The moral duties of specialized roles in society.
Professional ethics refers to the ethical principles that govern the behavior of people in a professional environment (doctors, lawyers, journalists). Unlike general ethics, it focuses on Role-Differentiated Morality—the idea that a professional has duties that an ordinary person might not have (e.g., a lawyer defending a guilty client).
In bioethics and medical practice, four core principles guide healthcare providers. These were popularized by Beauchamp and Childress:
| Principle | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Autonomy | Respecting the patient's right to make their own healthcare decisions. |
| Beneficence | The duty to act in the best interest of the patient (Doing good). |
| Non-maleficence | The duty to "Do No Harm." |
| Justice | Fairness in the distribution of healthcare resources. |
This is the legal and ethical requirement that a patient must be fully informed about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of a treatment before they agree to it. It protects Autonomy.
The moral obligation to keep a patient's or client's information private. It can only be broken if there is a "duty to warn" (e.g., if the patient intends to harm others).
Media ethics deals with the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists and advertisers. The central tension is often between the Right to Know (Public interest) and the Right to Privacy.