A primer on dental ethics: part II--moral behavior.
Neither being right nor feeling certain are preconditions for moral behavior, but believing that you and others together can create a better future is. A distinction is made between the theoretical, conditional, and reversible activities of ethical analysis and the individual act of courage in committing to moral behavior. Three positions in moral behavior are considered. (a) Research reveals that moral development involves sequential stages of more complex functioning and continues into the third decade of life. Almost all individuals have a choice of several frameworks they can apply to moral problems and very few are capable of functioning at the level where philosophical discussions take place. (b) Secondly, survey and observational research among professionals shows high levels of opportunism throughout training and practice. These questionable moral habits are motley, with inconsistencies across type and time within individuals, and are heavily dependent on peer context. (c) Finally, performance language-promises that bind groups of individuals to future behavior and build moral communities-can serve as the foundation for moral behavior. Eleven specific "lessons learned about moral behavior" are identified.
David W
DW
Chambers
D000367:Age Factors; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D004990:Ethics, Dental; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D035863:Moral Development; D010379:Peer Group; D028743:Professional Misconduct