Communication Ethics

15 Pages 3670 Words

Ethics has to do with the gray areas in our lives. When moral decisions are black and white, knowing what we should do is easy. We may not live up to our convictions all the time, but there’s no question in our mind what we ought to do.

The ethical theories outlined in this chapter offer guidance on how to communicate with integrity in each situation. All but the final theory fit into one of three distinctive approaches to moral decision making. The first two theories look at the consequences of behavior. Can a lie end up doing good or preventing harm? The next three theories focus on the rightness of an act regardless of whether or not it benefits the people involved. Is falsehood ever fair or just? Is it always our duty to be honest? The next group of three theories concentrates on the inner motives and character traits that make a person moral. Is the desire to tell the truth a virtue? The final theory raises the possibility that men and women could (and perhaps should) have separate ethical standards.

ETHICAL EGOISM: EPICURUS

Cynics maintain that people care only about themselves, that everybody is looking out for number one. Ethical egoists say that’s the way it ought to be. Everyone should promote his or her own self-interest. The boundaries of an egoist’s ethical system include only one person.

Writing a few years after Aristotle’s death, Epicurus defined the good life as getting as much pleasure as possible: "I spit on the noble and its idle admirers when it contains no element of pleasure."1 Although his position is often associated with the adage "eat, drink, and be merry," Epicurus actually emphasized the passive pleasures of friendship, good digestion and, above all, the absence of pain. He cautioned that "no pleasure is in itself evil, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail annoyances many times greater than the pleasures themselves."2 The Greek philosopher put lying in that category.

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