Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 2017
Abstract
The modern subject of theoretical legal ethics began in the 1970s. This brief history distinguishes two waves of theoretical writing on legal ethics. The “First Wave” connects the subject to moral philosophy and focuses on conflicts between ordinary morality and lawyers’ role morality, while the “Second Wave” focuses instead on the role legal representation plays in maintaining and fostering a pluralist democracy. We trace the emergence of the First Wave to the larger social movements of the 1960s and 1970s; in the conclusion, we speculate about possible directions for a Third Wave of theoretical legal ethics, based in behavioral ethics, virtue ethics, or fiduciary theory.
Publication Citation
Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol. 30, No. 3, 337-364.
Scholarly Commons Citation
Luban, David and Wendel, W. Bradley, "Philosophical Legal Ethics: An Affectionate History" (2017). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2182.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2182
Included in
Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Philosophy Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, Legal History Commons