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Ethics
- system for judgment that is clear and objective
- About right/wrong decisions
- Situation must be one of choice
- Intention must be taken into account
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Communication Ethics
The application of ethical thinking to situations involving human communication.
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Ethical Frameworks
- Virtue
- Duties
- Consequences
- Relationships
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Integrity
Being honest, doing the right thing even if its hard to do, sacrifice.
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Virtue Ethics
- Good person does not knowingly do bad things
- Character is more important than rules
- Good judgment comes with good character
- The highest virtue is excellence in being fully human. i.e. a good person
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Foundations of Virtue Ethics
Socrates and Plato concerned about persuasion, truth and justice... Enhance community and not just ends of speaker.
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Duty Ethics
Follow the rules. Always. Regardless of the consequences.
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Deontological system of ethics
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Kants Categorical Imperative
- Applies in every situation.
- If you cant steal in one situation, you cant steal in ANY situation. Also, If you can steal in one situation, you can steal in ANY situation.
- No specific cases
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Divine Command
- The 'duty' is to obey the rules
- Two rules of religion`s beliefs
- 1. Define what is ethical
- 2. Provide motivation to act in that way.
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Natural Law
- Can be considered consistent w/divine command
- Sociobiology/Evolutionare Psychology
- But, What is Natural?
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Situational Ethics
- Context determines the ethical outcome
- ethicality depends on the motive or intention
- when is it okay to lie, when is it not?
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Cultural relativism
- All human cultures are equally valid and moral within their own systems
- Intended to counter ethnocentrism-belief that your culture is better than another...
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Discourse Ethics
- Universal ethics applies to Communication
- Habermas ideal speech situation:
- 1. All parties are included
- 2. All equal opportunity to speak
- 3. All must mean what they say (no dishonesty)
- 4.All are rational; no external/internal action.
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Consequences
Outcomes are the best measure of ethicality.
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Utilitarianism
Greatest good for the greatest number.
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Bentham`s Calculations:
- Consider implications for everyone equally
- May be more applicable to public, rather than interpersonal communication
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Mill
- Considered quality rather than just quantity.
- Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness.... (pg.62)
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Ethical Egoism
- Doing whats best for one`s own interests is the most ethical behavior.
- Even when we seem to act, our motivations are selef interested(all parties are self interested, have an understanding)
- If everyone acts out of self interest, the overall outcome benefits all.
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ethical altruism
Always doing whats in best interest for everyone else
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Egalitarianism
- Contrasts with utilitarianism
- Focus is on the effects of actions on individuals
- rather than an aggregate "greater good"
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The social contract
- Morality requires treating each person fairly.
- Ex: Teacher/Student relationship-- Expectancies in fair treatment, resulting in greatest good for education.
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Rawl`s Veil of Ignorance
When forced with a dilemma, you try to hold back your self interest. This ensures equal rights and equal justice.
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Dialogical Ethics
How do we treat and enage with each other in our relationships? Each person is accepted as an equal, unique, and having worth. Such an approach is a "life stance that requires us to respond to the other in a consistent and sacrificial manner."
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Buber`s I-Thou
- Dialogue=Turning one another in truth
- Requires that one sheds ego, personal needs, ets
- Contrasts with "I-It" relationship in which we may seek personal gain.
- Not all situations call for engagement, but relationships should be built on it.
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Roger`s Unconditional Positive Regard:
Giving another our full, caring, undivided attention w/o judging or evaluating.-- putting aside oneself
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Levinas` "Other"
- Ethics begins first and foremost in person-to-person contact
- Becoming pre-occupied with the other person
- Results in that person having some power over us.
- Ex; romantic relationships, whoever is more ethical asserts more power... or a girl is more focused on doing something for him that she loses sense of her own wants...
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Freire`s Ethics of empowerment:
- Dialogue and education as cooperative
- Mutual respect is at the heart of engagement with others
- Working 'with' rather than acting 'on'
- Engagement, present-ness, other oriented relationships
- Beware of your role in relationships and your agenda
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Post-modern vs. modern
- modern associated with the universals
- Common sense
- natural
- search for certainty and objective truth.
- post-modern associated with multiple perspectives, critique the hiddent assumptions, ruptures in the systems that reveal the constructedness.
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Implications for Communication and Ethics
- No Generalizations; each experience taken as unique
- Focus on difference
- Cannot have general rules
- Multiple meanings in a given text
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Ethics of Care
- Psychological differences in men and women
- morality is different
- Men: justice, rights, conequences
- Women: relationships, experiences, care for self and other
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