ABSTRACT
It may be that many (if not most) of the established professions end up serving the interests of some, generally more powerful, groups in society rather than other, generally weaker, groups. Whether or not this is so is an empirical question. But even if it is so, few if any professionals themselves would regard this as desirable – as something which ought to occur. And certainly no professional body that I can think of claims, or expresses the intention, to serve only – or even primarily – the interests of some particular section or group within society. Rather, the established professions proclaim their intention of serving the interests of the public as a whole. To be sure, doctors serve the interests of the sick, teachers the interests of students, and so on, and the sick or students, etc., might be thought of as particular groups within society. But the point is that anybody in society may become sick, or anybody may at some stage in their life become a student, and hence in their professional practice doctors or teachers may find themselves treating or teaching anybody in the public – be they rich or poor, old or young, male or female, black or white. And it is in this sense that these professions claim to be serving the interests of the public in general, rather than particular sectional groups within the public.
