Oh, sorry, I wasn’t clear. I didn’t mean that such a rule existed, just that if one did exist, it would be ethical (in the sense of being a rule of professional conduct) and unethical (in a different sense of the word ‘ethical’) at the same time. Contrast the second definition on this page with the others.
Doctors established them in order to preserve the legitimacy of their profession. That’s my understanding, in any case.
Well, many professions have established such rules, and presumably, they did so to make their professions more legitimate, as well as to give their members a guide to behavior their committees considered better.
Maybe I wasn’t either… are we actually disagreeing here? Heh.
it would be ethical (in the sense of being a rule of professional conduct) and unethical (in a different sense of the word ‘ethical’) at the same time. . . [link to some definitions]
I know the word is used in the sense of definitions 1 and 3. What I’m saying is that I think it’s more interesting to forget the moral usage altogether, and just stick with saying that ethics is #2, because when you think about it they are very distinct concepts.
Oh, sorry, I wasn’t clear. I didn’t mean that such a rule existed, just that if one did exist, it would be ethical (in the sense of being a rule of professional conduct) and unethical (in a different sense of the word ‘ethical’) at the same time. Contrast the second definition on this page with the others.
Well, many professions have established such rules, and presumably, they did so to make their professions more legitimate, as well as to give their members a guide to behavior their committees considered better.
Maybe I wasn’t either… are we actually disagreeing here? Heh.
I know the word is used in the sense of definitions 1 and 3. What I’m saying is that I think it’s more interesting to forget the moral usage altogether, and just stick with saying that ethics is #2, because when you think about it they are very distinct concepts.
It’s worth teasing out a few different definitions. There are at least four distinct concepts:
Rules of professional conduct, which do not necessarily relate to doing the right thing or anyone’s benefit at all
A normative prescription
Rules for the individual’s benefit
Rules for the group’s benefit