Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University

English abstract: The article investigates the multidimensional phenomenon of legal ethics, whose complexity justifies looking for adequate tools for its systematization in philosophy. An attempt is made to characterize a number of aspects of legal ethics in the perspective of Paul Ricoeur’s “little ethics” (French: la petite éthique). The concept makes it possible to order the reflection on the phenomenon of ethics in, among others, the teleological and deontological dimensions, as well as in the intrapersonal (i.e. within a person), interpersonal, and institutional (corporate) dimensions. The article also refers to the question of the textual dimension of legal ethics, including the co-conditioning of the substance of the codes of ethics and the personal “text of action” of a barrister, legal advisor, etc. This provides context for discussing the question of the dialectic of the prescriptive and descriptive aspects of codes of ethics on the basis of Ricoeur’s narratological considerations against a broader background of the dispute between cognitivism and noncognitivism.

Keywords: lawyers’ ethics, Paul Ricoeur, la petite éthique, teleological ethics, deontological ethics, narratology

Language: English

Received: 19.06.2019
Accepted: 02.11.2019

Published: Number 2(20)/2019, pp. 20-28.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2019.2.20

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Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Kraków University

Abstract: Codes of legal ethics encounter constant waves of criticism. It is pointed out that their disadvantage is, on the one hand, the excessive casuistry, limiting the possibility of taking independent decisions in cases of ethical and professional conflicts, and, on the other hand, the exaggerated declarative character of perfectionist ethical and professional virtues. The gap between the abovementioned perspectives, easily perceived in such codes, results in a dysfunctionality of professional ethics in the actions undertaken by members of the legal profession. The article, apart from the critical-comparative part, includes a proposal of reading and interpreting the content of the codes in a way that transgresses the above opposition. The theoretical basis of the presented position is provided by the concept of “little ethics” formulated by Paul Ricoeur in his work Oneself as Another. The ethical theory developed by Ricoeur combines the elements of Aristotelian ethics of virtues with Kantian ethics of duty. For this reason, it sets a uniform perspective for opposing elements, namely: subordination to the norm of the code and pursuit of ethical and professional self-improvement by legal professionals. The proposed solution belongs to the “reflexive” paradigm of the lawyer’s professional ethics proposed on the basis of Ricoeur’s onto-ethical theory.

Language: English

Keywords: legal ethics, codification, reflexivity, Paul Ricoeur, teleological ethics, deontological ethics, “little ethics”

Published: Number 2(13)/2016, pp. 39-50.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2016.2.39

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Number of downloads: 579