How is ethical theory applied in practice

Methods in Medical Ethics. Washington: Georgetown University Press. Tersman, F. Tomlinson, T. Methods in Medical Ethics: Critical Perspectives. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publ. Moderate Intuitionism and the Epistemology of Moral Judgment. Analytical Dispositionalism and Practical Reason. The Meta-Justification of Reflective Equilibrium. Ethical Theories and the Transparency Condition. Is Moral Theory Harmful in Practice? Virtual Special Issue: The methodology of ethical theory Thomas Schramme Free articles available below this introduction Our journal, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice , has always been home to papers that discuss methodological concerns.

Bibliography Baron, M. Method in Ethical Theory. Sidgwick, H. The Methods of Ethics. Indianapolis: Hackett Sorell, T. Moral Theory and Anomaly. Oxford: Blackwell; Sugarman, J. For authors Submission guidelines.

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Corporate Social Responsiblity. Investor Relations. Review a Brill Book. Reference Works. Primary source collections. Open Access Content. Contact us. Sales contacts. Generally, you want to include a theory only if it clearly addresses one of the morally significant factors that drive moral puzzlement in your discipline. If, for instance, you are teaching a course in political economy, most cases of moral puzzlement are going to be generated by factors related to the legitimacy of institutions, and institutional constraints on the behavior of individuals.

Here an agent-centered theory such as Virtue Ethics would have little to say about the primary factors that drive moral puzzlement in this discipline, and would be inappropriate. In contrast, the types of moral puzzlement found in medical practice are often connected to the behavior of individual agents, so an agent-centered theory would be very helpful.

If there is a Code of Ethics for your area or profession, then that should clearly be included in your toolkit. However, despite these concerns, many have found that deontology provides the strongest model for applied public relations ethics.

That ideological consistency gives the theory posed here a solid theoretical foundation with the practice of public relations as well as a normative theory function. They need ethical principles derived from the fundamental values that define their work as a public relations professional.

Finally, a third and growing area of philosophical reasoning with ethics is known as virtue ethics, one that has gained more attention in public relations scholarship in recent years. This philosophy stems from Aristotle and is based on the virtues of the person making a decision.

For example, if the virtue of honesty is the of utmost importance to a good public relations professional, then all decisions should be made ethically to ensure honesty is preserved. While this theory is growing in popularity, there are several objections that can be made. First, in terms of the public relations profession, the focus on virtues of the professional themselves seems to miss the importance and role of obligations to clients and publics.