Thomas L. Shaffer – författare

This book examines the ethical development of American lawyers against a historical, cultural, and religious backdrop. Goes beyond the rules and statements of professional organizations, such as the American Bar Association, and considers how lawyers actually perceive their responsibility for their communities and the ethical standards of their profession.

Thomas L. Shaffer argues that the morals of modern American lawyers and doctors have been corrupted by misguided professionalism and weak philosophy. He shows that professional codes exalt vocational principle over the traditional morals of character; but that, in practice, America's professionals and business people cultivate the ethics of character. The ethics of virtue have been neglected.The ethical argument in Faith and the Professions is in part an application to professional life of the position taken by Alasdair MacIntyre in After Virtue and in Revisions, and by Robert Bellah and his collaborators in Habits of the Heart. It is also, in part, an argument for the relevance of religious ethics.