Originally Posted by
Skeptic Ginger
You keep arguing this all or none straw man. Personally I would not want a physician who didn't override 'the rules' when in their professional judgement it was called for. Dogmatism in medicine is dangerous.
I agree in the sense that I don't think dogmatism in any endeavor is ever appropriate. I do acknowledge that there are grey areas.
However, even if ethics is not applied dogmatically, there are still ethical guidelines that require consideration and interpretation. You noted that the APA's Ethcs code doesn't apply to nonmembers. Well, ok then: which ethical codes do they use as a guide to their professional judgement?
There has to be some overarching, objective and external set of ethics that apply to the profession as a whole. Reading your words, it almost sounds as if you believe ethics is idiosyncratic, subjective and internal.