Abstract
My plea for a sense of social responsibility in law is not isolated. In all fields of human endeavor, thoughtful individuals find the notion of autonomy unsatisfactory and seek a broader sense of community. In surveying contemporary fiction, novelist E.L. Doctorow finds that it is "decorous" in contrast to the great literature that is full of passion-excessive, energetic, self-consuming. "It is," he declares, "that. . .reverberant system of judgment that is missing in much of our work today. Law also requires a reverberant, dynamic, and responsive system of judgment. As psychiatrist Erik Erikson declared, "We cannot afford to live for long with a division of personal, professional, and political ethics. We in the legal profession are frequently faced with schizophrenic choices between professional and individual ethics. We must strive to bridge this gap not only for our own intellectual and emotional well-being but also for the good of our profession and the stability of society.
Recommended Citation
Forer, Lois G.
(1986)
"Autonomy and Responsibility: A Search for New
Bases of Legal Rights and Obligations,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1986:
No.
4, Article 1.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1986/iss4/1