Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles

Taking medical and legal practice as key examples the authors develop a rigorous articulation and defence of virtue ethics contrasting it with other types of character-based ethical theories and showing that it offers a promising new approach to the ethics of professional roles. They provide insights into the central notions of professional detachment professional integrity and moral character in professional life and demonstrate how a virtue-based approach can help us better understand what ethical professional-client relationships would be like.