Seven Theses on Professional Ethics  

Oleh:

Hortal Alonso, Augusto

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Ethical Perspectives: Journal of the European Ethics Network vol. 3 no. 4 (Dec. 1996), page 200-206.
Topik: Profession; Ethics; Deontology; Autonomy; Clients; Responsible
Fulltext: Augusto Hortal Alonso.PDF (76.86KB)

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Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: EE45.2 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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Because of these considerations, we offer here a typological definition of ‘profession’. When we define ‘profession’ according to prototype semantics, every characteristic which is included in the definition belongs to whatever the typical profession is. When each one of those characteristics is present in a cluster of occupational activities, we have what we can call a profession in its full sense, a prototypical profession. At the same time however, when one or another of those characteristics is missing or is only partially fulfilled, that alone is not a sufficient reason to cease calling these activities ‘professions’, even though they may be professions only in an incomplete sense. Since the characteristics themselves are susceptible to levels of achievement, it is possible to build scales of professionalisation. Not every profession is a ‘profession’ to the same extent, nor does each one of them reach an equal level or degree of professionalisation at the same time. This kind of definition seems to fit in with the general trend towards the professionalisation of occupational activities. Accordingly, a cluster of occupational activities can be called a profession in its full sense only when all the following characteristics are present: 1) a stable dedication to such activities which fulfill some kind of specific social function 2) for professionals these activities constitute their livelihood 3) they are founded on specific theoretical knowledge and/or practical skills which non professionals lack (experts vs. lay people) 4) the transmission of its knowledge and skills is institutionalised. Only those who acquire the theoretical knowledge and/or the practical skills in an institutionalised way following the established procedure can obtain the necessary accreditation to exercise the profession. Today universities have the important function of transmitting the knowledge which provides access to the practice of many professions. Likewise, the academic diploma is often a pre-requisite to be admitted to a professional practice. Moreover, some nonuniversity professions aim at eventually becoming part of the university curriculum. 5) the control of professional practice by professionals. With this aim, a professional association is created which, with public recognition, establishes the norms and procedures for gaining access to the profession, and the criteria for what good and bad professional practice is or should be. Membership in this association and an adherence to the norms established are necessary conditions for the practice of the profession. Professional Ethics or Deontology? In order to say what good professionals are like and how they ought to behave within their professional practices, it is useful to take into account both deontological norms and ethical references. When referring to the professions, ‘ethics’ and ‘deontology’ are two words which are often used interchangeably. Here, however, we want to emphasise the differences between them, distinguishing ‘ethics’ from ‘deontology’ without separating them radically. In so doing, we will try to underline the complementarity of the ethical and the deontological perspectives. Professional ethics focuses attention on the good: what it is good to do, what kind of good is served by each kind of profession, what kind of good lawyers, physicians, engineers, pharmacists or journalists, etc., are trying to promote. Professional deontology deals above all with duties and obligations (the Greek word ‘deon’ means obligation), and tries to articulate a set of norms which every professional must observe.

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