Psychiatric Ethics and Ethical Psychiatry^*

Abstract

This paper critically examines the code of ethics that applies to practising psychiatrists. The code performs the functions for which it was designed admirably well. It does not, however, resolve moral dilemmas (i.e., complex situations in which any course of action compromises certain ethical principles). In these cases, the psychiatrist must turn to wider moral theory (i.e., psychiatric ethics) for guidance.