Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of EthicsDrake, Durant
Philosophy
Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of Ethics
Drake, Durant
Ethics
(3) Through these two means, public opinion and the law, we must work
toward the ultimate solution, the establishment of codes of honor in
the professions and industries. Canons of professional ethics have
been adopted by lawyers and doctors; any member of these professions
who is guilty of breaking these canons suffers loss of prestige and,
almost inevitably, financial loss. So must it be in every industry;
each must be organized and must formulate for itself its code; so that
pressure from within will supplement pressure from without. There is
plenty of capacity for loyalty, self-denial, and discipline in men,
even in captains of industry; it needs only to be aroused, crystallized,
directed. "We may prevent certain specific practices by statutes which
make them misdemeanors; but in so doing we have simply cut off one
way of reaching an end. Men will get the same result by another route.
obtaining money or office in certain specified ways. We must so shape
their ambitions that they do not wish to obtain money or office by
means that injure the community. We must get them to consider public
selfishness as dishonorable a thing as we now consider private
selfishness". If a man today crowds himself out of a theater, leaving
behind him a trail of bruised women and children, the very newsboy
in the street will hiss him when he gets to the door. Such a man will
be despised by the public, and in his heart he will despise himself,
for taking advantage of his strength to crush others. But if a man
gets money or office by analogous processes, the world is inclined
to admire the result and forgive the means; and the man, instead of
despising himself for his selfishness, applauds himself for his
success.[Footnote: A. T. Hadley, Standards of Public Morality,
p. 8.] Certainly, unless in these peaceful ways we can transform our
present system of grab-as-grab-can into a fair and rational industrial
order, changes will come by violence and revolution. There are volcanic
passions slumbering beneath the prosperity of our trade and
manufacture; there is but a brief respite before society wherein to
evolve a measure of social justice. The lower classes are awakening
to their power; unless society and government grant them their fair
share of the fruits of industry, they will take them through the wreck
of society and government. There is no moral problem more pressing
than the finding of peaceful remedies for industrial wrongs.
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