One of the greatest of modern moralists, the German philosopher Fichte, assigned, in his _Practical Morality_, a part to the doctrine of _professional_ duties; and he began by giving a theory of the professions more complete and satisfactory than any of the preceding ones.
Fichte makes of the special professions two great divisions: 1, those which have for their object the keeping up of material life; 2, those which have for their object the keeping up of intellectual and moral life. On the one side, _mechanical labor_; on the other, _intellectual_ and _moral labor_.
The object of mechanical labor is _production_, _manufacture_, and _exchange_ of produce; hence three functions: those of =producers=, =manufacturers=, and =merchants=.
The moral and spiritual labor has also three objects: 1, the administration of justice in the State; 2, the theoretic culture of intelligence; 3, the moral culture of the will. Hence three classes: 1, =public functions=; 2, =science and instruction=; 3, =the Church and the clergy=. Lastly, there is in human nature a faculty which serves as a link between the theoretical and the practical faculties: it is the _esthetic sense_; the sense of the beautiful; hence a last class, that of =artists=.
This theory is more scientific than that of the Saint-Simonians, but it is still somewhat defective; it is not clear, for example, in a moral point of view, that there is a great difference of duties between the producers, manufacturers, and merchants: they are economical rather than moral distinctions. Plato's division is better, when he puts the farmers in opposition to the artisans. It is certain that there are, especially in these days, interesting moral questions, which differ according as the workmen live in the city or in the country. We therefore prefer on this point Plato's division; and we will treat, on the one side, _industry_ and _commerce_, and on the other _agriculture_; and in each of these divisions we will distinguish those who direct or remunerate the work, namely, contractors, masters, proprietors, capitalists in some degree, and those who work with their hands and receive wages.
In characterizing the second class of careers, those which have moral interests for their object, we will again borrow of Plato one of the names of his division, namely, _the defense of the State_. As to the administration of justice in the State, it is divided, as we have already said, into three powers: the _executive_, _legislative_, and _judicial_ powers. Hence three orders of functions: _administration_, _deputation_, and the _magistracy_, with which latter is connected the _bar_.