Managing the Uncertainty of Ethical Codes

Dr. Lois Eveleth is professor of philosophy and chairperson of the department of philosophy at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. Her teaching, writing and research interests lie in areas of ethics and the history of ideas. The principles or guidelines found in a code of ethics adopted by a profession or by an organization of professional persons, such as that of the IEEE, run a risk of seeming unworkable, usually because of their abstract formulation. Ethical principles must be abstract enough to enjoy wide scope yet specific enough to be applicable. Their workability is important and yet may be jeopardized by such language and by the necessity to apply such abstractions to real issues. What is offered here is a straightforward strategy for applying such ethical principles in a process of deliberation.