To the philosophical prerequisites of professional ethics (therminological and conceptual reflection)

Abstract

To the philosophical prerequisites of professional ethics (therminological and conceptual reflection). – The author examines the very basis of the ethical questioning, which are the terms “ethics”, “morals” and “morality”. Based on the comparison of selected texts from the field of professional ethics, he points to a lack of clarity and considerable flexibility in the interpretation and use of these concepts. In the critical reflection, he also challenges the obviousness of the notion “profession” and reconstructs the philosophical assumptions of its meaning in the context of the development of European thinking. The text carries on to the formulation of his own concept of fundamental ethical terminology and proposes a deeper understanding of professional ethics as the internal claim of each profession and as a reference to the human dimension of public space.