Yesterday's post was about civic professionalism, more or less as philosopher William Sullivan has delineated the concept in his book Work and Integrity. Today, I return to Sullivan with what I would say are a few key quotes from this book.
"The university is chartered by the larger society to cultivate the life of the mind for the public good" (Sullivan, 2004, p. 225).
"Professional occupations create recognized opportunities for individuals to make something of their talents and capacities. On the other hand, this is only possible through personal commitment to the disciplines of a community of practice. At its best, professional life enables individual freedom to find fulfillment as it advances the well-being of the larger society" (p. 284).
"...what makes one free and renders life worth living is finally neither satisfying one's desires nor accomplishing one's purposes, valuable as these are, but instead learning to act with the good of the whole in view, building a life act by act, happy if each deed, as far as circumstances allow, contributes to the general welfare" (p. 290).
So what's striking about all of these quotes? That professionals don't get to just develop their abilities as fully as possible; they also have a responsibility to give back, to promote the general welfare, to advance the public good. Indeed, as Sullivan would have it, we as a society invest in these professionals with an expectation that there will be a return on our investment, not just in increased riches, but also in a better life for all.
To the extent that Sullivan is right, colleges and universities should pay more attention to what they are doing to ensure that part of the education of professionals is to be aware of their responsibility to give back and to learn strategies for how best to do this, given that one's acquired expertise is owed, at least in part, to a public investment.
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