One aspect of this is the attention given by scientists, engineers, lawyers, physicians, journalists, and others to the ethical problems involved in the practice of their professions. Some of these occupational groups have formal codes of ethics, which set forth principles of conduct deemed appropriate to the special objects and responsibilities of each profession. There has, at the same time, been great interest in the moral problems that arise in the course of the professional activity itself. These include problems about how scarce resources, such as dialysis machines or organ transplants, should be allocated, and on how open and honest physicians should be with their patients, especially those with a terminal illness. Devices are available that can prolong life at the cost of increasing suffering, and the problem of the morality of euthanasia thus becomes more pronounced.
Similar problems affect other professions.
New fields of ethics, such as bioethics, engineering ethics, and environmental ethics, dealing with issues not previously contemplated and with problems of concern to all, are now developing rapidly. Abortion and euthanasia are familiar examples of moral problems in medicine becoming moral problems for the wider society. Another area of serious debate concerns the propriety and limits of experimentation on both human subjects and animals. Thus current discussions exemplify the interplay between theory and practice, in this case in the area of ethics, that has always been most fruitful for both.