>1. I expect that professional Christians would be aware of the ethics
>standards of their discipline so I am surprised that Christians in
>organizations would not be aware of them. Our committment to Christian
>ethics might imply a heirarchical ethics. Christian ethics would not
>be superceded by a commitment to professional ethics, but the
>professional ethics standards might be accountable to a higher
>authority where they conflict.
Joel,
When I've conducted workshops at engineering design firms, or
engineering departments in maufacturing companies, I've found a large number
of professional engineers cannot recall having read the NSPE (or the IEEE,
or ASME) Code of Ethics, and aren't aware of what it says (although they can
guess at some of it, usually because they have engaged in engineering
practice over a number of years). I don't know if engineers who are
Christians are any more conscientious in this regard or not. BTW, from my
own knowledge, the professional association that seems the most rigorous --
by far -- in articulating and enforcing ethical standards of practice is the
American Dental Association. They still have some soft areas, but they're
moving in the right direction.
If I'm reading correctly your last sentence in the paragraph above,
I'd be inclined to dissent. I'm less and less convinced that "mere
Christianity" is something akin to a unified field theory, embracing and
ordering all aspects of human life. Non-Christian professionals in any
number of fields seem to possess just as much (or just as little) moral
rectitude as do the Christians. What appears to make a difference is the
strength of professional self-awareness in the individual, and the clarity
of the norms and standards of excellence within his practice.
>I expect there is variation in quality in different professions ethics
>standards (and in how diligently they are followed). As an example, I
>am a professional engineer, and teach engineering ethics in my intro
>engineering class. The first of the fundamental canons, that
>"engineers in fulfillment of their professional duties, shall hold
>paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the
>performance of their professional duties" seems quite consistent even
>implied by a Christian view of humans.
Just so. So far as I can tell, Christianity has an anthropology, a
Christology, and a metpahysics. But I'm hard pressed to identify a unique
and distinctive ethics in Christianity. That in no way implies there aren't
sound ethical strategies that are fully compatible with what Christianity
teaches about human nature, the work of Christ, and the ultimate meaning of
our destiny as God's children. It's just that those approaches to morality
aren't necessarily derived from Christianity. But they are -- many of them
-- fully consistent with what has been revealed to us about God's purpose in
Christ.
Thanks for sharing the story about the "Markoc" experiment, Joel.
It was very instructive.
Tom Pearson
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___________________________________________________________________________
Thomas D. Pearson
Deprtment of History & Philosophy
The University of Texas-Pan American
Edinburg, Texas
e-mail: pearson@panam1.panam.edu