A type of ethics that is an integral part of professional ethics. Professional ethics: concept, types, directions. Professional ethics of a teacher
Types of professional ethics - these are the specific features professional activity, which are aimed directly at a person in certain conditions of his life and activities in society.
Ethics reflects the diversity of moral standards and reveals the versatility of professional moral relations.
Professional moral standards - these are rules, patterns, the order of internal regulation of the individual based on ethical ideals.
The main types of professional ethics are: medical ethics, pedagogical ethics, ethics of a scientist, actor, artist, entrepreneur, journalist, engineer, etc.
Today there are a significant number of ethical codes. They were developed in a business environment, in the field of trade, and for workers in the military industries. There are also codes of ethics for employees of international organizations (for example, museums), societies (for example, the Red Cross), and international professional associations. They have international status.
Code of Ethics of the Russian Doctor, adopted in 1994 by the Association of Russian Doctors, reveals medical ethics: the relationship between the doctor and the patient during personal contacts, the influence of the doctor’s personal qualities on his activities, the doctor’s guarantees not to harm his patient. Morality and ethical behavior are revealed in the Hippocratic Oath.
Professional ethics of a journalist reveals issues of professional and moral relations with colleagues, the influence is institutional organized society journalists on his behavior, the reasons and limits of corporate interference in his behavior.
Economic ethics represents a set of norms of behavior for workers in the business environment, reveals the requirements imposed by a developed society on the style of work of an entrepreneur, what the social appearance and style of communication between business participants should be.
Economic ethics is formed under the influence of the formation of market relations, ambiguous historical traditions, a wide range of manifestations of mass consciousness, and criteria for a person’s moral attitude to work.
Part of economic ethics is business etiquette.
Business Etiquette - these are the rules of behavior of a business person that promote mutual understanding between people in the process of communication.
It is associated with the traditions and historical conditions of a particular country.
Business etiquette helps create the image of a business, company, or person. Organizations with a high image have better economic results from their financial and economic activities. It is pleasant and convenient to work with them, since through etiquette a comfortable psychological climate has been created that is conducive to business contacts.
Code of Ethics for Social Workers, adopted by the Interregional Association of Social Service Workers in 1994, reveals the moral standards in social services related to the specifics of work. The moral and ethical standards of social service workers play a special role due to the fact that their professional activity consists of providing assistance to specific people, families, and relevant social groups.
In this regard, the code of ethics identifies special qualities that should be developed in a social worker: tolerance, politeness, decency, emotional stability; personal adequacy of self-esteem. A social worker must have and develop a sense of self-worth, duty and justice, respect the feelings of another person, and be kind. It is also necessary to have teaching skills. Compliance by specialists social work ethical standards prevents the negative consequences of social services.
The principles of social worker ethics include responsibility to the client, to the profession and colleagues, and to society.
Currently, types of professional ethics are formulated in ethical codes, which can be represented by the standards of individual organizations (corporate codes) or rules governing relations within an entire industry (professional codes).
Among the branches of ethical science, professional ethics is distinguished. The term “professional ethics” is usually used to refer not so much to an industry ethical theory, how many peculiar moral codes of people of a certain profession. These are, for example, the “Hippocratic Oath” and the “Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers.” Professional ethics are determined by the characteristics of certain professions, corporate interests, and professional culture. People performing the same or similar professional functions develop specific traditions, unite on the basis of professional solidarity, and maintain the reputation of their social group. Every profession has its own moral problems. But among all professions, one can distinguish a group of those in which they arise especially often, which require increased attention to the moral side of the functions performed. Professional ethics is important primarily for professions whose object is a person. Where representatives of a certain profession, due to its specificity, are in constant or even continuous communication with other people associated with the impact on their inner world, fate, with moral relationships, there are specific “moral codes” for people of these professions and specialties. These are the ethics of a teacher, the ethics of a doctor, the ethics of a judge. The existence of moral codes of certain professions is evidence social progress, gradual humanization of society. Medical ethics requires doing everything for the sake of the patient’s health, despite difficulties and even one’s own safety, maintaining medical confidentiality, and under no circumstances contributing to the patient’s death. Pedagogical ethics obliges us to respect the student’s personality and show due demands towards him, to maintain his own reputation and the reputation of his colleagues, and to take care of the moral trust of society in the teacher. The ethics of a scientist include the requirement of selfless service to the truth, tolerance of other theories and opinions, and the inadmissibility of plagiarism in any form or deliberate distortion of the results of scientific research. An officer's ethics obliges him to selflessly serve the Fatherland, show steadfastness and courage, take care of his subordinates, and protect the officer's honor in every possible way. The ethics of the professions of a journalist, writer, artist, the ethics of television workers, the service sector, etc. have their own requirements. Thus, professional ethics is, first of all, a specific moral code of people of a certain profession. D. P. Kotov expresses a different opinion, believing that one should distinguish between the concepts of “professional morality (morality)” and “professional ethics,” understanding the latter only as a section of ethical science. Professional ethics is a set of rules of conduct for a certain social group that ensures the moral nature of relationships determined or associated with professional activities, as well as a branch of science that studies the specifics of manifestations of morality in various types of activities. Professional ethics extends to those social groups to which the highest moral requirements are usually imposed.
Each type of human activity (scientific, pedagogical, artistic, etc.) corresponds to certain types of professional ethics.
Professional types of ethics are those specific features of professional activity that are aimed directly at a person in certain conditions of his life and activity in society. The study of types of professional ethics shows the diversity and versatility of moral relations. For each profession, certain professional moral standards acquire some special significance. Professional moral standards are rules, patterns, and procedures for internal self-regulation of an individual based on ethical ideals.
The main types of professional ethics are: medical ethics, pedagogical ethics, ethics of a scientist, actor, artist, entrepreneur, engineer, etc. Each type of professional ethics is determined by the uniqueness of professional activity and has its own specific requirements in the field of morality. For example, the ethics of a scientist presupposes, first of all, such moral qualities as scientific integrity, personal honesty, and, of course, patriotism. Judicial ethics requires honesty, justice, frankness, humanism (even towards the defendant if he is guilty), and loyalty to the law. Professional ethics in conditions military service requires strict performance of official duty, courage, discipline, and devotion to the Motherland.
Modern ethics is a rapidly developing and extremely popular field of knowledge in the humanities. It can be said without exaggeration that ethical themes and their consequences for social theory have become the main intellectual line in modern Western philosophy. This situation in the literature is called "Ethical Turn". But, in addition to deep theoretical reflections, modern ethics is distinguished by one significant feature: it has become fundamentally problematic. It revolves around the most difficult, conflict situations our lives, accompanying the daily existence of a person. Based on this, it can be argued that nowadays ethics as knowledge and as a practice that wants to establish the most correct relationships between people operates in three large dimensions: in the conditions of a professional community, in conditions of joint activities of people of different professions and statuses, and in a public situation. discussions of the most acute moral dilemmas of social practice that arise as a conflict of the first two ways of existence with the moral dignity of a person. From here arise three major branches of modern ethical theory: professional, corporate and applied ethics.
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
Features of professional ethics
The name "professional ethics" speaks for itself. It deals with practices designed to solve moral problems that arise in a particular profession. Here we can distinguish three circles of such problems. The first is associated with the need to specify universal moral norms in relation to the conditions of professional activity. For example, the status of a military personnel or employee law enforcement organizations presupposes their right to use violence, which cannot be unlimited. Likewise, a journalist with access to social dangerous information, has the right to hide or distort it, but how permissible is this right from the point of view of the public good and how is it possible to avoid abuse? This type of ethics is intended to develop the measure and scope of such deviations from generally accepted ideas about morality. Secondly, it considers the requirements that exist within the profession and bind their bearers with special, business relationships. Thirdly, she discusses the correspondence between the values of the profession and the interests of society itself, and from this perspective she addresses the problems of the relationship between social responsibility and professional duty.
Researchers note that professional ethics is the most ancient of all three areas. It is traditionally believed that the first set of professional rules was compiled by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC), with whom medicine was identified as a separate science. In fairness, it should be noted that he did not formulate the doctor’s oath, but rather summarized the various vows that were given by the Greek priests of the god of healing Asclepius. This oath became the prototype of numerous codes of doctors existing in different countries. Further, the history of professional ethics can be traced as unifying documents, charters and oaths of various corporations. Thus, trade unions were quite strong in Ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, the charters and codes of craft guilds, monastic communities, and knightly orders attracted attention. The latter are perhaps the most revealing in this regard, since they emphasize the exceptional, divine significance of their ministry. It is no coincidence that the authorship of the charter and oath of the very first knightly order of the Templars (1118) belongs to the famous medieval philosopher Bernard of Clairvaux(1091-1153). However, the massive dissemination of codes of professional ethics began in the second half of the 20th century, when professionalism began to be considered one of the highest values of social practice. Accordingly, theoretical reflection on this phenomenon appeared.
What are the most important features of professional ethics? Firstly, it is expressed in the form of requirements addressed to representatives of the given profession. From here follows its normative image, enshrined in the form of beautifully formulated declaration codes. As a rule, they are small documents containing a call to live up to the high calling of the profession. The appearance of these documents indicates that members of the profession began to perceive themselves as a single community pursuing certain goals and meeting high social standards.
Secondly, documents on professional ethics are filled with the conviction that the values professed by it are completely obvious and follow from a simple analysis of the activities of the most prominent representatives of this kind activities. It cannot be otherwise, for the codes themselves are designed in the style of a message to people who have been given the great honor of engaging in such significant public service. From here we can often read about the principles of responsibility, objectivity, high competence, openness to criticism, goodwill, philanthropy, caring, and the need for constant improvement of professional skills. Nowhere is a decoding of these values given, because it seems that they are intuitively clear to every member of society. In addition to them, you can always find references to what is professional evil, and cannot in any way be tolerable from the point of view of the specified values. For example, refusal to provide assistance, use of official position, failure to maintain professional secrecy, substitution of personal opinion for competence, etc.
Another important feature is connected with the previous circumstance professional understanding morality. This style of ethics gives the highest status to the activities it regulates. The profession whose values it is called upon to protect - doctor, scientist, teacher, lawyer - is recognized as the most exalted of all existing ones, and its representatives themselves are recognized as the elite of society. Thus, in the already mentioned numerous codes of conduct for doctors, the idea was traced that they are called upon not only to fight death, but also know the secrets of a healthy lifestyle. In some particularly radical cases, a profession is recognized as a standard of morality, because it corresponds to the model of sacrifice, selflessness and contributes to the prosperity of society.
The next feature of professional ethics concerns the problem of the nature of regulation of activities and the authority behind it. Of course, the professional community itself is considered an authority, and the most respected representatives who will be given such high trust can speak on its behalf. From this context, it becomes clear that both the investigation and the sanctions are also a matter for the community itself. His trial and sentence are the decision of a panel of professionals against those who misunderstood their high destiny, used their status to harm the community and thereby excluded themselves from it. Based on these attitudes, it is impossible to imagine that ethical control is carried out by outside observers. As you know, the professional environment is extremely sensitive to all forms of external regulation.
The nature of the sanctions provided for by professional ethics also follows from ideas about the special status of this type of activity. If a person occupies such a high position in society, then the requirements for him should be the highest. Almost no code of professional ethics is complete without specifying the sanctions applied to violators. The profession is proud of its social significance, and therefore is ready to exclude apostates from its sphere. As a rule, sanctions are ranged: from issuing a reprimand on behalf of a board of authorized persons to deprivation of professional status. Be sure to mention in the sanctions section other measures of influence, in addition to ethical ones - legislative or administrative. This once again emphasizes the social role of the profession and the interest of society itself in its development. Accordingly, the codes must contain a list of possible violations. And just as in the case of the main value guidelines of professionalism, their meaning should be intuitively clear to a representative of each specific occupation.
Based on all that has been said, the tasks of professional ethics become obvious. For the community behind it, it is important not to lose its status, to prove its social significance, to respond to the challenges of rapidly changing conditions, to strengthen its own cohesion, to develop common standards for joint activities and to protect itself from the claims of other areas of professional competence. In this regard, it is worth noting that nowadays most active In this area, mainly young professions are held, for whom it is very important to prove their right to exist.
However, this type of ethical theory and practice has some disadvantages. At first glance, one can note its closed, narrow nature, relying only on its own authority when making moral assessments, which results in unfounded ambitions when resolving acute conflict situations. The professional environment is a fundamentally conservative element; traditions and foundations play a huge role in it. This is good when it comes to continuity and development, for example, of scientific schools, but in the modern world is it enough to build ethical regulation only on traditions and foundations? In addition, moral consciousness cannot agree that professionalism is considered the main value of any social practice. If in a specific area of activity there is a need to discuss emerging moral problems, this means that ordinary ideas about professional duty are not enough for its normal functioning. The relationship between professionalism and morality is one of the most popular topics in the philosophy of the 20th century. As a result of reflection, we can recognize the idea that in comparison with eternal moral values, the essence of professionalism cannot be considered obvious and unchangeable.
According to one definition, professional ethics is a set of rules of conduct for a certain social group that ensures the moral nature of relationships conditioned or associated with professional activities.Most often, the need to comply with professional ethics is faced by people employed in the service sector, medicine, education - in a word, wherever daily work involves direct contact with other people and where increased moral requirements are imposed.
Professional ethics arose on the basis of similar interests and cultural requirements of people united by one profession. Traditions of professional ethics develop along with the development of the profession itself, and currently the principles and norms of professional ethics can be enshrined at the legislative level or expressed through generally accepted moral norms.
The concept of professional ethics is associated, first of all, with the characteristics of a particular profession in relation to which this term is used. So, for example, the “Hippocratic Oath” and medical confidentiality are some of the elements of the professional ethics of doctors, and the impartial presentation of true facts is an element of the professional ethics of journalists.
Features of professional ethics
In any profession, honest and responsible performance of one’s duties is one of the most important rules of professional ethics. However, some features of professional ethics may be missed by a novice specialist through ignorance or inattention - then such an employee may be declared unfit to perform his duties.
To prevent this from happening, you should remember the basic norms and principles of professional ethics:
Your work should be performed professionally, strictly in accordance with the assigned powers;
in your work you cannot be guided by your personal likes and dislikes; you should always maintain objectivity;
When working with personal data of clients or other individuals or companies, the strictest confidentiality should always be observed;
in your work, you must not allow the emergence of off-duty relationships with clients or colleagues, managers or subordinates;
you should observe the principle of collegiality and not discuss your colleagues or subordinates in the presence of clients, partners or other persons;
It is impossible to allow an already accepted order to be disrupted by refusing it in favor of another (more profitable) order;
Discrimination against clients, partners, colleagues or subordinates based on gender, race, age or any other basis is unacceptable.
Currently, professional standards are developing and improving, and social relations are changing. And in this new picture of the world, the ability to respect nature and the people around us is more important than ever – the main advantage of the professional ethics of representatives of any profession.
Code of Professional Ethics
The standards to which members of professions must adhere are defined in their codes of professional ethics. Codes of professional ethics are intended to govern the professional activities of all members of the profession, whether self-employed or employed.It is believed that codes of professional ethics should formulate strict standards of conduct for members of professions. However, in fact, these codes are designed to solve a variety of problems. Some codes are simply used to demonstrate that such and such a group is a profession. Some codes proclaim a set of ideals (often unattainable) to which members of the profession should strive to achieve and by which they should guide their practice.
Other codes or sections thereof are disciplinary in nature, defining the minimum conditions that a member of the profession must comply with. If a member of the profession does not comply with this minimum, he is subject to penalties, the most serious of which is exclusion from the profession. There are codes that formulate the etiquette of this profession. There are unified codes that include a set of ideals, a list of disciplinary rules, and standards of professional conduct.
If a professional code is intended to provide the basis for a given profession to claim autonomy from the lay public scrutiny (e.g. doctors and lawyers) to which other groups are subject, such a code should have the following properties:
1. The code must be regulatory and purposeful. The inclusion of ideals is not prohibited. But it should precisely define which of its provisions represent ideals and which are of a disciplinary, punitive nature. If a code does not actually regulate the conduct of members of a profession, it does not actually have a public declaration that serves as a basis for society to recognize it as a profession. Society recognizes the autonomy of a profession provided that it obliges its members to adhere to higher standards of conduct than members of other groups adhere to, and therefore professional standards must be known to the population and must be perceived as higher than other standards.
2. The Code is intended to protect the public interest and the interests of those whom the profession serves. If society does not benefit from granting autonomy to a profession, it should deprive it of that privilege. The Code should not be a means of self-service for the profession. Codes can be used to serve the interests of the profession at the expense of the public. Some rules (for example, rules regarding the setting of fees or restrictions on advertising) protect the profession and are contrary to the public interest. Code provisions that discourage competition within a profession are generally not in the public interest; they are aimed at emphasizing the negative, monopolistic properties of the profession.
3. Codes must be precise and fair. A code that simply states that members of a profession must not lie, steal or deceive does not require anything more than is required of all other people. When a code is drafted honestly, it reflects aspects of the profession that characterize the particular specific temptations that members of the profession may experience. Autonomy is granted to a profession because it is aware of the possible specific errors and shortcomings of a given profession - its dark sides, her unethical, although not entirely illegal, methods. Unless such practices are clearly defined in the code, the profession effectively has no control over its activities.
4. The code must be both controllable and controlling. If the code does not contain provisions for bringing charges and imposing penalties, it is no more than a declaration of ideals. If a profession cannot demonstrate through its entire activities that it controls its members, society has no reason to believe that it does so. In such cases, there is no reason to grant special privileges to the profession. Accordingly, society must pass laws relating to the activities of members of a given profession and establishing control over their activities, just as it controls members of other occupations.
Although professions can enforce the rules of their codes, they are not judicial bodies. Violations of the professional code will result in only limited disciplinary action. The most severe punishment, as mentioned above, can be exclusion from the profession along with public disclosure of the offense. The most common practice is censure.
Professional codes tend to ignore such problems faced by at least some members of the profession. Professional codes often specify responsibilities to the client or patient, to the employer (if a member of the profession is employed), to the public and to the profession itself. What does a member of the profession have to do when these responsibilities conflict with each other? For example, what should a company doctor do when he is told not to disclose information about rising rates of work-related illness among factory workers? Are his responsibilities towards society and towards patients (workers) higher than his responsibilities towards the entrepreneur?
Moreover, professional codes provide no guidance on what action should be taken when the profession itself acts inappropriately.
Professional ethics of a lawyer
Ethics is the doctrine of the norms of morality and morality that have developed in society and which every person must observe. If he doesn’t do this, then living in such a society, in my opinion, will simply become impossible. Would anyone like it if, say, they were treated disrespectfully or insulted? Such a society has no future, and sooner or later it will definitely collapse.The professional ethics of a lawyer are also norms of morality and morality, only related directly to the activities of a lawyer. They are enshrined in the Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers, which was adopted by the All-Russian Congress of Lawyers. They are an integral part of the work of every lawyer and are as important as legal knowledge. Without compliance with these standards, the existence of the legal community as a whole is impossible. Each lawyer is obliged to carry out his activities strictly in accordance with ethical rules and not to violate the professional ethics of a lawyer. As noted in the Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers, morality is higher than the will of the client. In addition, compliance with the professional ethics of a lawyer is also entrusted to assistants and trainees of lawyers in the part corresponding to their work responsibilities, which in turn once again emphasizes the importance of the standards of professional ethics of a lawyer.
So, professional ethical standards of lawyers can be divided into several groups that regulate:
Relationship between lawyer and client;
- relations between lawyers;
- the lawyer’s relationship with the court and other authorities.
Relationship between lawyer and client
The Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers explains in great detail the rules of conduct that a lawyer must adhere to when providing legal assistance to his client. First of all, this is the rule on maintaining attorney-client privilege. This is perhaps one of the most important and basic rules of professional ethics for a lawyer. Because without confidence in maintaining attorney-client privilege, there will be no trust between a lawyer and his client. And without trust, it is difficult to provide qualified legal assistance. Attorney-client privilege is absolutely any information communicated by the client to the lawyer, the storage period of which is not limited in time. Such information is also not subject to disclosure.
Also, another rule of professional ethics for a lawyer is that a lawyer cannot provide legal assistance to a client based on his own benefit, immoral interests or as a result of outside pressure.
A lawyer cannot act contrary to the will of the principal and take a position in the case that is opposite to the position of the principal. The only exception is if the lawyer defending a criminal case is convinced of his client’s self-incrimination.
Another important rule is that a lawyer cannot defend persons whose interests conflict with each other’s interests.
Relationships between lawyers
Relations between lawyers must be based on mutual respect. A lawyer must not use expressions that detract from the honor, dignity, or business reputation of another lawyer in connection with his legal practice. The professional ethics of a lawyer in this case requires respect for a colleague.
Relations between a lawyer and the court and other authorities
Here the lawyer must also behave tactfully and avoid rudeness. So, for example, if a lawyer objects to the actions of judges and other participants in the process, then he must do this in the correct form and in accordance with the law.
The above rules of professional ethics for a lawyer are just part of those rules that are enshrined in the Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers. They are mandatory for a lawyer when carrying out his activities. If a lawyer does not comply with these rules of professional ethics of a lawyer, then he is subject to disciplinary liability, which can be expressed in a remark, a warning, or even termination of his status as a lawyer. But the most important thing is that, without complying with the Code of Professional Ethics, a lawyer will not be able to provide qualified legal assistance to his client.
I would also like to note that if a lawyer is not sure how to act in a difficult ethical situation, he has the right to contact the Council of the relevant bar association of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation for clarification.
Ethics of professional activity
Professional ethics is a system of moral principles, norms and rules of conduct for a specialist, taking into account the characteristics of his professional activity and specific situation. Professional ethics should be an integral part of the training of every specialist. The content of any professional ethics consists of the general and the specific.General principles of professional ethics, based on universal human moral standards, presuppose:
A) professional solidarity (sometimes degenerating into corporatism);
b) a special understanding of duty and honor;
c) a special form of responsibility determined by the subject and type of activity.
Particular principles arise from the specific conditions, content and specifics of a particular profession and are expressed mainly in moral codes - requirements for specialists.
Professional ethics, as a rule, concern only those types of professional activities in which there is various kinds of dependence of people on the actions of a professional, that is, the consequences or processes of these actions have a special impact on the lives and destinies of other people or humanity. In this regard, traditional types of professional ethics are distinguished, such as pedagogical, psychological, medical, legal, scientist ethics, and relatively new ones, the emergence or actualization of which is associated with the increasing role of the “human factor” in this type of activity (engineering ethics) or strengthening its influence in society (journalistic ethics, bioethics).
Professionalism and attitude to work are important qualitative characteristics of a person’s moral character. They are of paramount importance in personal assessment individual, but various stages historical development, their content and assessment varied significantly. In a class-differentiated society, they are determined by the social inequality of types of labor, the opposition of mental and physical labor, the presence of privileged and unprivileged professions, and depend on the degree of class consciousness of professional groups, the sources of their replenishment, the level of general culture of the individual, and so on.
Professional ethics is not a consequence of inequality in the degree of morality of different professional groups. But society places increased moral demands on certain types of professional activities. There are professional areas in which the labor process itself is based on high coordination of the actions of its participants, exacerbating the need for solidarity behavior. Dedicated Special attention the moral qualities of workers in those professions that are associated with the right to manage people’s lives, significant material assets, some professions in the service sector, transport, management, healthcare, education, and so on. Here we are not talking about the actual level of morality, but about an obligation, which, if left unrealized, can in any way interfere with the performance of professional functions.
A profession is a certain type of work activity that requires the necessary knowledge and skills acquired as a result of training and long-term work practice.
Professional types of ethics are those specific features of professional activity that are aimed directly at a person in certain conditions of his life and activity in society.
Professional moral norms are guidelines, rules, samples, standards, the order of internal self-regulation of the individual based on ethical and humanistic ideals. The emergence of professional ethics preceded the creation of scientific ethical theories about it. Everyday experience and the need to regulate relationships between people in a particular profession led to the awareness and formulation of certain requirements of professional ethics. Public opinion plays an active role in the formation and assimilation of professional ethics standards.
Professional ethics, having initially emerged as a manifestation of everyday, ordinary moral consciousness, later developed on the basis of the general practice of behavior of representatives of each professional group. These generalizations were summarized both in written and unwritten codes of conduct of various professional groups, and in the form of theoretical conclusions, which indicated a transition from ordinary to theoretical consciousness in the field of professional morality.
The main types of professional ethics are: medical ethics, pedagogical ethics, ethics of a scientist, ethics of law, entrepreneur (businessman), engineer, etc. Each type of professional ethics is determined by the uniqueness of professional activity, has its own specific aspects in the implementation of norms and principles of morality and in collectively constitutes a professional code of morality.
Professional and universal ethics
Professional activity leads to many ethical issues that are not considered and cannot be resolved by means of universal ethics. Professional ethics studies professional morality as a specification of general moral principles and norms in relation to the characteristics of a particular type of professional activity.
Professional morality arises with the social division of labor, which laid the foundation for the professional separation of social groups. With the formation of professional groups, a social need arises to regulate the relations of people within these groups. Initially, this was a small circle of professions, which, in the process of further specialization of labor, became increasingly differentiated, as a result of which more and more new professions emerged.
Depending on specific historical conditions, one or another aspect of professional activity comes to the fore. Society's attitude towards it determines its value.
What determines the moral assessment of a profession? Firstly, by what this profession objectively provides for social development. Secondly, the fact that this profession gives a person subjectively, in the sense of a moral impact on him. Every profession, insofar as it exists, performs a certain social function. Representatives of this profession have their own social purpose, their own functions, their own goals. This or that profession determines the choice of a specific communication environment, which leaves its mark on people regardless of whether they want it or not.
Within each professional group, certain specific connections and relationships of people develop. Depending on the object of labor, the tools of labor, the techniques used and the tasks being solved, a unique variety of situations, difficulties and even dangers arise that require a certain type of action, method, and psychological reaction from a person. Each profession gives birth to its own moral “temptations”, moral “valor” and “losses”, certain contradictions arise, and unique ways of resolving them are developed.
A person is involved in professional activity with his subjective world of feelings, experiences, aspirations, moral assessments, and his way of thinking. Among the diverse situations in professional relations, the most typical ones begin to stand out, which characterize the relative independence of the profession and its moral atmosphere. And this, in turn, determines the specificity of people’s actions and the uniqueness of their norms of behavior.
Thus, as soon as professional relations acquired qualitative stability, this led to the formation of special moral attitudes corresponding to the nature of work, i.e., to the emergence of professional morality with its initial cell - a norm reflecting the practical feasibility of certain forms of relationships both between members of a professional group, and between the group itself and society. The historical development of professional norms went from concrete to abstract. Initially, its meaning is purely specific and is associated with a specific real action or object. Only as a result of long-term development does its semantic content acquire a general, strictly moral meaning.
Each era has its own set of distinct professional norms, i.e. professional morality. Having arisen, professional morality becomes a certain spiritual reality with relative independence. She starts to live own life and turns into an object of comprehension, study, analysis, assimilation, and becomes a force directing the behavior of a representative of a particular profession. If there were a code of ethical principles that applied to all cultures, philosophies, beliefs and professions, it could provide a universally useful system that would compel people to act according to their conscience and guide our actions.
There are many decision-making techniques, but only a few show when situations might have moral implications. However, the information itself is the first decisive step towards decision-making. Recognizing the moral implications of a situation must precede any attempt to solve the problem. Otherwise, what needs to be done?
Moral collisions and conflicts are very rarely presented to us as expected and predictable. They usually come suddenly before we have time to recognize them, or develop so gradually that we recognize them only in retrospect; it's like we only notice a snake after we've been bitten.
The following rules of ethical behavior can be suggested as guidelines - general guidelines that should be used as a compulsion to work according to one's moral principles. They are non-absolute and rather more like an approximate system of measures, where a single exact option is impossible. They often conflict in practice, and sometimes one option has much more advantages under certain circumstances. But these principles must be taken into account.
In a sense, these principles are the children of the ancestors of all principles - unconditional love and compassion. They appear in all religions, and in this case they are expressed as “concern for the well-being of others.” They are also similar to the statement that we should simply follow our intuition and rely on our “inner voice.” However, this voice is not always clear, and today's society can present complex circumstances that require more management than "concern for others." This set of standards of behavior is offered as a more detailed reference.
For ease of reference, the principles are grouped into three categories; personal, professional and global ethics.
Principles of personal ethics
These principles can be called morals because they reflect the general expectations of every person in any society. These are the principles that we try to instill in our children and that we expect from others.
These include:
Concern for the well-being of others;
respect for the right of others to be autonomous;
reliability and honesty;
voluntary obedience to the law (except for civil disobedience);
justice;
refusing unfair advantage over others;
charity, the opportunity to benefit;
prevention of harmful consequences.
Principles of professional ethics of a psychologist
In addition to what all people strive for, a person, when acting in a work environment, takes on the burden of additional ethical responsibilities. For example, professional associations have codes of ethical rules that specify required behavior within the context of professional practice, such as psychology. These written attitudes determine the behavior and activities of the psychologist.
The “Ethical Code of a Psychologist”, adopted by the V Congress of the Russian Psychological Society, reveals the “ethical principles of a psychologist”: “the principle of respect (respect for dignity, rights and freedoms of the individual, confidentiality, awareness and voluntary consent of the Client, self-determination of the Client), the principle of competence (knowledge of professional ethics , limiting professional competence, limiting the means used, professional development), the principle of responsibility (primary responsibility, not causing harm, resolving ethical dilemmas), the principle of integrity (awareness of the limits of personal and professional capabilities, honesty, directness and openness, avoiding conflicts of interest, responsibility and openness to the professional community).
Principles of World Ethics
Each of us influences the world simply by simply existing (it’s always wise to think globally!). An additional measure of responsibility is established at a level corresponding to the global level, such as, for example, governments and transnational corporations (with increasing power, responsibility also increases, whether we like it or not).
One element of the burden of leadership is the ability to influence society and accomplish world affairs (in a positive sense). Can a person (or company) be truly successful while causing human suffering or causing irreparable damage to the environment? A modern and complete model for success must also consider the impact on humanity and the environment.
The principles of global ethics include:
Compliance with global legislation;
social responsibility;
environmental management;
interdependence and responsibility
for integrity;
respectful attitude towards housing.
Coexistence of principles
It is important to keep in mind that the principles of personal ethics are the first reference point in any situation, including the Levels of Professional and Worldwide Ethics. For example, when we judge whether a corporation has been internationally socially responsible, the principles of personal responsibility must be taken into account as a prerequisite. Charitable contributions (the ability to do good) may mean nothing if the corporation has not taken responsibility for minimizing the harm caused by its business operations (preventing harm).
Social functions of professional ethics
Since professional ethics is formed on the basis of the characteristic duties and tasks of the profession, on the situations in which people may find themselves in the process of performing these tasks, the first and main social function of professional ethics is to facilitate the successful solution of the tasks of the profession. In addition, professional ethics plays the role of a mediator, combining the interests of society and professional groups of the population. The interests of society appear in professional ethics in the form of an obligation, a requirement, an obligation to fulfill public tasks, to achieve public ideals.
Professional ethics is involved in coordinating the interests of society and the individual within this social group; this is also one of its social functions. Various types of professional ethics have their own traditions, more or less long-standing, which indicates the continuity of the basic ethical standards developed by representatives of a particular profession over the decades.
Professional ethics thus communicates and inherits progressive moral values in moral relations labor sphere society; This is also one of the most important social functions of professional ethics.
Standards of professional ethics
Every person who has recently started work wants to move up the career ladder. Many people start with small positions, working as interns or with a probationary period. The first stages of work are the most important period, during which management and employees form an opinion about a new person. And career advancement depends on the start.The person is promoted by the immediate superiors, offering a higher position, a more responsible and highly paid post. At the first stage, you should immediately clearly and irrevocably determine your place in the team. Having taken a closer look at the work style adopted in a given company, decide for yourself at what level according to professional level you are now.
Very often, it is a violation of business and professional ethics that is a strong brake on the path to career heights. Promotion is influenced by many factors: behavior in a team, at corporate events, relationships with colleagues, the right style of clothing, competent speech, etc.
All this is also true for people who want to firmly establish themselves in the world of market relations and achieve their goals. Since modern commerce is often based on international business relations, you should know the rules of etiquette adopted in other countries and strictly follow them. Failure to comply with behavioral standards often leads to the severance of stable partnerships and loss of markets. The rules of business etiquette change over time. But every business person should know that today it is not enough just to be friendly and polite. General principles in business etiquette acquire their own specifics.
This can be expressed in five basic rules - a guide for people associated with business:
1. Punctuality. Being late for work interferes with the ongoing work process and characterizes the offender as an employee who cannot be relied upon. A business person calculates the time to complete each stage of work down to the minute. Practice shows that it should be determined with a small margin, taking into account unforeseen circumstances. A business person calculates all actions ahead, does not waste time, anticipates complications and delays, adjusts his schedule and strives to comply with it.
2. Non-disclosure of unnecessary information. Personnel, technological, administrative, and financial secrets of the company should not be the subject of discussion among employees. It is unacceptable to disclose the organization's trade secrets, as well as information about the personal lives of colleagues.
3. Caring not only for yourself, but also for other team members. In order to effectively and successfully conduct business, one should take into account the interests, opinions and principles of partners, customers, corporate clients, etc. In the work process, selfishness, excessive emotionality, incontinence, unfair competition, intrigues with colleagues for the purpose of self-realization and career advancement are unacceptable. You should listen to your interlocutors patiently and treat other people’s opinions with due respect, even if they contradict your own. Such manifestations as intolerance of other people's opinions, humiliation and insult of an opponent are unacceptable. A business person is well aware that in the business world, repeat situations and cooperation with today's competitors are possible.
4. Business attire. A person’s appearance should correspond to his status in the team, not deviate from the generally accepted style, and indicate taste, rigor and modesty. It is important that the clothes are fully consistent with the work environment, do not irritate colleagues, and are clean, ironed and neat.
5. Competent oral and written presentation of thoughts. Both oral and written speech of a business person must be clearly structured, accessible and competent. For successful public speaking and everyday communication in the office with employees, partners and customers, it does not hurt to study the art of rhetoric. Clear diction is especially important. If there are speech defects, it is best to visit a speech therapist and make efforts to correct them. In business communication, the use of colloquial and slang words, argotisms, slang, and offensive expressions is unacceptable. Have great importance intonation and pronunciation, especially in conversations with foreign citizens, partners or clients. A business person knows how not only to speak, but also to listen to others.
There are certain rules of communication between colleagues of different genders:
Men do not allow rudeness or sharp words in the presence of women.
Men hold the doors of their female colleagues, letting them pass first.
Men stand in the presence of a female colleague if she is standing.
A man gives a coat to a female colleague if they happen to be in the wardrobe at the same time. If a female colleague leaves while men are busy at work, it is permissible to deviate from this rule: the main thing is work.
It is important to remember that restrained and limited display of ethical standards and courtesies during the work process is not considered a violation of the rules.
Professional ethics of a teacher
Teacher ethics is, in our opinion, a completely special phenomenon.And yet, its essence and content, like any professional ethics, are most fully and consistently revealed through an analysis of its structure, in which four main blocks can be distinguished:
Firstly, this is the ethics of the teacher’s attitude to his work, to the subject of his activity.
Secondly, this is the ethics of relationships “vertically” - in the “teacher-student” system, which considers the basic principles, norms of these relationships and the requirements for the personality and behavior of the teacher.
Thirdly, this is the ethics of relationships “horizontally” - in the “teacher-teacher” system, which considers those relationships that are regulated not so much by general norms, but by the specifics of the activity and psychology of the teacher.
Fourthly, this is the ethics of administrative and business relations between the teacher and governing structures, which prescribes certain “rules of the game” for both parties, aimed at optimizing the management of the education system.
The proposed approach does not pretend to be the “ultimate truth,” but it allows us to pose and consider the most important problems of pedagogical culture, such as ethical and psychological aspects professional activity of a teacher. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to identify the specifics of this activity.
Principles of professional ethics
Professional ethics regulates the relationships between people in business communication. Professional ethics are based on certain norms, requirements and principles.Principles are abstract, generalized ideas that enable those who rely on them to correctly form their behavior and actions in the business sphere. Principles provide a specific employee in any organization with a conceptual ethical platform for decisions, actions, actions, interactions, etc.
The order of the ethical principles considered is not determined by their significance. The essence of the first principle comes from the so-called gold standard: “Within the framework of your official position, never allow your official position in relation to your subordinates, management, or colleagues; to clients, etc. such actions that I would not want to see towards myself.”
The second principle: fairness is needed when providing employees with the resources necessary for their work activities (monetary, raw materials, material, etc.). The third principle requires mandatory correction of an ethical violation, regardless of when and by whom it was committed.
The fourth principle is the principle of maximum progress: the official behavior and actions of an employee are recognized as ethical if they contribute to the development of the organization (or its divisions) from a moral point of view.
The fifth principle is the principle of minimum progress, according to which the actions of an employee or organization as a whole are ethical if they at least do not violate ethical standards.
Sixth principle: ethical is the tolerant attitude of the organization’s employees towards moral principles, traditions, etc., that exist in other organizations, regions, countries.
The seventh principle recommends a reasonable combination of individual relativism and ethical relativism with the requirements of universal (universal) ethics. Eighth principle: individual and collective principles are equally recognized as the basis when developing and making decisions in business relationships.
The ninth principle: you should not be afraid to have your own opinion when resolving any official issues. However, nonconformism as a personality trait should manifest itself within reasonable limits.
The tenth principle is no violence, i.e. “pressure” on subordinates, expressed in various forms, for example, in an orderly, commanding manner of conducting an official conversation.
The eleventh principle is consistency of impact, which is expressed in the fact that ethical standards can be introduced into the life of an organization not with a one-time order, but only with the help of continuous efforts on the part of both the manager and ordinary employees.
The twelfth principle is when influencing (on a team, an individual employee, a consumer, etc.), take into account the strength of possible resistance. The fact is that while recognizing the value and necessity of ethical standards in theory, many workers, when faced with them in practical everyday work, for one reason or another begin to resist them.
The thirteenth principle is the advisability of making advances based on trust - the employee’s sense of responsibility, his competence, sense of duty, etc.
The fourteenth principle strongly recommends striving for non-conflict. Although conflict in the business sphere has not only dysfunctional but also functional consequences, nevertheless, conflict is a fertile ground for ethical violations.
The fifteenth principle is freedom without limiting the freedom of others; Usually this principle, although in an implicit form, is determined by job descriptions.
Sixteenth principle: the employee must not only act ethically himself, but also encourage the same behavior of his colleagues.
Seventeenth principle: do not criticize your competitor. This means not only a competing organization, but also an “internal competitor” - a team from another department, a colleague in whom one can “see” a competitor.
These principles should serve as the basis for each employee of any company to develop their own personal ethical system.
Professional ethics of a journalist are not legally fixed, but accepted in the journalistic environment and supported by force public opinion, professional and creative organizations moral instructions - principles, norms and rules of moral behavior of a journalist.
Journalistic ethics extends to the decision-making process in specific situations, but even here the choice must be related to fundamental rules and principles. For journalists and other information workers, this means making choices that are consistent with the rules and principles of the profession as set out in the code of ethics. In practice, moral choice presupposes a certain freedom in decision-making, in which gradations of rightness and wrongness are possible, since it is impossible to find a moral solution that is suitable for all cases of life. Some ethical norms and principles are codified in law, in which case the state requires its citizens to follow specific rule or principle in their decision-making process.
Thus, a worker in journalism, a profession where there are so many standardized techniques but so few absolute rules, has a whole range of possible decisions, choosing between ethical and unethical action. Due to this circumstance, we still cannot agree on what, in fact, constitutes “ethical” behavior of a journalist.
The pursuit of truth is a moral imperative for most civilized people, but many journalists, even highly moral ones, have committed lies in the service, as they claim, of the public good. Defenders of journalistic ethics usually make a distinction between fundamental principles of morality and their application in everyday situations, where moral choices must be made under time pressure and lack of opportunity to analyze circumstances.
If there are strict principles, ethical standards are less regulated, and the rules of conduct for a journalist are determined almost for each specific case. This is important to keep in mind, firstly, so that journalists can distinguish ethical norms from legal norms and, secondly, so that they understand that the ethicality (or unethicalness) of their behavior is determined not on the basis of general principles, but situationally, within a fairly broad framework. This does not mean that ethical decisions are voluntaristic in nature, and ethics is relational, relative and subjective.
This only says that a journalist must have, knowing the principles of ethics, a highly developed moral consciousness and experience of moral behavior, which in each specific case for himself and in relation to his colleagues will help him decide what and how ethical or unethical. Therefore, the “court of honor” of journalism must take into account specific circumstances, subtly understand the nuances of relationships between people, ethical analysis and self-analysis are mandatory. Although a very complex one, it is a component of journalistic practice.
Rule of professional ethics
Society is increasingly aware that the rule of law is not only a set of competent civilized laws, but also the possibility of their implementation, as well as the ability of the population to use their rights. And this is not possible without professional lawyers, in particular lawyers, called upon to assist citizens and legal entities.As A. Boykov rightly wrote: “The professional maturity of a specialist cannot be characterized only by a certain amount of knowledge, skills, and abilities; it also includes the corresponding level of moral development of the individual, mastery of the moral requirements of a given profession.” Therefore, one of the most important issues in legal practice is the issue of professional ethics of a lawyer.
In the activity of a lawyer, situations arise more often and more acutely than in any other activity of a lawyer, the resolution of which depends on compliance not only with legal, but also moral, moral standards.
The rules of professional ethics of a lawyer are a set of provisions that define the requirements for the personality of a lawyer and his behavior in the performance of professional duties, as well as in relationships with clients, colleagues, legal self-government bodies, government bodies, institutions and officials, public and other organizations.
In accordance with the Rules, a lawyer must comply with the law and adhere to the standards of professional morality, constantly maintaining the honor and dignity of his profession as a participant in the administration of justice and a public figure, as well as personal honor and dignity. He should take care of the prestige of his profession and increasing its role in society.
A lawyer must adhere to the customs and traditions established in the legal profession, the content of which corresponds to the general ideals and principles of morality in society. Violation of the rules of professional ethics entails disciplinary liability.
The legal profession is a free profession based on the rule of law, trust and independence. In his professional activities, a lawyer is completely independent. Interference in the professional activities of a lawyer is prohibited.
A lawyer performs professional duties to protect the legal rights and interests of clients freely and independently, with dignity and tact, honestly, diligently and confidentially.
The rules of professional ethics call on a lawyer to ensure the dignity of the profession and personal dignity, which consists in the lawyer’s special moral attitude towards himself, which determines the appropriate attitude towards him from society.
Establishing and maintaining the dignity of a lawyer presupposes the commission of appropriate moral acts and the non-commitment of actions that degrade his dignity. Behavior of a lawyer that discredits his high title and undermines public confidence in the legal profession is considered degrading professional dignity.
The rules establish requirements for a lawyer that he must meet in order to maintain honor and dignity. The rules of professional ethics are also aimed at regulating the lawyer’s relationships with colleagues and clients.
Of particular importance are the rules that a lawyer must adhere to in relations with clients. A lawyer cannot refuse to accept an assignment to a person who has applied for legal assistance, without sufficient grounds. The rules of professional ethics provide for cases in which a lawyer must refuse to accept an assignment and conduct a case.
In relations with law enforcement and other government bodies and officials, public and other organizations, with barrister self-government bodies and the qualification commission, a lawyer must also adhere to the ethical standards set out in the Rules.
The rules of professional ethics are a kind of guideline in the complex and multifaceted legal practice, saturated with moral conflicts and contradictions. Some of these moral norms have become mandatory laws.
Modern professional ethics
Modern ethics is faced with a rather difficult situation in which many traditional moral values have been revised. Traditions, which previously were largely seen as the basis of the original moral principles, often turned out to be destroyed. They have lost their meaning due to global processes, developing in society and the rapid pace of change in production, its reorientation towards mass consumption. As a result, a situation arose in which opposing moral principles appeared as equally valid, equally deducible from reason. This, according to A. MacIntyre, led to the fact that rational arguments in morality were mainly used to prove theses that those who presented these arguments already had in advance.This, on the one hand, led to an anti-normative turn in ethics, expressed in the desire to proclaim an individual person as a full-fledged and self-sufficient subject of moral demands, to place on him the full burden of responsibility for independently made decisions. The anti-normative tendency is represented in the ideas of F. Nietzsche, in existentialism, and in postmodern philosophy. On the other hand, there was a desire to limit the area of ethics to a fairly narrow range of issues related to the formulation of such rules of behavior that can be accepted by people with different life orientations, with different understandings of the goals of human existence, and the ideals of self-improvement. As a result, the category of good, traditional for ethics, seemed to be taken beyond the boundaries of morality, and the latter began to develop mainly as an ethics of rules. In line with this trend, the topic of human rights is further developed, and new attempts are made to build ethics as a theory of justice. One such attempt is presented in J. Rawls’s book “A Theory of Justice.”
New scientific discoveries and new technologies have given a powerful boost to the development of applied ethics. In the 20th century many new ones have been developed professional codes morality, business ethics, bioethics, ethics of lawyers, media workers, etc. have developed. Scientists, doctors, and philosophers began to discuss problems such as organ transplants, euthanasia, the creation of transgenic animals, and human cloning. Man, to a much greater extent than before, felt his responsibility for the development of all life on Earth and began to discuss these problems not only from the point of view of his own interests of survival, but also from the point of view of recognizing the intrinsic value of the fact of life, the fact of existence as such (Schweitzer, moral realism).
An important step, representing a reaction to the current situation in the development of society, was an attempt to understand morality in a constructive way, to present it as an endless discourse aimed at developing solutions acceptable to all its participants. This is developed in the works of K.O. Apel, J. Habermas, R. Alexi and others. The ethics of discourse is directed against anti-normativism; it tries to develop common guidelines that can unite people in the fight against the global threats facing humanity.
An undoubted achievement modern ethics was the identification of the weaknesses of the utilitarian theory, the formulation of the thesis that some basic human rights should be understood precisely in the absolute sense as values that are not directly related to the issue of the public good. They must be respected even when this does not lead to an increase in public goods.
One of the problems that remains as relevant in modern ethics as in the ethics of past years is the problem of substantiating the original moral principle, searching for an answer to the question of what can be the basis of morality, whether moral judgments can be considered in as true or false, respectively - is it possible to specify any value criterion to determine this? A fairly influential group of philosophers denies the possibility of considering normative judgments as those that can be considered true or false. These are, first of all, philosophers who develop the approach of logical positivism in ethics. They believe that so-called descriptive judgments have nothing in common with normative judgments. The latter express, from their point of view, only the will of the speaker and therefore, unlike judgments of the first type, they cannot be assessed in terms of logical truth or falsehood. One of the classic variants of this approach was the so-called emotivism (A. Ayer). Emotivists believe that moral judgments do not have any truth, but simply convey the emotions of the speaker. These emotions influence the listener in terms of creating a desire to side with the speaker, caused by emotional resonance. Other philosophers of this group generally abandon the task of searching for the original meaning of moral judgments and put forward as the goal of theoretical ethics only a logical analysis of the connection between individual judgments, aimed at achieving their consistency (R. Hear, R. Bandt). However, even analytical philosophers who declared analysis as the main task of theoretical ethics logical connection moral judgments, after all, usually proceed from the fact that the judgments themselves have some kind of basis. They may be based on historical intuitions, on the rational desires of individual individuals, but this already goes beyond the competence of theoretical ethics as a science.
A number of authors note the formalism of this position and seek to somehow soften it. Thus, V. Frankena and R. Holmes say that whether some judgments contradict others or not will depend on our very initial understandings of morality. R. Holmes believes that introducing a specific value position into the definition of morality is unlawful. However, it allows for "the possibility of including some real content (for example, reference to the public good) and an idea of the sources of morality." This position involves going beyond the logical analysis of moral statements, but, despite the desire to overcome formalism (Holmes himself calls his position and the position of V. Frankena substantialist), it still remains too abstract. Explaining why an individual still behaves as a moral subject, R. Holmes says: “The same interest that motivates an individual to adhere to a normal and orderly life should also encourage him to create and maintain the conditions under which such a life is possible.” Probably no one will object that such a definition (and at the same time the justification of morality) is reasonable. But it leaves many questions: for example, about what a normal and orderly life actually consists of (which desires can and should be encouraged and which ones limited), to what extent the individual is really interested in maintaining general conditions normal life, why, let’s say, sacrifice your life for the sake of your homeland, if you yourself still won’t see its prosperity (the question asked by Lorenzo Valla)? Apparently, such questions give rise to the desire of some thinkers not only to point out the limited possibilities of ethical theory, but also to abandon the procedure for justifying morality altogether. A. Schopenhauer was the first to express the idea that the rational justification of morality undermines the fundamentality of its principles. This position has some support in modern Russian ethics.
Other philosophers believe that the procedure for justifying morality still has a positive meaning; the foundations of morality can be found in reasonable self-restraint of interests, in historical tradition, common sense, corrected by scientific thinking.
In order to positively answer the question about the prospects for justifying morality, it is necessary, first of all, to distinguish between the principles of ethics of duty and ethics of virtues. Christian ethics, which can be called the ethics of duty, certainly contains the idea of morality as the highest absolute value. The priority of the moral motive presupposes the same treatment of different people, regardless of their achievements in practical life. This is an ethic of strict limitations and universal love. One of the ways to substantiate it is an attempt to derive morality from a person’s ability to universalize his behavior, the idea of what would happen if everyone acted the same way as I am going to do. This attempt was most developed in Kantian ethics and continues in modern ethical discussions. However, in contrast to Kant's approach, in modern ethics self-interest is not strictly opposed to moral capacity, and universalization is seen not as that which creates the moral capacity from reason itself, but simply as a control procedure used to test various expedient rules of conduct for their commonality. acceptability.
However, such a concept of morality, in which it is considered, first of all, as a means of controlling behavior, carried out from the point of view of preventing the violation of the dignity of other people, not grossly trampling on their interests, i.e. not using another person only as a means for realizing one’s own interests (which in rough form can be expressed in extreme forms of exploitation, slavery, zombification in someone’s political interests through the use of dirty political technologies) - is not enough. There is a need to consider morality more broadly, in connection with its influence on the quality of performance of all those types of social activities in which a person is actually involved. In this case, the need again arises to talk about virtues in the ancient tradition, that is, in connection with a sign of perfection in the performance of a certain social function. The difference between the ethics of duty and the ethics of virtues is very important, since the principles on which these types of moral theory are based turn out to be contradictory to a certain extent, and they have different degrees of categoricalness. The ethics of duty gravitates towards an absolute form of expression of its principles. In it, man is always considered as the highest value, all people are equal in dignity, regardless of their practical achievements.
These achievements themselves turn out to be insignificant when compared with eternity, God, and that is why a person necessarily takes the position of a “slave” in such ethics. If all slaves are before God, the real difference between slave and master turns out to be insignificant. Such a statement looks like a form of affirmation of human dignity, despite the fact that a person seems to voluntarily take on the role of a slave, the role of a lower being, relying in everything on the mercy of the deity. But, as already mentioned, such an affirmation of the equal dignity of all people in an absolute sense is not enough to morally encourage their practical social activity. In virtue ethics, man himself, as it were, lays claim to the divine. Already in Aristotle, in his highest intellectual virtues, he becomes like a deity.
This means that virtue ethics allows for different degrees of perfection, not just perfection in the ability to control one’s thoughts and overcome the craving for sin (a task that is also posed in the ethics of duty), but also perfection in the ability to perform the social function that a person undertakes to perform . This introduces relativity into the moral assessment of what a person is as a person, i.e. in virtue ethics, different moral attitudes towards different people are allowed, because their dignity depends in this type of ethics on the specific character traits of people and their achievements in practical life . Moral qualities are correlated here with various social skills and appear to be very differentiated.
The ethics of duty and virtue ethics are fundamentally connected different types moral motivation.
In those cases when the moral motive manifests itself most clearly, when it does not merge with other social motives of activity, the external situation serves as an incentive for the initiation of moral activity. At the same time, behavior is fundamentally different from that which develops on the basis of the usual sequence: need-interest-goal. For example, if a person rushes to save a drowning man, he does so not because he has previously experienced some emotional stress, similar to, say, hunger, but simply because he understands or intuitively feels what subsequent life with the consciousness of an unfulfilled duty will represent for him. him torment. Thus, behavior here is based on the anticipation of strong negative emotions associated with the idea of violating a moral requirement and the desire to avoid them. However, the need to perform such selfless actions, in which the features of the ethics of duty are most evident, is relatively rare. Revealing the essence of the moral motive, it is necessary to explain not only the fear of torment due to an unfulfilled duty or remorse, but also the positive direction of long-term activity of behavior, which inevitably manifests itself when it comes to one’s own good. It is clear that the justification for the need for such behavior is not carried out in some emergency circumstances, and its determination requires not an episodic, but a long-term goal. This goal can only be realized in connection with general ideas personality about the happiness of life, about the whole nature of its relationships with other people.
Is it possible to reduce morality only to the restrictions following from the rule of universalization, to behavior based on reason, freed from emotions that interfere with sober reasoning? Certainly not. Since the time of Aristotle it has been known that without emotions there is no moral action.
But if in the ethics of duty strictly defined emotions of compassion, love, and remorse are manifested, in the ethics of virtues the realization of moral qualities is accompanied by numerous positive emotions extramoral character. This happens because there is a unification of moral and other pragmatic motives of existence. A person, performing positive moral actions in accordance with his character virtues, experiences positive emotional states. But positive motivation in this case is introduced into a morally approved action not from any special moral needs, but from all the highest social needs of the individual. At the same time, the orientation of behavior towards moral values enhances emotional self-awareness in the process of satisfying non-moral needs. For example, the joy of creativity in socially significant activities is higher than the joy of creativity in a simple game, because in the first case a person sees in the moral criteria of society a confirmation of the real complexity, sometimes even the uniqueness of the problems he solves. This means enriching some motives of activity with others. Taking into account such a unification and enrichment of some motives of behavior by others, it is quite possible to explain why a person has a personal interest in being moral, that is, being moral not only for society, but also for himself.
In the ethics of duty, the issue is more complex. Due to the fact that a person is taken here regardless of his social functions, goodness acquires an absolute character and makes the theorist want to present it as the initial and rationally indefinable category for constructing the entire ethical system.
The absolute, indeed, cannot be excluded from the sphere of morality and cannot be ignored by theoretical thought that wants to free a person from the burden of phenomena that are incomprehensible to him and not always pleasant for him. IN in practical terms proper behavior presupposes the mechanism of conscience, which is cultivated as a reaction imposed on the individual by society to a violation of moral requirements. The manifestation of a strong negative reaction of the subconscious to the assumption of a violation of moral requirements essentially already contains something absolute. But during critical periods of social development, when mass sacrificial behavior is required, automatic reactions of the subconscious and remorse alone are not enough. From the point of view of common sense and the theory based on it, it is very difficult to explain why it is necessary to give one’s life for others. But then it is very difficult to give personal meaning to such a sacrificial act only on the basis of a scientific explanation that this is necessary, say, for the survival of the species. However, the practice of social life requires such actions, and, in this sense, produces the need to strengthen moral motives aimed at this kind of behavior, say, due to the idea of God, hope for posthumous reward, etc.
Thus, the fairly popular absolutist approach to ethics is largely an expression of the practical need to strengthen the moral motives of behavior and a reflection of the fact that morality really exists, despite the fact that from the point of view of common sense a person cannot seem to act against his own interest. But the prevalence of absolutist ideas in ethics, statements that the first principle of morality cannot be substantiated, rather testifies not to the powerlessness of the theory, but to the imperfection of the society in which we live. The creation of a political organization that excludes wars and the solution of nutrition problems based on new energy and technology, as seen, for example, by Vernadsky (the transition to an autotrophic humanity associated with the production of artificial protein), will humanize social life to such an extent that the ethics of duty with its universalism and strict prohibitions on the use of humans as a means will actually be unnecessary due to specific political and legal guarantees of the existence of humans and all other living beings. In virtue ethics, the need to orient personal motives of activity towards moral values can be justified without appealing to abstract metaphysical entities, without the illusory doubling of the world necessary to give moral motives the status of being of absolute significance. This is one of the manifestations of real humanism, because it removes the alienation caused by the fact that external principles of behavior incomprehensible to rational thinking are imposed on a person.
What has been said, however, does not mean that the ethics of duty becomes unnecessary as such. It’s just that its scope is shrinking, and the moral principles developed within the theoretical approaches of the ethics of duty are becoming important for the development of legal norms, in particular, in justifying the concept of human rights. In modern ethics, approaches developed in the ethics of duty, attempts to derive morality from a person’s ability to mentally universalize his behavior are most often used to defend the ideas of liberalism, the basis of which is the desire to create a society in which an individual could satisfy his interests in the most qualitative way, without coming into conflict with the interests of others.
Virtue ethics is related to communitarian approaches, which believe that personal happiness is impossible without making concern for society the subject of one’s own aspirations, one’s personal desires. The ethics of duty, on the contrary, serves as the basis for the development of liberal thought, the development of general rules acceptable to everyone, independent of individual life orientations. Communitarians say that the subject of morality should be not only general rules of behavior, but also the standards of excellence for everyone in the type of activity that he actually performs. They draw attention to the connection of morality with a specific local cultural tradition, arguing that without such a connection, morality will simply disappear and human society will disintegrate.
It seems that in order to solve pressing problems of modern ethics it is necessary to combine different principles, including looking for ways to combine the absolute principles of the ethics of duty and the relative principles of virtue ethics, the ideology of liberalism and communitarianism. Reasoning from the position of the priority of the individual, it would be, for example, very difficult to explain the duty to future generations, to understand the natural desire of each person to preserve a good memory of himself among his descendants.
Professional ethics of a journalist
Many countries around the world have journalistic codes. At the next consultative meeting of international and regional journalistic organizations, the so-called “International Principles of Journalistic Ethics” were adopted. Above all, they require media professionals to disseminate news truthfully and honestly and ensure the people's right to freely express opinions and freely receive information. Professional and ethical standards developed by the global journalistic community help make objective decisions and determine the corridor within which your free creative space is located.Media Law and Ethics: Similarities and Differences
Law is a universal regulator that penetrates into all spheres of life. Information law is a branch of legislation dealing with issues of information and informatization.
Journalistic jurisprudence is a scientific academic discipline. Media law is a wide ramified set of norms related to the media; media law is part of the system of journalistic theory and education:
1. closes with the fundamental teaching about the principles and social roles of the press, about the structure of the journalist’s worldview, etc. Forms of existence of law: norms and regulations, legal relations, legal consciousness of people.
2. The law forms standards of behavior for a correspondent and editor; predetermines the choice of certain means of labor. Legal training: legal consciousness – knowledge of norms – methodology of activity.
Morality is the rules of moral behavior, a system of norms that define a person’s responsibilities towards society and other people. Ethics is the doctrine of morality, ethics as one of the forms of social consciousness. Professional morality is a modification of public morality. Professional ethics is a science that studies the professional specifics of morality. Journalistic morality is both a form of social consciousness, a subjective state of the individual, and a real social attitude. Moral regulation of a journalist’s behavior is carried out at the level of principle and norm.
Journalistic codes are reflections of journalistic ethics as a kind of code of norms and rules of professional morality.
International Organization of Journalists. Their code states that a journalist must protect the dignity of his profession and must not resort to unworthy means and methods of obtaining information.
Council on Professional Ethics and Law.
A set of deontological (ethical) rules - the Code of Professional Ethics of the Soviet Journalist, councils on professional ethics and law were created in the republics and territories. The Moscow Charter of Journalists was signed by a group of famous editors; the leaders of the Union of Journalists of Russia compiled a Code of Professional Ethics. The Code of Professional Ethics was approved by the Congress of Journalists of Russia.
The Code has 10 articles. The main thing: a journalist disseminates only reliable information, does not use his profession for personal purposes, recognizes the jurisdiction only of his colleagues, cannot work in politics and government, and loses his status by picking up a weapon.
This is what the codes say about the interaction of journalism with those with whom it works.
Journalist – audience:
1. protect freedom of the press in every possible way;
2. respect the right of people to know the truth (provide them with objective and truthful information about reality in a timely manner, clearly separating facts from opinions; counteract the deliberate concealment of socially significant information and the dissemination of deliberately false data);
3. respect people’s right to their own opinion;
4. respect the moral values and cultural standards of the audience (do not allow your works to savor the details of crimes, indulge in vice, do not offend, including unwittingly, the national, religious, moral feelings of a person);
5. strengthen people’s trust in the media (promote open dialogue with the audience, provide opportunities to respond to criticism, promptly correct significant errors, etc.).
Journalist – source of information:
Use only honorable and legal actions when working with sources to obtain information (methods of illegally obtaining documents, eavesdropping, “hidden camera”, “hidden recording” are used in the most exceptional cases, after full discussion, only in such circumstances that threaten public welfare or people's lives);
respect the right of individuals and legal entities to refuse to provide information (except for situations where the obligation to provide information is provided by law. But more on this below.);
indicate sources of information in materials (if there are no serious reasons, keep them secret);
maintain professional secrecy regarding the source of information (if there are compelling reasons for anonymity);
observe the confidentiality agreed upon when receiving information.
Journalist is a hero:
Take care of the impartiality of your publications (do not write about people whose relationships can be interpreted as self-serving or biased);
respect as a person the person who has become the object of professional journalistic attention (show correctness, tact, and restraint in communicating with him);
respect the human right to integrity privacy(do not invade it without the consent of the future hero - except in cases where the hero is a public person, and his private life is of undoubted public interest);
be true to reality, not distort the life of the hero in the material (any attempt to embellish or denigrate it will complicate his relationships with his acquaintances and in their eyes will discredit journalism in general and the author of the publication in particular);
refrain in materials from any disparaging remarks or hints that can humiliate a person (race or skin color, nationality, religion, illness, physical disabilities, ironic play on his name, surname, details of appearance, mentioning him as a criminal, if this has not been established court).
Journalist - colleagues:
Respect the common interests and goals of the journalistic community (prefer them to the interests and goals of political or public organizations; professional solidarity);
take care of the prestige of the profession (do not allow criminal actions, do not accept gifts, services, privileges that compromise the moral purity of a journalist, do not use your official position for personal gain, do not refuse publication and do not write custom materials to please someone’s selfish interests );
come to the aid of colleagues who find themselves in a difficult situation or in trouble;
respect the standards of official relations (discipline and creative initiative, competition and mutual assistance, maintaining a decent moral climate in the editorial office);
respect others and defend your copyrights, respect the right of a colleague to refuse to complete a task if it contradicts his personal beliefs and principles.
Journalist - power:
Show respect for authority as an important social institution;
provide information support to power structures (carry out direct and feedback communication between them and the people);
defend the public’s right to access information about the activities of government agencies;
expose abuses and misconduct of persons working in government structures, take care of the accuracy and evidence of criticism;
defend the right of journalism to independence from government (this is the most important condition for responsible public control over the activities of government agencies);
refute with facts the untrue statements of politicians.
As you understand, moral principles are not an order, not a law, and journalists are divided into those who follow them and those who neglect them. We hope you are all going to comply with them, however, let us remind you that they are advisory in nature. But there are norms that a journalist must observe, regardless of whether he likes them or not.
Professional ethics of an employee of internal affairs bodies
The moral meaning of the Code of Professional Ethics for Employees of the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Russian Federation can be analyzed by reading in detail each provision of this document.I consider it necessary to highlight from the Code the fundamental principles that directly reveal the moral meaning and significance of this document.
Moral foundations of service in the internal affairs bodies Every citizen of the Russian Federation who joins the ranks of employees of the internal affairs bodies devotes his life to fulfilling the duty of selfless service to the Fatherland and protecting noble social ideals: freedom, democracy, the triumph of law and order.
The highest moral meaning of an employee’s official activity is the protection of a person, his life and health, honor and personal dignity, inalienable rights and freedoms.
An employee of internal affairs bodies, aware of personal responsibility for the historical fate of the Fatherland, considers it his duty to preserve and enhance fundamental moral values:
Citizenship - as devotion to the Russian Federation, awareness of the unity of rights, freedoms and responsibilities of man and citizen;
- statehood - as the affirmation of the idea of a legal, democratic, strong, indivisible Russian state;
- patriotism - as a deep and sublime feeling of love for the Motherland, loyalty to the Oath of an employee of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation, the chosen profession and official duty.
Also, in this matter it is necessary to indicate the moral principles of service in the internal affairs bodies.
The official activity of an employee of internal affairs bodies is carried out in accordance with moral principles:
Humanism, which proclaims a person, his life and health as the highest values, the protection of which constitutes the meaning and moral content of law enforcement activities;
- legality, which determines the employee’s recognition of the rule of law;
- objectivity, expressed in impartiality and absence of bias when making official decisions;
- justice, meaning the correspondence of the punishment to the nature and severity of the offense or offense;
- tolerance, which consists of a respectful, tolerant attitude towards people, taking into account socio-historical, religious, ethnic traditions and customs.
Moral obligations of an internal affairs officer
Be intolerant of any actions that offend human dignity, cause pain and suffering, constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; to be courageous and undaunted in the face of danger when suppressing crime, eliminating the consequences of accidents and natural disasters, as well as in any situation requiring saving the lives and health of people; show firmness and intransigence in the fight against criminals, using only legal and highly moral means to achieve their goals; in situations of moral choice, follow the ethical principle: a person is always a moral goal, but never a means; be guided in professional activities and communication by the “golden rule” of morality: treat people, your comrades, co-workers the way you would like them to treat you.
To explain the moral principles of the Law of the Russian Federation No. 1026-1 “On the Police”, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the text of this document and make main excerpts from it.
It is worth noting that Article 1 of the Law “On the Police” reveals such an important concept as the police in the Russian Federation.
The police in the Russian Federation is a system of state executive authorities designed to protect the life, health, rights and freedoms of citizens, property, interests of society and the state from criminal and other unlawful attacks and are entitled to use coercive measures within the limits established by this Law and other federal laws .
Thus, Article 1 of this law reveals the most important, fundamental principle pursuing moral goals and ideas aimed at protecting the interests of citizens and the state.
It is also necessary to note Article 3 of this law, which reveals the basic principles of police activity, namely: police activity is built in accordance with the principles of respect for the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, legality, humanism, and transparency.
Also, most fully, the moral principles and principles of police activity are reflected in Article 5 of this Law:
The police protect the rights and freedoms of humans and citizens, regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership of public associations, as well as other circumstances.
- The police are prohibited from resorting to torture, violence, or other cruel or degrading treatment.
- Any restriction of citizens in their rights and freedoms by the police is permissible only on the grounds and in the manner directly provided for by law.
- In all cases of restriction of the rights and freedoms of a citizen, a police officer is obliged to explain to him the basis and reason for such restriction, as well as his rights and obligations arising in connection with this.
- The police provide the opportunity for detained persons to exercise their statutory right to legal assistance; informs, at their request (and in the case of detention of minors - without fail) about the detention to their relatives, the administration at the place of work or study; if necessary, takes measures to provide them with pre-medical assistance, as well as to eliminate the danger to someone’s life, health or property that has arisen as a result of the detention of these persons.
- The police do not have the right to collect, store, use and disseminate information about the private life of a person without his consent, except in cases provided for by federal law.
- The police are obliged to provide a person with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with documents and materials that directly affect his rights and freedoms, unless otherwise provided by federal law.
Thus, articles 1 to 5 adequately reveal the moral principles of this Law and inform about the direct purpose of the police in the Russian Federation.
Scientific professional ethics
There are a number of concepts related to the concept of “ethics”, of a more specific kind, such as: “scientific ethics”, “religious ethics”, “professional ethics”. The concept of “scientific ethics” has many meanings. This concept usually means a person’s desire to rely in his moral activity on a deeper, scientific knowledge of reality. And one can and should agree with this meaning of the concept of “scientific ethics”. However, the “scientificness” itself in ethics is different than in the natural sciences. “Scientificity” in ethics does not take a strictly formalized, deductive or mathematical form, nor is it strictly justified through experience; the inductive method also has its limits here.L.N. expressed himself wonderfully about this property of ethical knowledge. Tolstoy. He wrote: “In the moral sphere, one amazing, too little noticed phenomenon occurs.
If I tell a person who did not know this what I know from geology, astronomy, history, physics, mathematics, this person will receive completely new information and will never say to me: “What’s new here? Everyone knows this, and I have known this for a long time.” But tell a person the highest, most clear, concise way, in a way that it has never been expressed, expressed moral truth - every ordinary person, especially one who is not interested in moral issues, or even more so one to whom this moral truth expressed by you , not according to wool, will certainly say: “Who doesn’t know this? This has been known and said for a long time.” It really seems to him that this was a long time ago and that’s exactly what was said. Only those for whom moral truths are important and dear know how important, precious, and with what long labor the clarification and simplification of moral truth is achieved - its transition from a vague, vague conscious assumption, desire, from vague, incoherent expressions into a firm and definite expression, inevitably requiring actions that correspond to it.”
The concept of “scientific ethics” is often associated with some special concept of morality based on a specific science. Such ethics are considered to be based on scientifically verified facts and use scientific methodology.
An example of such “scientific ethics” can be “naturalistic ethics”, “built” on natural facts, such as: human instincts, his natural desire for pleasure, his irrational will to life, to power. Such ethics was the ethics of social Darwinists, whose representatives were C. Darwin, P.A. Kropotkin et al.
P.A. Kropotkin noted in his book “Ethics” that “the very concepts of good and evil and our conclusions about the “Highest Good” are borrowed from the life of nature.” There is an instinctive struggle between species and an instinctive mutual assistance among species, which appears to be the basis of morality. The instinct of mutual sympathy is most fully manifested in social animals and humans. Modern biology, in particular ethology, has significantly expanded human understanding of animal behavior. However, she retained the idea of natural moral factors, often exaggerating their role. Examples here include the concepts of K. Lorenz, V.P. Efroimson, G. Selye and others.
Marxist ethics also considered itself scientific, which derived morality from objective social relations and considered it as a specific form of consciousness or a special way of mastering reality, which has a class basis. Specific scientific ethics is developed by neopositivism, which believes that the subject of scientific ethics can only be the language of morality and ethics, and not morality itself. This type of ethics is called “metaethics.”
There are also objections to the concepts of “scientific ethics”. The most serious criticism is presented by emotivism as one of the directions of neopositivist moral theory. The main argument of emotivism concerns the essence of moral value judgments. Here it is argued that all value judgments are prescriptions and not descriptions, i.e. they express our subjective attitudes or emotions, rather than denoting something objective. However, this point of view does not explain the possibility of moral argumentation and debate - then they simply become meaningless, because all judgments are equivalent. Entire layers of existence, such as the natural and social spheres, turn out to be “depreciated.”
Ethical teachings that defend the thesis about the descriptiveness of value judgments, i.e. that they describe something objective in morality appears more plausible. They explain more moral phenomena and should be given preference. Emotivism leads to relativism and nihilism as ethical teachings that assert that in the sphere of morality everything is relative, and that there are no absolute, universal values of good.
So, the concept of “scientific ethics” is not empty or meaningless. Ethics can and should include scientific facts, methods, theories, although their capabilities are limited here. In ethics, the role of feelings, prescriptive judgments, and self-esteem is great.
Features of professional ethics
The name "professional ethics" speaks for itself. It deals with practices designed to solve moral problems that arise in a particular profession. Here we can distinguish three circles of such problems. The first is associated with the need to specify universal moral norms in relation to the conditions of professional activity. For example, the status of a military man or law enforcement officer implies their right to use violence, which cannot be unlimited. In the same way, a journalist who has access to socially dangerous information has the right to hide or distort it, but to what extent is this right acceptable from the point of view of the public good and how can abuse be avoided? This type of ethics is intended to develop the measure and scope of such deviations from generally accepted ideas about morality. Secondly, it considers the requirements that exist within the profession and bind their bearers with special, business relationships. Thirdly, she discusses the correspondence between the values of the profession and the interests of society itself, and from this perspective she addresses the problems of the relationship between social responsibility and professional duty.Researchers note that professional ethics is the most ancient of all three areas. It is traditionally believed that the first set of professional rules was compiled by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC), with whom medicine was identified as a separate science. In fairness, it should be noted that he did not formulate the doctor’s oath, but rather summarized the various vows that were given by the Greek priests of the god of healing Asclepius. This oath became the prototype of numerous codes of doctors existing in different countries. Further, the history of professional ethics can be traced as unifying documents, charters and oaths of various corporations. Thus, trade unions were quite strong in Ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, the charters and codes of craft guilds, monastic communities, and knightly orders attracted attention. The latter are perhaps the most revealing in this regard, since they emphasize the exceptional, divine significance of their ministry. It is no coincidence that the authorship of the charter and oath of the very first knightly order of the Templars (1118) belongs to the famous medieval philosopher Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153). However, the massive dissemination of codes of professional ethics began in the second half of the 20th century, when professionalism began to be considered one of the highest values of social practice. Accordingly, theoretical reflection on this phenomenon appeared.
What are the most important features of professional ethics? Firstly, it is expressed in the form of requirements addressed to representatives of the given profession. From this follows its normative image, enshrined in the form of beautifully formulated codes and declarations. As a rule, they are small documents containing a call to live up to the high calling of the profession. The appearance of these documents indicates that members of the profession began to perceive themselves as a single community pursuing certain goals and meeting high social standards.
Secondly, documents on professional ethics are filled with the conviction that the values professed by them are completely obvious and follow from a simple analysis of the activities of the most prominent representatives of this type of activity. It cannot be otherwise, for the codes themselves are designed in the style of a message to people who have been given the great honor of engaging in such significant public service. From here we can often read about the principles of responsibility, objectivity, high competence, openness to criticism, goodwill, philanthropy, caring, and the need for constant improvement of professional skills. Nowhere is a decoding of these values given, because it seems that they are intuitively clear to every member of society. In addition to them, you can always find references to what is professional evil, and cannot in any way be tolerable from the point of view of the specified values. For example, refusal to provide assistance, use of official position, failure to maintain professional secrecy, substitution of personal opinion for competence, etc.
Another important feature of the professional understanding of morality is connected with the previous circumstance. This style of ethics gives the highest status to the activities it regulates. The profession whose values it is called upon to protect - doctor, scientist, teacher, lawyer - is recognized as the most exalted of all existing ones, and its representatives themselves are recognized as the elite of society. Thus, in the already mentioned numerous codes of conduct for doctors, the idea was traced that they are called upon not only to fight death, but also know the secrets of a healthy lifestyle. In some particularly radical cases, a profession is recognized as a standard of morality, because it corresponds to the model of sacrifice, selflessness and contributes to the prosperity of society.
The next feature of professional ethics concerns the problem of the nature of regulation of activities and the authority behind it. Of course, the professional community itself is considered an authority, and the most respected representatives who will be given such high trust can speak on its behalf. From this context, it becomes clear that both the investigation and the sanctions are also a matter for the community itself. His trial and sentence are the decision of a panel of professionals against those who misunderstood their high destiny, used their status to harm the community and thereby excluded themselves from it. Based on these attitudes, it is impossible to imagine that ethical control is carried out by outside observers. As you know, the professional environment is extremely sensitive to all forms of external regulation.
The nature of the sanctions provided for by professional ethics also follows from ideas about the special status of this type of activity. If a person occupies such a high position in society, then the requirements for him should be the highest. Almost no code of professional ethics is complete without specifying the sanctions applied to violators. The profession is proud of its social significance, and therefore is ready to exclude apostates from its sphere. As a rule, sanctions are ranged: from issuing a reprimand on behalf of a board of authorized persons to deprivation of professional status. Be sure to mention in the sanctions section other measures of influence, in addition to ethical ones - legislative or administrative. This once again emphasizes the social role of the profession and the interest of society itself in its development. Accordingly, the codes must contain a list of possible violations. And just as in the case of the main value guidelines of professionalism, their meaning should be intuitively clear to a representative of each specific occupation.
Based on all that has been said, the tasks of professional ethics become obvious. For the community behind it, it is important not to lose its status, to prove its social significance, to respond to the challenges of rapidly changing conditions, to strengthen its own cohesion, to develop common standards for joint activities and to protect itself from the claims of other areas of professional competence. In this regard, it is worth noting that nowadays the greatest activity in this area is mainly among young professions, for which it is very important to prove their right to exist.
However, this type of ethical theory and practice has some disadvantages. At first glance, one can note its closed, narrow nature, relying only on its own authority when making moral assessments, which results in unfounded ambitions when resolving acute conflict situations. The professional environment is a fundamentally conservative element; traditions and foundations play a huge role in it. This is good when it comes to continuity and development, for example, of scientific schools, but in the modern world is it enough to build ethical regulation only on traditions and foundations? In addition, moral consciousness cannot agree that professionalism is considered the main value of any social practice. If in a specific area of activity there is a need to discuss emerging moral problems, this means that ordinary ideas about professional duty are not enough for its normal functioning. The relationship between professionalism and morality is one of the most popular topics in the philosophy of the 20th century. As a result of reflection, we can recognize the idea that in comparison with eternal moral values, the essence of professionalism cannot be considered obvious and unchangeable.
Types of professional ethics
Different types of professional ethics have their own traditions. This indicates the continuity of the basic ethical standards developed by representatives of a particular profession over the centuries. These are, first of all, those universal moral norms in the sphere of labor that humanity has preserved and carried through various social formations, although often in modified form.So, each type of professional ethics is determined by the uniqueness of the profession and the requirements for it from society. But, as we have already noted, society places increased moral demands on certain types of activities. First of all, these are requirements for specialists who have the right to manage the life and health of people associated with a variety of services; upbringing, training and education. The activities of people in these professions, more than any other, do not lend themselves to clear and comprehensive regulation and do not fit within the framework of official instructions and standards. And moral responsibility and moral choice. Society views the moral qualities of these specialists as structural components of their professional suitability.
In medical ethics, all norms and moral principles of the profession are focused on improving and maintaining human health. Even in ancient India, it was believed that a doctor “must have a pure, compassionate heart, a calm temperament, be distinguished by the greatest confidence and chastity, and a constant desire to do good.” These qualities are also required from modern doctors, and the principle of their professional activity “do no harm” was, is and will be fundamental at all times. However, in the work of doctors, situations of moral contradiction often occur. Thus, for the sake of maintaining confidence in their abilities, they have the moral right to embellish the real state of affairs, because in some situations the main thing is not the formal fulfillment of one or another specific moral norm, but the preservation of the highest value - human life. In addition, advances in science pose moral problems for medical specialists in new conditions, for example, moral issues related to organ transplantation. A special moral problem that has long existed in medical practice is euthanasia - the painless bringing of a hopelessly ill person to death.
Pedagogical ethics studies the specifics and content of the moral activity of a teacher, clarifies the features of the implementation of general principles of morality in the field of pedagogical work. The ethics of a teacher, like the ethics of a doctor, also has ancient roots. Already in Ancient Greece, teachers were required to have love for children, deep knowledge of their subject, restraint, and fairness in punishments and rewards. The specificity of pedagogical morality is due to the fact that the “object” of the teacher’s activity is the child’s personality, the process of development and formation of which is associated with a large number of contradictions, moral dilemmas and conflicts. At the same time, representatives of this profession always feel a special responsibility to society. Therefore, it is very difficult for them to implement moral principles in their relationships with children, their parents, and also with their colleagues.
The process of educating and training the younger generation requires from the teacher not only high qualifications, but also a whole set of moral qualities that become professionally significant for creating favorable relationships in pedagogical process. These are humanity, kindness, tolerance, decency, honesty, responsibility, fairness, commitment, restraint. The moral requirements for teachers and the norms arising from them, developed and consolidated in the course of the development of social thought, form the basis of the code of pedagogical morality. It contains requirements that are universal in nature, as well as those that are identified by new tasks currently facing pedagogical science and practice.
Judicial ethics studies the moral content of existing procedural principles and norms, the features of the operation of general moral principles in the field of justice. It substantiates the content of the professional duty of a judge, develops moral requirements that a specialist in this profession must follow. First of all, he must have such qualities as honesty, justice, objectivity, humanism, restraint, loyalty to the spirit and letter of the law, integrity, and dignity.
The ethics of service professionals “adapts” the already known principles of moral consciousness to the specifics of this activity, which is associated with the culture of communication, with politeness and consideration in relations with clients, with the need to ensure the satisfaction of the growing demands and needs of people. For example, a tourism worker must be an erudite, widely educated person. After all, tourism services are the action of a certain consumer value, which is expressed in a beneficial effect that satisfies one or another human need. For example, the human need to understand the world around us, i.e. to achieve something, to receive something new information, learn something more fully.
The ethics of a scientist formulate such moral characteristics of an individual as scientific integrity, honesty, civil courage, democracy, patriotism, and responsibility. Moral scientific activity demands to defend the truth and achieve the use of scientific achievements in the interests of humanity. She denies the desire to falsify the results of laboratory research, to embellish facts to prove one or another theoretical position.
In recent years, problems of professional ethics have been actively developed, which justifies:
1) principles and norms of moral behavior of managers in different levels– ethics of a leader;
2) the relationship of subordinates to their superiors;
3) formal and informal interactions between employees. As a result, office morality can be identified as an element of the moral culture of managers and subordinates, complementing specific relationships within the framework of the performance of professional duties.
Each type of human professional activity corresponds to certain types of professional ethics with their own specific characteristics. Ethics considers the moral qualities of a person without regard to the mental mechanisms that stimulate the appearance of these qualities. The study of ethics shows the diversity and versatility of professional moral relations and moral standards.
Professional moral standards are rules, patterns, and procedures for internal regulation of the individual based on ethical ideals.
Professional types of ethics are those specific features of professional activity that are aimed directly at a person in certain conditions of his life and activity in society. Badin S.M. Ethics of relationships. M., 1972.-P.8
The main types of professional ethics are: medical ethics, pedagogical ethics, ethics of a scientist, actor, artist, entrepreneur, engineer, etc. Each type of professional ethics is determined by the uniqueness of professional activity and has its own specific requirements in the field of morality. For example, the ethics of a scientist presupposes, first of all, such moral qualities as scientific integrity, personal honesty, and, of course, patriotism. Judicial ethics requires honesty, justice, frankness, humanism (even towards the defendant if he is guilty), and loyalty to the law. Professional ethics in the context of military service requires strict fulfillment of official duty, courage, discipline, and devotion to the Motherland.
Medical ethics is set out in the “Ethical Code of the Russian Doctor”, adopted in 1994 by the Association of Russian Doctors. Earlier, in 1971, the oath of the doctor of the Soviet Union was created. The idea of a high moral character and example of ethical behavior of a doctor is associated with the name of Hippocrates. Traditional medical ethics resolves the issue of personal contact and personal qualities of the relationship between the doctor and the patient, as well as the doctor’s guarantees not to harm a specific individual.
Biomedical ethics (bioethics) is a specific form of modern professional ethics of a doctor; it is a system of knowledge about the permissible limits of manipulating the life and death of a person. Manipulation must be regulated morally. Bioethics is a form of protection of human biological life. The main problem of bioethics: suicide, euthanasia, definition of death, transplantology, experimentation on animals and humans, the relationship between doctor and patient, attitude towards mentally disabled people, hospice organization, childbirth (genetic engineering, artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood, abortion, contraception) . The goal of bioethics is to develop appropriate regulations for modern biomedical activities.
In 1998, under the Moscow Patriarchate, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the Council on Biomedical Ethics was created. It included famous theologians, clergy, doctors, scientists, and lawyers.
Professional morality in journalism began to take shape along with journalistic activity. However, the process of its formation lasted for centuries and reached certainty only with the transformation of the journalistic profession into a mass profession. It ended only at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when the first codes were created and the professional and moral consciousness of the journalistic community acquired a documented form of existence.
A journalist, mastering the postulates of professional morality during his professional development, enters into professional and moral relationships with colleagues, which, unlike moral ones as such, presuppose the possibility of institutionally organized and direct intervention of the corporation in his behavior. However, this intervention differs significantly from administrative influence, since its goal is not coercion, but motivation.
The professional ethics of a journalist, like other types of professional ethics, began to take shape directly in their work activities. It manifested itself during the codification of those professional and moral ideas that spontaneously developed within the framework of the method journalistic activity and one way or another were recorded by the professional consciousness of the journalistic community. The appearance of the first codes meant the completion of a long process of formation of professional journalistic morality and at the same time opened a new stage in its development. This new stage was based on purposeful self-knowledge of journalistic activity and practical application its results.
One of the first sets of journalistic norms was created in 1923 in the USA under the name “Canons of Journalism”. It was accepted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Judging by the content of the first codes, their compilers were influenced by the concept of a free press, or, as it is otherwise called, the liberal one, that emerged at the beginning of the century. The origins of this concept go back to the ideas of J. Milton, T. Jefferson, J.-St. Mill, and its content can be reduced to literally a few points. Here they are: Lazutina G.V. Professional ethics of a journalist: Textbook. - M.: “Aspect Press”, 2002. - 208 p.-P.12
The press is a public or semi-public institution. Its main purpose is to inform the reader, entertain him and help him control the government.
The press is available to any citizen, and anyone with sufficient funds can publish a newspaper.
The press is controlled by a spontaneous process of truth-seeking in the "free market of ideas."
It prohibits libel and obscenity.
Finally, the press is the fourth power in the state. She is responsible to society and must represent society as a whole.
The general democratic orientation of this concept had a beneficial effect on the content of the first journalistic codes. Freedom of speech and the right of all people to receive truthful information are proclaimed as the highest values.
Economic ethics is a special manifestation of professional ethics (“ business ethics", "business ethics"). Economic ethics is an ancient science. It began with Aristotle in his works “Ethics”, “Nicomachean Ethics”, “Politics”. Aristotle does not separate economics from economic ethics. He advises his son Nicomachus to engage only in the production of goods. Its principles were developed in the ideas and concepts of Catholic and Protestant theologians, who for a long time pondered intensely on the problems of business ethics.
One of the first ethical-economic concepts was that of Henry Ford, one of the founders of the US automobile industry. He believed that happiness and prosperity can only be achieved by honest work and that this is ethical common sense, the essence of Ford's economic ethics lies in the idea that the product produced is not just a realized “business theory”, but “something more” - a theory, a goal which to create a source of joy from the world of things. Power and machinery, money and property are useful only insofar as they contribute to the freedom of life. These economic principles of G. Ford are of practical importance even today. Solonitsyna A.A. Professional ethics and etiquette. Textbook / A.A. Solonitsyna. - Vladivostok. - Publishing house Dalnevost. University, 2005.- 200 pp.-P.16
Management ethics is a science that examines the actions and behavior of a person acting in the field of management, and the functioning of an organization as a “total manager” in relation to its internal and external environment in the aspect in which the actions of the manager and the organization relate to universal ethical requirements. It focuses on a wide range of behaviors among managers and subordinates. The focus of her attention is on the goals and means used to achieve them by both. Semenov A.K., Maslova E.L. Management ethics: A textbook. -2nd ed. -M.: “Dashkov and K”, 2007, -P.23
Economic ethics is a set of norms of behavior for an entrepreneur, the requirements imposed by a cultural society on his style of work, the nature of communication between business participants, and their social appearance.
Economic ethics includes business etiquette, which is formed under the influence of traditions and certain prevailing historical conditions of a particular country.
The main tenets of the entrepreneur's code of ethics are the following:
- he is convinced of the usefulness of his work not only for himself, but also for others, for society as a whole;
* proceeds from the fact that the people around him want and know how to work;
* believes in business, regards it as attractive creativity;
* recognizes the need for competition, but also understands the need for cooperation;
* respects any property, social movements, respects professionalism and
* competence, laws;
* values education, science and technology.
These basic principles of ethics for a business person can be specified in relation to various areas of his professional activity. For Russia, problems of economic ethics are becoming of great importance. This is explained by the rapid formation of market relations in our country.
Currently, the basic principles and rules of business conduct are formulated in ethical codes. These may be standards by which individual firms live (corporate codes), or rules governing relationships within an entire industry (professional codes).