed in the course of people's lives and their acquisition of relevant life experience. Such requirements make it possible to transform ordinary labor and professional activities into a socially significant phenomenon.
It is quite obvious that labor morality is actually embodied in the professional activities of individuals. That is why a rather long segmenttime, the concepts of "labor" and "professional morality" were identified, and not only in the mass and public consciousness, but also in the educational literature on the course of ethics.
However, this can only be done if these concepts are characterized in the most general terms. Professional morality is similar to labor morality from the point of view that the fundamental precepts of the latter are clearly addressed to all types of professional activity. Here are some examples of these commandments: responsibility, conscientiousness, creative initiative in work, discipline.
At the same time, be that as it may, it cannot be argued that such a concept as “professional morality” is completely reduced to labor morality. The main explanation for this fact is quite obvious: some professions involve a set of very specific problems that have arisen in the plane of morality. These problematic issues, although they can indirectly be attributed to labor morality, but, in any case, bear a certain imprint of the established profession (medic, teacher, journalist, and so on.).
The birth of professional morality
Professional morality, according to the generally accepted point of view, is the fundamental basis of professional ethics. It is very interesting how these phenomena were formed.
The formation of professional morality and professional ethics for a number of professions (the traditional subspecies will be discussed later) has a fairly long history. Just imagine, exceptional professions already in the era of ancient times could boast of theirprofessional codes of ethics.
For example, at the ancient Greek temples, the medical schools of the Asclepiads existed and actively developed. It is unlikely that you have ever met with the concept of "Asklepiad". It comes from the name of the ancient Greek god of healing Asclepius. It was thanks to these educational institutions that Greek medicine reached a high level of development and came close to perfection (at that time). An interesting fact is that the healers who graduated from the Asclepiad school took a professional oath. Doesn't it remind you of anything? Yes, yes, it was this text that was subsequently supplemented to the version that we know today as the Hippocratic Oath.
However, before the Greek oath, its sample existed in Geneva. The Geneva Oath was adopted by the World Association of Physicians. The requirements of professional morality in the field of medicine, which were presented to the ancient Greek doctors, practically did not change compared to the pre-existing oath in Geneva. In them, first of all, the regulation of professional moral principles in the relationship between doctors and patients is established. Let us designate the most familiar of them today: observance of medical secrecy, the desire to do everything that is necessary for the well-being of the patient. It is absolutely clear that these requirements are based on nothing else than the painfully familiar principle of modern doctors "do no harm".
Ancient Greece also became a pioneer in the field of demanding professional morality in relation to teachers. Nothing new you're here againyou will not see: strict control over one's own behavior in relations with students in order to avoid extremes (topical even today, isn't it?), love for children and the like.
As you understand, among the ancient Greeks, medical and pedagogical morality was attributed primarily to other people, aimed at other individuals (patients, students). However, this is not the only way. Some professional groups developed codes of professional ethics in order to effectively regulate, roughly speaking, relations between each other (representatives of the same profession).
Let's move away from antiquity and note that the Middle Ages is another step towards the development of the concept of professional morality. Separate workshops of artisans at that time developed their own rules for mutual relations within the craft profession. These included, for example, such requirements as: do not lure the buyer if he has already managed to stop in front of the goods of a neighboring shop, do not invite buyers while loudly praising his own goods, it is also unacceptable to hang up your goods so that he will certainly close the goods of neighboring shops.
As a mini-conclusion, we note that representatives of some professions have been trying since ancient times to create something resembling professional moral codes. These papers were called:
- regulate the relations of specialists within the same professional group;
- regulate the rights of representatives of the profession, as well as their duties in relation to people directly onwhose professional activity is directed.
Definition of ethics in the profession
We see that the system of professional ethics as such began to take shape a very long time ago. For an absolute understanding and analysis of the issue, a detailed definition of this concept should be given.
Professional ethics is, in a broad sense, a system of moral rules, norms and principles of behavior of specialists (including a particular employee), taking into account the characteristics of his professional activity and duty, as well as a specific situation.
Classification of ethics in the profession
It is generally accepted that the content of professional ethics (in any profession) consists of general and particular characteristics. The general is based, first of all, on the established universal moral norms. The core principles are:
- special, exceptional perception and understanding of honor and duty in the profession;
- professional solidarity;
- a special form of liability for violations, it is due to the type of activity and the subject to which this activity is directed.
Private, in turn, is based on specific conditions, the specifics of the content of a certain profession. Private principles are expressed, mainly in moral codes that establish the necessary requirements for all specialists.
Often, professional ethics as such exists only in those activities where there is a direct dependence of the well-being of people on the actions of specialists inthis area. The process of professional actions and their results in such activities, as a rule, have a special impact on the fate and life of both individuals and humanity as a whole.
In this regard, one more classification of professional ethics can be distinguished:
- traditional;
- new species.
Traditional ethics include such variations as legal, medical, pedagogical, ethics of the scientific community.
In the newly emerged species, such industries as engineering and journalistic ethics, bioethics are defined. The emergence of these areas of professional ethics and their gradual updating are primarily associated with a constant increase in the role of the so-called "human factor" in a particular type of activity (for example, in engineering) or an increase in the level of impact of this professional area on society (a vivid example is journalism and the media as the fourth power).
Code of Ethics
The code of professional ethics serves as the main document in the regulation of the specialized ethical sphere. What is it?
Code of Professional Ethics, or simply "ethical code" - these are published (fixed in writing) statements about the system of values and moral principles of people belonging to a certain kind of professional activity. The main purpose of developing such codes is, no doubt, to inform specialists in this field of activity about the rules that they are required to comply with, but there is also a secondarythe task of writing them is to educate the general public about the norms of behavior for specialists in a particular profession.
Codes of ethics are incorporated into official professional standards as part of them. They are traditionally developed in the public administration system and are intended for specialists in various activities. In a more general and understandable sense for all, codes of ethics are a certain set of established norms of proper, correct behavior, which is certainly considered appropriate for a person of the profession to which this particular code refers (for example, the professional ethics of a notary).
Functions of the code of ethics
Codes of ethics are traditionally developed in the organizations of the profession for which the code is intended. Their content is based on the enumeration of those social functions, in order to maintain and preserve which the organization itself exists. Codes, however, assure society that the functions enshrined in them will be performed in strict accordance with the highest moral principles and standards.
From a moral point of view, codes of professional ethics serve two main functions:
- act as a guarantee of quality for society;
- allow you to get acquainted with information about the standards established within the framework of the activities of specialists in a particular field, and the restrictions for those professions for which these codes are designed.
Signs of a successful code of ethics
Famous Americanauthor James Bowman, who is the publisher of The Limits of Ethics in Public Administration, identified three characteristics of a successful code of professional ethics:
- the code is able to provide the necessary guidance on the conduct of professionals in a particular field;
- this document seems to be applicable to many speci alties that the profession includes (kind of branches within it);
- A code of ethics can offer really effective means to ensure the implementation of the norms specified in it.
However, it is worth noting separately that the vast majority of documents regulating professional ethics do not include sanctions in their content. If coercive standards are nevertheless contained within ethical codes, then such options become much more specific and much less close to the ideal. After all, they can no longer be perceived as normative descriptions of the desired correct behavior, but turn into something similar to real legal acts regulated and established by the state (codes, federal laws, etc.). As if they include a limited set of specifically defined and legally enshrined requirements. In fact, at the very moment when the code of ethics turns into a description of the standards of the only correct behavior, the failure to comply with which leads to sanctions under the law, it ceases to be a code of ethics, but becomes a code of conduct.
Hotel ethicsprofessions
Let's talk in more detail about some of the most famous complexes for the formation of professional ethics in specific areas today.
Accounting ethics
The code of ethics for professional accountants includes several sections. So, for example, the part titled "Goals" says that the main tasks in the accounting profession are to perform work in accordance with the highest standards of accounting professionalism, as well as to fully ensure the best results of professional activity and the maximum respect for social interests. There are four requirements for fulfilling these goals:
- trust;
- professionalism;
- credibility;
- high quality of services provided.
Another section of the code of ethics for professional accountants, called the Fundamental Principles, gives professionals the following obligations:
- objectivity;
- decency;
- privacy;
- necessary thoroughness and professional competence;
- professional conduct;
- technical standards.
Attorney Ethics
Professional ethics of a lawyer has a number of features. According to the Code, a lawyer undertakes to reasonably, honestly, in good faith, on principle, in a qualified and timely manner, to fulfill the duties assigned to him, as well as to protect in the most active way the freedoms, rights,the interests of the principal by absolutely all means not prohibited by law. A lawyer must certainly respect the rights, dignity and honor of persons who come for legal assistance, colleagues and clients. A lawyer must adhere to a businesslike manner of communication and an official business style of dress. Professional culture and ethics are inextricably linked within the framework of advocacy.
In professional ethics, a lawyer is obliged under any circumstances to behave properly, to maintain personal dignity, honor. If a situation arises in which ethical issues are not regulated by official documents, the lawyer must follow the traditional patterns of behavior and customs that have developed in the profession, which do not violate general moral principles. Each lawyer has the right to apply to the Council of the Chamber of Lawyers for clarification on an ethical issue that he could not answer on his own. The Chamber cannot refuse counsel to provide such an explanation. It is important that a specialist who makes a decision on the basis of the Council of the Chamber cannot be subject to disciplinary action.
Professional personal sovereignty of a lawyer is a necessary condition for the client's trust in him. That is, a lawyer under no circumstances should act in such a way as to somehow undermine the client's confidence both in his own person and in the legal profession in general. The first and most important thing in lawyer ethics is the preservation of professional secrecy. It directly provides the so-called immunity of the principal, which is officially granted to the person by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Also, a lawyer canuse the information of your client only in the case of this client and in his interests, and the principal himself must have the maximum degree of confidence that everything will be exactly like this. That is why we are well aware that a lawyer, as a professional, is not en titled to share with anyone (including relatives) the facts that were communicated to him in the course of interaction with the clientele. Moreover, this rule is in no way limited in time, that is, a lawyer must comply with it when fulfilling his immediate professional obligations.
Compliance with professional secrecy is the unconditional priority of a lawyer's activity and its main ethical element. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the defender of the accused, the suspect or any other participant in the case cannot be invited to the police to testify as a witness. Employees of the authorities do not have the right to ask a lawyer about those points that became known to him as part of his own activities or an independent investigation.
The main value for every lawyer is the interests of his client, it is they who should determine the entire path of professional cooperation between the parties. However, we know very well that the law has the supremacy on the territory of the Russian Federation. And in this case, the legislation and immutable moral principles in the professional activities of a lawyer should rise above the will of the principal. If the wishes, requests or even instructions of the client go beyond the current legislation, then the lawyer has no right to fulfill them.
Civil Servant Ethics
The professional ethics of an employee is determined by eight basic principles:
- Impeccable and selfless service to the state and society.
- Strict compliance with applicable law.
- Protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, respect for the human person and dignity (otherwise called the principle of humanism).
- Being legally and morally responsible for your decisions.
- To treat everyone fairly and to use the "smart" powers of the employee.
- Voluntary observance by civil servants of the established rules of conduct.
- Having the big name "out of politics".
- Absolute rejection of all corruption and bureaucratic manifestations, following the requirements of integrity and honesty.
Journalistic ethics
The professional ethics of a journalist is not a universal phenomenon. Of course, there are uniform documents regulating the work of the media environment as a whole. At the same time, the fact is that each separate edition, as a rule, develops its own requirements of professional ethics. And this is logical. We will nevertheless try to consider some general features of the professional ethics of a journalist.
- Following facts and fact-checking. In this case, following the facts is also understood as their impartial communication to the audience, without exerting any kind of influence on the massconsciousness.
- Create content that meets the needs of the audience of this periodical, and which is able to bring some benefit to society.
- Analyzing the facts and writing an article as a search for the truth.
- A journalist only covers events, but he himself cannot be their cause (for example, making a scandal with a star person).
- Obtaining information only in an honest and open way.
- Correcting one's own mistakes if they are made (refuting false information).
- No breach of agreement with the source of any facts.
- It is forbidden to use one's own position as a means of pressure or, moreover, as a weapon.
- Publishing material that can cause harm to someone, only if there are irrefutable facts confirming the information.
- Content as full and absolute truth.
- It is forbidden to bend the truth for any benefit.
Unfortunately, today not only many journalists, but entire editorial offices neglect the above ethical requirements.
