Introduction
The legal profession is an institution that promotes the cluster of values identified by Anglo-American philosophers with the ideal of the rule of law. This in any event is one perspective on the morality of the lawyer’s role. It challenges the long-standing assumption by philosophers that actions within a professional role must be given the kind of justification that could be offered by moral agents not occupying a professional role (Dare 2009). The qualities that make a legal system worth having, and which distinguish legality from other modes of governance, are worth promoting (Waldron 2008). To the extent lawyers contribute to the realization of the ends promoted by the rule of law, their actions have prima facie moral value. The rule of law thus provides the basis for a role-differentiated morality for lawyers.
Role-Differentiated Morality and the Value of Legality
Lawyers do things in the course of representing clients that appear to violate principles of ordinary...
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Wendel, W.B. (2020). Legal Ethics and the Rule of Law. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_153-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_153-2
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