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On Being A Professional Elder, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

The Professional Elder gives their wisdom to the young in the hopes that the wisdom will enable them to do better than the elders had done. This concept is exemplified through literature and films. However, the Professional Elder—elders in the profession who serve as moral teachers to the young—has diminished over time. This Article seeks to explain how the role of the professional elder has changed over time and the problems with the modern gentlemen’s ethic. He proposes that professional elders can return to serving as authoritative moral teachers through liberal learning and moral craftmanship.