Definition
Professional oaths are arguably the oldest form of ethics management, going back at least as far as to Hippocrates of Kos (c. 400 BCE). They are promises made during public ceremonies that exhort oath-takers to treat the oath’s beneficiaries in ways consistent with professional standards. They obtain their justification primarily from the social function of the profession. Their binding force and moral weight are generally larger than those of mere promises, from which they can be distinguished on account of their satisfying a number of additional formal and substantive conditions. Professional oaths, if carefully designed, may foster professionalism, facilitate moral deliberation, and enhance compliance with professional standards. They can be criticized, however, for various reasons, including their dubious efficacy. Prominent examples of professional oaths are the MBA Oath, the Bankers Oath (part of law in the Netherlands), and the Hippocratic oath.
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References
A special issue of Review of Social Economy, Boudewijn de Bruin (Guest Editor), Volume LXXI, Number 2, June 2013, was devoted to oaths and codes in economics and business
Advisory Committee on the Future of Banks in the Netherlands (2009) Restoring trust. Dutch Bankers Association, Amsterdam
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Further Reading
Ariely D (2012) The honest truth about dishonesty: how we lie to everyone – especially ourselves. HarperCollins, New York
Boatright J (2013) Swearing to be virtuous: the prospects of a banker’s oath. Rev Soc Econ 71(2):140–165
Braham M, Bolle F (2006) A difficulty with oaths: on trust, trustworthiness, and signalling. Eur J Law Econ 22(3):219–232
de Bruin B (2014) Professional oaths in the financial services industry. In: Chandler R (ed) Business and corporate integrity: sustaining organizational compliance, ethics, and trust. Praeger, Santa Barbara, pp 121–140
de Bruin B, Dolfsma W (2013) Oaths and codes in economics and business: introducing the special issue. Rev Soc Econ 71(2):135–139
DeMartino G (2010) The economist’s oath. Oxford University Press, New York
Khurana R, Nohria N (2008) It’s time to make management a true profession. Harv Bus Rev 86(October):70–77
Miles S (2005) The Hippocratic oath and the ethics of medicine. Oxford University Press, Oxford
O’Boyle E (2011) Anderson and Escher’s the MBA oath: review essay. J Bus Ethics 101:285–295
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de Bruin, B. (2017). Oaths, Professional. In: Poff, D., Michalos, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_69-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_69-1
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