It is widely recognized that professionals such as doctors, nurses, engineers, and teachers have duties that go far beyond those of ordinary citizens, but there is much disagreement as to why they have such duties. In Professional Ethics: A Trust-Based Approach, Terrence Kelly argues that such duties come from the unique trust that professionals must invite, develop, and honor from those they serve. Without trust, professional practice would be significantly impoverished—both ethically and instrumentally— and the autonomy enjoyed by many professions would evaporate. Professionals therefore have good reasons to be “effectively trustworthy”— that is, to develop the virtues necessary to be responsive to the vulnerability of those they serve; and effectively communicate that responsiveness to others. Being effectively trustworthy requires a commitment by professionals as individual practitioners and as members of ethical communities committed to building a culture of trust. Such communities can, and should, design virtue-based professional education that promotes trustworthy character formation, and articulate an ethical vision of the trustworthy professional that has real credibility in the practical conditions of profession. Because of the importance of trust, professional communities also have good reasons to develop conduct standards, such as those regarding conflict of interest, that promote professional trustworthiness in both fact and appearance.
Industry Reviews
Terry Kelly has written a book on professional ethics that will be of great value and interest to professionals in a variety of fields, as well as to academics and the general public. The book is clear, tightly argued, and very well informed. Kelly argues for a rich and pragmatic account of trust that focuses on the responsibilities both of individual practitioners and of the profession as a whole. He advocates for an account of trust that is both instrumental and dispositional, one that makes a strong case for the view that trustworthiness is linked to authenticity, the “I/Thou” relationship, and the development of an ethical community. Kelly’s book will make a significant contribution to the applied ethics literature, and it will be of considerable practical value to those interested in building and strengthening ethics in their profession.
