Ethics in the Academic Profession. A Socratic View.
University teachers have become increasingly concerned with professional ethics, particularly medical, legal, and business ethics. However, they have not given similar attention to the ethical issues associated with their own profession, though important moral issues do arise in university teaching. A major reason for this omission is that college teaching is not recognized as a distinct profession. Much has been written about the professional responsibilities of scientists, psychologists, and philosophers, but I would like to present a case for recognizing college teaching as a distinct professional activity, one with its own purposes and obligations. In this article I will focus on the humanities and the teaching of values, but much of what I say will have implications for other areas of university teaching as well. I will employ a Socratic view of professional responsibility and claim that university teachers have a social obligation to help other citizens, both inside and outside the classroom, formulate reasoned principles for themselves. And I will contend, more controversially perhaps, that to be an advocate for particular substantive positions is inconsistent with this responsibility.'