The essays in Ethics, Trust, and the Professions probe the nature of the fiduciary relationship that binds client to lawyer, believer to minister, and patient to doctor. Angles of approach include history, sociology, philosophy, and culture, and their very multiplicity reveals how difficult we find it to formulate a code of ethics which will insure a relationship of trust between the professional and the public.
Table of Contents
Preface
I. The Concept of the Fiduciary Relation
The Politics of Trust in American Health Care
Daniel M. Fox
The Fiduciary Relationship and the Nature of Professions
Robert Sokolowski
The Phenomenon of Trust and the Patient-Physician Relationship
Richard M. Zaner
Trust and Distrust in Professional Ethics
Edmund D. Pellegrino
II. What Does Trust Require?
The Physician's Knowledge and the Patient's Best Interest
Allen Buchanan
Fact and Values in the Physician-Patient Relationship
Dan W. Brock
Are There Virtues Inherent in a Profession?
Gilbert Meilaender
Is Trust of Professionals a Coherent Concept?
Robert M. Veatch
III. The Sociocultural Setting of the Professions
Professions, Professors, and Competing Obligations
Samuel Gorovitz
Nourishing Professionalism
Eliot Freidson
Professional Paradigms
John Langan
IV. Fiduciary Relationship: Several World Views
Fiduciary Relationships and the Medical Profession: A Japanese Point of View
Rihito Kimura
The Fiduciary Relationship between Professionals and Clients: A Chinese Perspective
Ren-zong Qiu
Professional Organizations and Professional Ethics: A European View
Hans-Martin Sass
Contributors
Dan W. Brock Allen Buchanan Daniel M. Fox Eliot Freidson Samuel Gorovitz Rihito Kimura John Langan Gilbert Meilaender Edmund D. Pellegrino Ren-zong Qiu Hans-Martin Sass Robert Sokolowski Robert M. Veatch Richard M. Zaner
Awards
Congratulations to Robert M. Veatch, 2008 recipient of the American Society of Bioethics and the Humanities Lifetime Achievment Award.
