An ethicist is one whose judgement on ethics and ethical codes has come to be trusted by some community, and (importantly) is expressed in some way that makes it possible for others to mimic or approximate that judgement. Following the advice of ethicists is one means of acquiring knowledge (see argument from authority).

The term jurist describes an ethicist whose judgement on law becomes part of a legal code, or otherwise has force of law. This may be due to formal (de jure) state sanction.

Some jurists have less formal (de facto) backing by an ethical community, e.g. a religious community. In Islamic Law, for instance, such a community following (taqlid) a specific jurisprudence (fiqh) of shariah mimics judgement of a prior jurist. Catholic Canon Law has a similar structure. Such a jurist may be a theologian or simply a prominent teacher. To those outside this tradition, the jurist is simply an ethicist who they may more freely disagree with, and whose input on any issue is advisory. However, they may find it hard to avoid a fatwa or excommunication or other such shunning by the religious community, so it may be hard advice to ignore.

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Experts Meet in London to Discuss Smart Pill Concerns: Researchers and ethicists disagree over whether... http://mypills.biz/blog/728.html
MyPills (MyPills) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:00:04 -0000
Experts Meet in London to Discuss Smart Pill Concerns: Researchers and ethicists disagree over whether... http://mypills.biz/blog/728.html
'But even if legal, this guy’s conduct was what ethicists call “creepy”. '
User_Nameless (R. Jasper Walley) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:49:26 -0000
'But even if legal, this guy’s conduct was what ethicists call “creepy”. '
RT: @Yetimon: Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' http://bit.ly/85wtxn //Scientists? Ethicists is who we need
jonathanhelix (jonathan helix) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:17:48 -0000
RT: @Yetimon: Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' http://bit.ly/85wtxn //Scientists? Ethicists is who we need

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