An ethicist is a person who uses their judgment to make the best ethical decisions possible in a given situation. In general, ethicists use the tradition of ethical codes to provide authoritative advice and guidance to organizations and communities. The concept is frequently, but not always, merged with that of moral principles. Medical, legal, and religious communities are among the most prominent fields that employ ethicists. The majority of ethicists are thought to work within the confines of the philosophical discipline.
Ethical codes differ drastically across cultures, making the role of an ethicist a point of contention among various groups. What is morally and ethically viable for one group of people may not be morally and ethically viable for another. This has resulted in cultural conflict between various factions of humanity. It has also resulted in a rise in prominent debates between theologians and legal historians in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, particularly when it comes to topics like the influence of religion in society.
An ethicist’s judgment is heavily influenced by ideology. Human potential, rather than the situation that humanity faces on a daily basis, is one of the principles that those involved in ethical decisions and opinions frequently point to. This leads to field conflict by introducing different dimensions of what the moral implications of the present have to do with the ultimate situation in which people may find themselves in the future. When a nation invades another to liberate its people, for example, the moral obligation of the time appears to be just. However, an ethicist might argue that in an ideal world, war would not be necessary and, in fact, might do more harm than good in the long run.
For much of humanity’s history, ethicists have worked in some capacity to investigate people’s correct judgments. To do so, a slew of questions must be asked, some of which are purely rhetorical. While most people would agree that Nazi-Germany took an ethically wrong position when it committed genocide against the Jewish community during World War II, another question is whether it is ethical to use medical research derived from scientific experimentation on the victims. The first question is essentially a simple ethical decision, whereas the second can be more difficult due to its long-term consequences.