Professional Ethics Reader

The reading has given me a more holistic view of ethics.  In the dance profession ethics has been an important part of my professional behaviour.  I believe I have strong personal ethics, which I understand are my virtues; based on my experience and training I understand the unwritten codes of conduct and I am aware of the differences in some cultures and the links with their laws and religions.  What I have not given a lot of thought to is the tensions that might arise and the different ways and processes of looking at an ethical problem.

The NHS case study was quite difficult mainly because of my lack of understanding of the many organisations that were potentially involved and their roles and responsibilities; however, I did conclude that regardless of how many organisation or people involved they all had an ethical responsibility to provide good quality care for their patients and clearly they failed to do that for a large number.

The second case study, the photographer, although much simpler to understand and it resulted in far less fatalities was more difficult to argue.  My initial view was regardless of what he was told my personal view was he should have helped the girl however, when I used the different approaches and processes:

·         Consequentialism,  Deontology and  Virtue ethics

·         meta ethics; theoretical normative; and applied ethics

·         descriptive and normative ethics

 it helped me understand the tensions between his professional ethics, cultural ethics and ultimately his personal ethics.

The reading has given me a lot to consider when I plan and execute my professional enquiry.  For example: 

·         Importance of carrying out a function in a good way – sound ethical practice

·         Need to consider more than the interviewee – employers, institutions, peers, managers

·         The use of the Ethics check list

·         Importance of Digital data security

·         The potential impact on:

o   how I behave

o   context

o   changing circumstances

o   local factors

·         The use of the three processes;

o   Meta ethics – analytical activity understanding the meaning

o   Theoretical Normative;

§  Moral axiology – good and evil

§  Virtue ethics – moral excellence in a character

§  Theory or obligation – morally permissible

o   Applied ethics – acceptable resolutions

·         The  different ways of going about an ethical problem

o   Descriptive ethics – objective description

§  does not examine or question

§  simply states the case

§  Factual questions – did you have

o   Normative ethics – exams the norms or principles

§  Normative questions – was it right to have

§  Questions about duty

§   Raises deontology questions

§  Axiology questions

§  Questions whether and act is right or wrong

·         How to get from premise to conclusion

o   Premise – facts of the situation

o   Norms of behaviour

·         The importance of how I got to a conclusion

o   Was it a logical argument

o   Is there another way of looking at the situation

·         Different approaches and contexts to consider in arriving at an understanding