Ethics: Theory and practice in South African planning

Abstract

The legitimacy of planning as a socially responsive and professionally responsible discipline will, in the future South Africa, be assessed with referen­ces to the ethical or moral principles to which it adheres. The moral attitude pertaining in the profession in the past, notably in respect of the support of discriminatory racial practices, will not be tenable. A new ethical culture must thus be established. To this end, the ethical premises of planning abroad and the precepts of moral philosophy are examined and posited as points of reference for the profession in the process of ethical re-orientation that it must undertake.