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Ethical decision making and being in a position where being unethical can easily cause tragedies and jail time for you is different. I specifically meant right

Ethical decision making and being in a position where being unethical can easily cause tragedies and jail time for you is different. I specifically meant right and wrong. Many jobs are simple enough to where you can follow the law and company guidelines and be ok. Good example: truck driver, they have a ton of rules for everything due to how easily a simple mishap like not sleeping enough can get a person killed. They don't need to know much (if any) about ethics they just need to follow the law and rules. Scientists,archaeologists,politicians and other professions involve new concepts and discoveries for which existing law and rules do not have coverage and as such require the professionals to know and excercise ethics in a consistent and acceptable way.

perl4ever 7y ago
After that truck driver hit Tracy Morgan, it was reported that Wal-Mart made a new rule requiring drivers to live within 250 miles of where they go to work. Guess the rules weren't perfect. So which category does police officer fit in? They sure have a ton of rules and they shouldn't be forging new laws, right?
- badrabbit 7y ago
  The rules may not be perfect but they can adopt to imperfections. Practitioners are not expected to do things not required by law. Police officers and soldiers are interesting in that they are expected to behave ethically even for things that there is no specific rule for. Police are much more lenient on their own so in reality inappropriate or unethical behavior has no consequence with soldiers it depends, do something inhumane to a POW, maybe nobody cares, associate with criminals and cheat(sexually) with other soldiers partners then even if there is no rule you might get discharged 'dishonorably' (they are expected to be honorable which often implies ethics). Cops might also run into situations where what is happening is legal but inaction might reasonably result in harm, so I think the ethical thing is to break the law and face consequences. They might also see something illegal (like other cops' crimes) and it might be legal to overlook that but unethical still. The key here is they are both given much power and leeway,they are expected to behave in a way that reflects the trust which includes ethical and honorable behavior. In your truck driver scenario, the truck driver either did kr did not break the rules. Was it unethical if he lived far away? For him, no. For management that perhaps knowing the risks allowed the practice then they might have been unethical.

perl4ever 7y ago

After that truck driver hit Tracy Morgan, it was reported that Wal-Mart made a new rule requiring drivers to live within 250 miles of where they go to work. Guess the rules weren't perfect. So which category does police officer fit in? They sure have a ton of rules and they shouldn't be forging new laws, right?

badrabbit 7y ago
The rules may not be perfect but they can adopt to imperfections. Practitioners are not expected to do things not required by law. Police officers and soldiers are interesting in that they are expected to behave ethically even for things that there is no specific rule for. Police are much more lenient on their own so in reality inappropriate or unethical behavior has no consequence with soldiers it depends, do something inhumane to a POW, maybe nobody cares, associate with criminals and cheat(sexually) with other soldiers partners then even if there is no rule you might get discharged 'dishonorably' (they are expected to be honorable which often implies ethics). Cops might also run into situations where what is happening is legal but inaction might reasonably result in harm, so I think the ethical thing is to break the law and face consequences. They might also see something illegal (like other cops' crimes) and it might be legal to overlook that but unethical still. The key here is they are both given much power and leeway,they are expected to behave in a way that reflects the trust which includes ethical and honorable behavior. In your truck driver scenario, the truck driver either did kr did not break the rules. Was it unethical if he lived far away? For him, no. For management that perhaps knowing the risks allowed the practice then they might have been unethical.