TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward an ethics of professional understanding
AU - Tanchuk, Nicolas
AU - Scramstad, Carly
AU - Kruse, Marc
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2016/1/2
Y1 - 2016/1/2
N2 - Abstract: In this paper, we advance a novel conception of normative ethics and draw out its implications within the domain of professional ethics. We argue that all moral agents, and thus professionals, share a fundamental and constitutive normative interest in correctly conceiving of their ends. All professionals, we claim, by virtue of their positions of social power, have special role responsibilities in cultivating and sustaining societies oriented by this shared ideal of practically oriented ethical understanding. We defend this conception against a familiar opponent of a philosophical approach to professional ethics: the morally skeptical student (or university administrator). By taking the skeptic’s challenge seriously, we clarify the conditions for a sound account of normative ethics and then provide a response that meets this test. Against this type of skeptic, we claim that a fundamental commitment to the ideal of understanding our ends ought to be included within any curriculum of professional ethics that reflects moral reality. We argue that endorsing such a curriculum would make a significant difference in our sense of professional advocacy and in conceiving of who, what, and how we teach.
AB - Abstract: In this paper, we advance a novel conception of normative ethics and draw out its implications within the domain of professional ethics. We argue that all moral agents, and thus professionals, share a fundamental and constitutive normative interest in correctly conceiving of their ends. All professionals, we claim, by virtue of their positions of social power, have special role responsibilities in cultivating and sustaining societies oriented by this shared ideal of practically oriented ethical understanding. We defend this conception against a familiar opponent of a philosophical approach to professional ethics: the morally skeptical student (or university administrator). By taking the skeptic’s challenge seriously, we clarify the conditions for a sound account of normative ethics and then provide a response that meets this test. Against this type of skeptic, we claim that a fundamental commitment to the ideal of understanding our ends ought to be included within any curriculum of professional ethics that reflects moral reality. We argue that endorsing such a curriculum would make a significant difference in our sense of professional advocacy and in conceiving of who, what, and how we teach.
KW - Foundations of professional ethics
KW - moral agency
KW - moral skepticism
KW - professional advocacy
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U2 - 10.1080/17449642.2016.1145500
DO - 10.1080/17449642.2016.1145500
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84961209228
SN - 1744-9642
VL - 11
SP - 5
EP - 16
JO - Ethics and Education
JF - Ethics and Education
IS - 1
ER -