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Article
The Ethics of Dissent and Friendship in the American Professions
Journal Articles
  • Thomas L. Shaffer, Notre Dame Law School
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1986
Publication Information
88 W. Va. L. Rev. 623 (1986)
Abstract

Professional ethics is commonly understood as a creature of the establishment—the study of what the better doctors and lawyers do and impose on their colleagues. But this traditional notion of ethics conveys a message that professionals need only care for their clients or patients to a certain point whether it is the end of the professional’s expertise, the end of the contract or the end of an assigned task. But this ethical understanding loses the sense of professionals serving a community. This Article dissents from that common understanding of ethics and tells dissenting-professional stories that show professional ethics through the lens of friendship. The Author proposes that the ethics of friendship is more illustrative of professional ethics. A professional in a community should not provide mere expertise; rather he should be a friend to the community.

Comments

Thomas L. Shaffer, The Ethics of Dissent and Friendship in the American Professions, 88 W. Va. L. Rev. 623 (1986). Reprinted with permission.

Citation Information
Thomas L. Shaffer. "The Ethics of Dissent and Friendship in the American Professions" (1986)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/thomas_shaffer/58/