Law in Contemporary Society

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JobsAsComplicity 8 - 05 Feb 2010 - Main.AndrewCascini
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 One reason Eben gave for not working at a firm was that firms do morally undesirable work, and that in working for a firm, one's work would actively be contributing to that overall morally undesirable work product. For example, if one was a big-firm lawyer over the past five years or so, one most likely actively contributed to the financial crisis by providing the legal work for allowing grossly unchecked mortgage-backed securities to be created and flipped for fast profit.

My question: Is it true in every job, you are always morally complicit in the work of the company? Note than an answer of yes would mean that when you work for an organization that actively does good, you are also actively doing good. Is there ever any way to dissociate oneself morally from the work of the company in which one participates?

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  subject to your personal moral sentiments once you engage? Please stop posturing and get real.
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  • I would agree that a firm cannot be "taken down from the inside" because of the client obligations you've mentioned. But I interpreted Chris to be asking whether you are morally complicit in the work of a company or other organization in ANY situtation. Certainly there are organizations in which you can appear to be a member but in truth act contrary to the purpose of the organization. If this were so, I think that you would then be operating in a different "moral direction" (that's kind of a stupid term, but I hope that conveys what I mean) than the organization.

-Andrew Cascini

 If we accept the notion that joining a firm is pawning one's license, might there ever be a time when you'd actually WANT to do so, for the supplementary benefits that would come along with it? Say you wanted to work in an industry and you wanted to provide justice and social benefit within that industry. Might it be beneficial in working for a firm that does a lot of work in that industry as a sandbox before bursting into the world after a few years to create moral good?

Of course there are such times. So?

Revision 8r8 - 05 Feb 2010 - 05:16:14 - AndrewCascini
Revision 7r7 - 05 Feb 2010 - 04:18:18 - ChristopherCrismanCox
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