Ethics and Professionalism

407 Pages·1988·18.589 MB·English

by  John Kultgen

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ETHICSAND PROFESSIONALISM
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0 0 ETHICS AND
PROFESSIONALISM
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0 JOHN (ULTGEN
Ultlt
PHILADELPHIA 1988
,-,- UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS
Copyright © 1988bythe University ofPennsylvania Press
Allrights reserved Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Someofthe material in this bookappearedinanearlier forminpreviously
published articles bythe author.
"Professional IdealsandIdeology,"reprinted with permission from Ethical
Problems in Engineering, second edition, edited byRobertBaumand
AlbertFlores.TroyNY:Centerforthe StudyofHuman Dimensions in
ScienceandTechnology,RensselaerPolytechnicInstitute, 1980.
"The IdeologicalUseofProfessional Codes, Business and Professional
II
Ethics Journal1,3(Spring1982):53-69.
"Evaluating CodesofProfessional Ethics," reprinted with permission from
Profitsand Professions, edited byWadeRobinson,Michael Pritchard, and
JosephEllin. Clifton NJ:Humana Press, 1983.
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kultgen, JohnH.
Ethicsandprofessionalism / JohnKultgen.
p. cm.
Bibliography:p.
Includes index.
ISBN0-8122-8094-6. ISBN0-8122-1263-0 (pbk.)
1. Professional ethics. I. Title.
BJ1725.K84 1988
174--dc19
Designed byAdrianne Onderdonk Dudden
Second paperback printing 1991
CONTENTS
Preface ix
1 Introduction: Professionalism and Morality 3
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PARTI NORMATIVECONSIDERATIONS
2 Ethical Premises 19
3 Utopian Vision and Piecemeal Reform 38
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PARTII MODELSOf PROfESSIONS
4 Sociological Theories 57
5 The Functionalist Model 72
6 The Cloak of Ideology 99
7 The Subscapular Reality 120
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PARTIII STRUCTURALCHANGE
8 Charters, Contracts, and Covenants 157
9 Reconstitution of Institutions 181
10 Professional Codes 209
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PARTIV THEPROFESSIONALIDEAL
11 Ideals and Character 255
12 Paternalism and Client Autonomy 274
13 The PedagogicalImperative 307
14 Professionalism Sans Professions 346
Appendix 373
Bibliography 375
Index ofNames 385
Index of Subjects 389
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formy children, and theirs
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PREFACE
In this work I take a hard look at professionalism and its effect
on the moral life of our society. Iexamine particular practices in
the professions and the rules that are proposed to govern them
(forexample, prohibiting professional paternalism and enjoining
confidentiality); and I make suggestions about these practices
and rules. My aim, however, is not to develop a detailed code of
professional ethics. Rather, it is to explore the institutional and
ideological context of the practices and rules and the opportuni
ties and obstacles that context presents to moral behavior.
The question of context receives cursory attention in most
philosophical discussions of professional ethics. A thorough in
vestigation is necessary to lay a foundation for a fresh look at
professionalism, a complex of attitudes and norms whose essen
tials are pretty well in place, though its details are hotly debated.
And afresh look at professionalism is needed because the profes
sions contain flaws that are widely overlooked.
The conviction that institutional and ideological contexts are
critical to norms determines the content, the perspective, and the
form of this work. The content has to do with the structure of
professions, the role of ethical norms in their institutional life,
and the way the structure and norms affect individuals, both
those who participate in the professions and those who have to
deal with them. Iwill seek not only to describe the structure and
the norms, but to evaluate them and proposed reforms ofthem.
The ethical perspective of this work is a form of institutional
consequentialism or, if that label be pretentious, simply pragma
tism. While Ishall attempt to make the premises ofthis perspec
tive clear, I shall not defend them systematically, except to the