Continuing with the topic of truisms in ethics, I would like to discuss a couple truisms, which have come to my mind and which the public may be unknowingly assuming are true but like with all truisms, there is another angle when the all facts are presented.
All ethicists are ethical - All ethicists are human and they have all the failings other humans bear. They may have the capacity to analyze ethical issues as a mathematician can solve an equation but when an ethical issue faces them personally, considerations such as self-interest may play a role in their decisions. If bioethics is a professional discipline, it is interesting to note that there is no written code of ethics for this discipline. There has been discussion and concern in the literature about the personal ethics of those ethicists who are employed to provide organizational ethics for various companies including research companies. For example, one issue is whether their employment can effect their decisions.
In ethics, right always trumps wrong, good always trumps bad - But that isn’t always true. First of all, what is right or wrong and what is good or bad can sometimes be only in the eye of the beholder. Ethical decision making isn’t always black and white and often the best solution to an ethical dilemma is perhaps surprisingly..a compromise.
If any ethicists are visiting my blog, perhaps they can also comment on this subject and provide some other examples. ..Maurice.
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