Primum Non Nocere: "ABOVE ALL, NOT KNOWINGLY TO DO HARM"

It was over 2,500 years ago that Hippocrates gave us the oath that we generally attribute to the medical profession today. But, no doctor can save every patient. In fact, no professional, including an appraiser, can promise that he or she will indeed do no harm to his or her client. Nonetheless, a client trusts an appraiser to do his or her best and not knowingly do any harm.

A code of ethics can be thought of as a professional's contract with the public it serves. Numerous professions, including ours, have written sets of rules or axiomatic norms of conduct that the public expects and demands of men and women occupying positions of trust.

Ethics defined

Of the various definitions of ethics that exist, the Webster's Dictionary seems to have captured the common elements.

Eth-ics (eth'iks), n. 1. The science that treats the principles of human morality and duty; moral philosophy, 2. The moral system of an individual, group, etc.

Another definition, perhaps more applicable to a professional is "the formal statement of the roles a professional ought to assume in specific situations. To that extent, a code is a formalized statement of role morality, a unitary professional 'conscience'."1