Transformation of Ethical Discourses of Professionals (Based on the Example of Doctors)

The article is a sociological analysis of the ethical discourses of professionals and their transformation. The essence and specificity of professional ethics are analyzed, the difference between professional ethics and labor ethics is revealed. A classification of ethical discourses of professionals is developed: traditional, “Protestant”, modernist, postmodernist. The transition from “classical” professionals to “free agents”, “multipro-fessionals”, “quasiprofessionals”, “transprofessionals” is considered. An applied sociological study of the ethi-cal discourse of modern doctors was conducted using the in-depth interview method. Based on the results of the study, the following trends were identified: inconsistency and plurality of ethics, dependence on “ethical fashion”, constant variability of ethical standards, professional “anti-ethics”. A conclusion is made about the absence of one hegemonic ethical discourse of professional doctors. We can observe several discourses sim-ultaneously (for example, traditional, Protestant, modernist and postmodernist), which are either in a state of conflict or “sliding” coexistence.