Moral Commitment and the Ethical Attorney

The moral worth of attorneys has traditionally been judged in terms of compliance with legal codes of ethics. These codes, ostensibly designed to promote smooth and equitable functioning of an adversary system, are manifestations of a rule utilitarian moral system. This paper argues that ethical att...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Jones, Thomas M. (Author) ; Gautschi, Frederick H. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 1992
In: Business ethics quarterly
Year: 1992, Volume: 2, Issue: 4, Pages: 391-404
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:The moral worth of attorneys has traditionally been judged in terms of compliance with legal codes of ethics. These codes, ostensibly designed to promote smooth and equitable functioning of an adversary system, are manifestations of a rule utilitarian moral system. This paper argues that ethical attorneys have a higher calling than rule compliance and that “moral commitment,” which combines commitment to “right” solutions and moral courage, is a superior yardstick for measuring their moral worth.
ISSN:2153-3326
Contains:Enthalten in: Business ethics quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3857578