What is Ethics and Professional Ethics?

Ethics: 
 Ethics is the part of philosophy that talks about good and evil. Ethics tries to answer questions like:

• What actions are good? What actions are evil?
• How can we tell the difference?
• Are good and evil the same for everyone?
• How should we make hard decisions that might help or hurt other people?
• How our actions effect others?

Some philosophers call ethics the "science of morality". Morality is what someone thinks or feels is good or bad. There are many different moralities, but they share some things. For example most people think that murder (killing somebody) is wrong. Some philosophers hope to find more things that moralities share. They think that ethics should use the scientific method to study things that people think are good or bad. Their work can be used to test the fairness of a situation, such as how people should treat each other. An example of this kind of thinking is the categorical imperative. Many countries have laws based on this idea of fairness.

Other philosophers think that ethics is separate from morality. They do not think that ethics can be studied using the scientific method and they think it is closer to metaphysics. Some of them think like Platonists about what is good and bad.

Another group of philosophers believe that ethics is subjective. This means that they think that what is right for me is whatever I say is right. This means that ethics is just a person's own morality. These philosophers do not think that ethics is the same for all people.

Professional ethics: 

Professional ethics are standards or codes of conduct set by people in a specific profession. A code of ethics is a part of the expectations of those involved in many different types of professions. People in a profession don't want to condone bad, dishonest or responsible behavior if it does occur by someone in their field. By setting out expected behaviors in the form of professional ethics, professionals work together to try to uphold a good reputation. Professional ethics are commonly known as ethical business practices. Respect and honesty are the two main components of professional ethics. All employees are expected to represent a business ethically as they are a part of it. This is why businesspeople traditionally speak of "we" or "us" rather than the more personal "I" for the most part. For instance, if an employee must mention company policy to a customer, he or she may say "I'm sorry, but this is our company policy in these situations." Policies are another type of preferred standards in how business is done, and everyone in a company is expected to represent them.

It should be noted that people within each profession are expected to be respectful and honest in their personal dealings as well. For instance, it would be unethical for law enforcement professionals to also be criminals in their time off the job. Professionals are also expected to uphold professional ethics by not getting involved in any type of conflict of interest. A conflict of interest situation may occur when an individual tries to accomplish personal goals as a result of being in a certain profession. For example, a politician who uses government resources to get work done on his personal home could be seen as being involved in a conflict of interest.

Professional ethics training is often included in career education programs. For instance, medical assistants are trained on the many ethics issues regarding patient confidentiality. It is both unethical and unlawful to discuss a patient's health records with others who are not involved in the medical care of the individual.

Engineering, journalism, religious organizations and many other professions have professional ethics. These ethical codes or rules must never go against laws, but rather often coordinate with them as in the case of medical record confidentiality. In general, professional ethics always include upholding honesty and respect in the profession over personal needs, conflicts or biases. A bias is a personal belief such as prejudice toward a certain group of people.

"Legal ethics" in the United States is generally understood to primarily apply to lawyers, while codes of professional responsibility also apply in a derivative sense (indirectly) to non-lawyers who work with lawyers, such as paralegals or private investigators. In the United States, the practice of law is regulated by the governments of the individual states and territories. As a whole, federal law does not control legal ethics.

Each state or territory has a code of professional conduct dictating rules of ethics. These may be adopted by the respective state legislatures and/or judicial systems. The American Bar Association has promulgated the Model Rules of Professional Conduct which, while formally only a recommendation by a private body, have been influential in many jurisdictions. The Model Rules address many topics which are found in state ethics rules, including the client-lawyer relationship, duties of a lawyer as advocate in adversary proceedings, dealings with persons other than clients, law firms and associations, public service, advertising, and maintaining the integrity of the profession. Respect of client confidences, candor toward the tribunal, truthfulness in statements to others, and professional independence are some of the defining features of legal ethics.

Law schools in the United States are required to offer a course in professional responsibility, which encompasses both legal ethics and general matters of professionalism that do not present ethical concerns.