Codes of professional ethics and duty towards the population

According to the code of ethics of the National Society of Professional Engineers, engineers must “hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.” Several kinds of arguments have been employed to show that engineers (and other professionals) have such duties towards the population. Some authors have claimed that these obligations are part of the very essence of professionalism; but such an argument is invalid, which relies on an ambiguity on the meaning of ‘professional.’ Professional codes of ethics, since they are based on consensual opinions rather than on objective facts, create a duty to the population only for those who already care about the population, i.e. they apply only to those who do not need a code. It is then clear that the source of codes of conduct (and of the duty to the public) cannot be ethics. They may be public relations or they may provide support and protection from fellow professionals. But such codes of conduct cannot provide unconditional duties to the population. c © Mathieu Bouville, 2007