Law Commons^™

Remodeling The Temple, Phase I: Assessing The Foundations Of Neo-Classical Professionalism In Law And Business, Robert E. Atkinson

Robert E. Atkinson Jr.

Abstract

Both the management of private enterprise and the practice of corporate law must be radically remodeled if they are properly to serve their correlate values: prosperity and justice. In that remodeling, the cornerstone of professional status would be appreciation of the deepest values of our common culture, gained through liberal education in the humanities and social sciences. Lawyers and managers need this appreciation because, under the best available institutional arrangements, they together must actively shape our public world, both in the law and in the market, for the common welfare.

The professional’s requisite cultural appreciation has two essential components, …