Professional ethics - a criterion for assessing professionalism and moral sustainability

The professional ethics of any industry is based on the interrelation of moral requirements and the immediate emergence of the profession itself. The first researchers who turned their attention to this issue were Aristotle, Durkheim and Comte. It was they who spoke of the interconnection of the moral principles of society with the division of social labor. From the standpoint of materialism, the above problem was substantiated by K. Marx and F. Engels.

The first codes of professional ethics arose even in times of the existence of medieval workshops on the basis of the handicraft division of labor (11th-12th centuries). It was then that the charters introduced a number of requirements, put forward to the profession, working conditions and the workers themselves. However, some researchers argue about the earlier occurrence of such codes. For example, the "oath of Hippocrates" or the establishment for the priests who performed judicial functions in those days.

Due to the constant need to regulate the relationship between people of a particular profession, professional ethics is constantly developing, changing and making corrections to it. Public opinion plays a huge role in its development. Often, some norms for a very long time are not recognized in connection with the struggle of views.

Summarizing the aforesaid, it can be stated that professional ethics is a set of norms of morality that determines the attitude of a person to professional duty. Management and regulation of ethics is carried out with the help of special codes of conduct that prescribe the type of certain moral relationships between employees, as well as the ways of substantiating these documents.

The main task of professional ethics is the definition of moral assessments and norms, concepts and judgments that give a complete description of people in a particular profession.

The principles of professional ethics are based on the following postulates:

- fairness in the allocation of resources necessary for the performance of activities between employees;

- Identification and correction of violations of the ethical sphere, regardless of the status of the offender;

- Tolerance of workers in relation to traditions and moral foundations of other regions, countries or simply other organizations;

- application of a set of individual and collective decision-making in any business relationship;

- exclusion of pressure or violence in interaction with subordinates, especially in the presence of other people;

- the use of the principle of constancy, which provides for the implementation of certain norms, fixed by a standing order or other departmental regulatory document;

- the desire for conflict-free.

Professional ethics, as a science, studies:

- Relationships in labor collectives in general, and each employee in particular;

- the moral qualities of a specialist, ensuring highly effective performance of professional duties;

- moral standards that are specific to a particular profession;

- Features of the education of young specialists in the field studied.

At all times and in any specialty, the most important characteristic of a specialist's moral character is professionalism and his responsible attitude to the work performed. Particular attention is paid to employees in the sphere of responsibility for people's lives (occupations in the sphere of services, health care, transport and upbringing). The irresponsible attitude of an employee of this area can cause serious harm to society, pose a danger to the lives of others or lead to the degradation of the individual.