Abstract
Clinical ethics have a long and storied past. This chapter briefly covers the historical background of the current dominant ethical theories and principles that are central to modern clinical ethics. The dominant theories reviewed are virtue theory, consequentialism, and deontology. The dominant principles reviewed are beneficence, autonomy, and justice. We then highlight how and why these theories and principles have been combined historically to form Codes of Medical Ethics—which parallel the development of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s (BACB) Professional and Ethical Compliance Code. Finally, we discuss the difficulty and contradictions that arise when a code of ethics is dependent on all three ethical theories and all three ethical principles. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) working with individuals with autism should be able to justify their ethical behavior without appealing to “because the code says so.” In so doing, BCBAs as a collective will need to have conversations and make decisions about why and how we believe our ethical behavior is justified.
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