Organisations, character, virtue and the role of professional practices

Abstract

This chapter argues that any approach to character and virtue in professional organisations and practices will fail to be much more than a plea for individuals to be virtuous at work, or for organisations to be in some sense 'good'. The chapter provides a conceptual framework based on the work of the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre. It discusses that framework by critically considering the role of professional practices both as organisations/institutions in their own right and in relation to other organisations, where professional organisations and practices potentially have the ability to play a positive moderating role. The chapter explores that acknowledged in the Law report – the organisational and societal levels of professional virtue are at least significant and possibly decisive for the development of individual virtue. Virtue ethics is correctly taken to be a teleological understanding of human life.

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