Download COMM 310 A Field Guide to Philosophers

COMM 310 – Mass Media Ethics
Spring 2016
A Field Guide to Philosophies and Philosophers
(and how to use them)
Part 1: Philosophies
Part 2: How to use philosophy for decision making
Part 3: Philosophies at a glance
Part 1: Philosophies
The Golden Rule
Almost all religions express some version of the Golden Rule. You may have
heard it as “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It means that we
should treat other people the way we would want to be treated. Among its
principles are justice, benevolence and altruism.
Aristotle and The Golden Mean
Aristotle’s idea was that moderation is best – a middle ground between two
extremes. The Golden Mean presumes that too much of a bad thing and too much of
a good thing are both bad. The perfect decision does not necessarily lie at the perfect
midpoint, however. People of Aristotle’s time and place (384-322 B.C., Macedonia,
Greece) believe that the “right amount” of a virtue was related to an individual’s
worth. Therefore, the perfect decision or the perfect virtue, under the Golden Mean,
might lean more toward excess or more toward deficiency.
Some examples of extremes:
 cowardice and foolhardiness (mean: courage)
 Shamelessness and bashfulness (mean: modesty)
 Stinginess and wastefulness (mean: generosity)
Immanuel Kant and The Categorical Imperative
Kant, born in 1724 in a Baltic seacoast town in Prussia, put Germany on the
map as an intellectual power. He lived frugally, didn’t travel, never married, and it is
said that the townspeople where he lived used to set their clocks by the regularity of
his daily walks. His philosophy focused on how humans can be good outside the
dictates of religion. “Categorical” means “unconditional,” and “imperative” means
“command.” The Categorical Imperative allows for no gray areas in decisionmaking; what is right for one is right for all, and what is right in one situation is right
in all similar situations.
John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism
Mill was born 1806 into a troubled family in Britain – a highly intellectual
father and a mother who was not his father’s intellectual equal. Needless to say, his
parents didn’t get along well. His father forced him as a child to suppress all feeling
and emotion and to feed only his intellect. By age 20, he began to doubt the strength
of his beliefs. Gradually his depression improved. He started reading poetry –
Wordsworth – and in it he discovered his emotion. He also discovered utilitarianism,
which had been outlined by other philosophers and which he promoted like none of
the others ever had done. The philosophy is more familiarly stated as “Seek the
greatest good for the greatest number of people.”
Communitarianism
Also known as “the good of the group,” communitarianism was advanced by
many philosophers and ethicists. It calls for considering obligations to the
community when making ethical decisions, saying that the community’s needs are
more important than the individual’s needs. Communitarianism is associated with
social justice and democratic ideals.
William David Ross and the Pluralistic Theory of Value
Ross, a Scottish philosopher born 1877, spent the first six years of his
childhood in southern India. In World War I, when Great Britain needed all the
manpower it could muster, he joined the army, serving as a major in the Ministry of
Munitions. Then he went into academia. Ross was what’s called a “moral realist,”
arguing that there are moral truths – such as the claim that something good is true
only if it really is good. The philosophy says that we must choose among competing
ethical duties, which he identified as fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice,
beneficence, self-improvement, not injuring others, veracity and nurture.
John Rawls and The Veil of Ignorance
Rawls, born in 1921, was a political philosopher and professor at Harvard. When he
was 7, two of his brothers caught diphtheria from him and died. This is said to have
had a profound effect on him throughout his life. Rawls is not the only philosopher
to use the concept of the Veil of Ignorance, but his is the modern usage. The
philosophy presumes that everyone is equal, without any distinctions in power,
wealth, education, responsibility or any other factor. Therefore, all people involved
in a decision will make choices based on moral considerations, since they will not be
able to make choices based on self-interest or class-interest (social status).
Part 2: How to use philosophy
Sissela Bok’s multipart approach
Bok, an American ethicist born in Sweden in 1934, has written books about
lying and values, euthanasia, and violence as public entertainment. She proposes
making decisions based on what feels right after gathering information from all of
the stakeholders about their feelings and considering all of the possible
ramifications of the decision.
The Potter Box (see the Potter box diagram under “Class Materials”)
Part 3: Philosophies at a glance
Note: This section includes many more philosophies than our textbook covers. Please
feel free to use any of them!
Plato: Refrain from wrongdoing regardless of the consequences. Set aside the views
of society, acquire the knowledge necessary to make a good decision, then act in
such a way that you are pleased and others are served by the action. The action
must meet the tests of courage, moderation, respect, wisdom and justice. (Suggested
use: journalism, advertising)
Aristotle: When faced with an ethical problem, avoid extremes by determining the
mean, the just-right, and act by doing what is appropriate after considering all
relevant factors. (The Golden Mean) (Suggested use: journalism, public relations,
advertising, broadcasting, film)
Peter Abelard (French, b. 1079): Actions can be considered good or evil – that is,
ethical or unethical – depending solely on one’s intentions. (Suggested use:
journalism, public relations, advertising, digital media, film. Note the important
limitation that the philosophy is not concerned with the consequences of an action.)
Thomas Aquinas (Italian, b. 1225): Ethical behavior stems from appropriate
human action, action guided by the four cardinal virtues – prudence, justice,
temperance and courage. (Suggested use: all media fields, especially journalism)
Francis Bacon (English, b. 1561): Apply the powers of reason, understanding and
will to control the appetites that life subjects each individual to. Seek constantly for
new knowledge and truth. (Suggested use: journalism, public relations, advertising;
in entertainment, truth may be less important)
Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian, b. 1469): Understand, accept and adapt to change;
avoid stagnation; examine a problem situationally and flex the ethical absolutes only
to the degree necessary to gain the desired ends. (Suggested use: all media fields,
but apply with great care)
Thomas Hobbs: Rise above self-interest; promote justice and strive for mutual
accommodation, fulfill your obligations. (Suggested use: all media fields, but pay
heed to freedom from government interference)
Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet; French, b. 1694): Use reason to balance the
passions; act for the greater good of society. (Suggested use: all media fields, though
possibly most useful to journalism and public relations)
Baruch Spinoza (Netherlands, b. 1632): Use reason to determine the proper course
of action. First, determine the good – that is, the ideal or standard against which the
action may be judged. Then set aside emotion; think through the problem and reach
a just, faithful and honorable conclusion. Be prepared to provide a rational answer
to the question, Why did you do what you did? (Suggested use: all media fields,
especially when there’s a tendency to lean toward emotions)
Immanuel Kant: Considering your responsibility to self and others, act only on
those principles that you would have generalized to all. Ask these questions: What is
the rule authorizing this act I am about to perform? Can it become a universal law
for all human beings to follow? (The Categorical Imperative) (Suggested use: public
relations, journalism and all media; use care to apply the philosophy to all points of
view)
John Stuart Mill: Act by following the moral rule that will bring about the greatest
good (or happiness) for the greatest number. (Utilitarianism) (Suggested use: all
media fields, but only when you are confident that you have sure and certain
knowledge about what would be best for the greatest number of people)
William David Ross: We must choose among competing ethical duties, which he
identified as fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement,
not injuring others, veracity and nurture. (The Pluralistic Theory of Value)
(Suggested use: all media fields)
Arthur Schopenhauer (German, b. 1788): Think carefully about any action you
may be inclined to take. Acknowledge the influence of will, but use experience to
achieve a balance and act with compassion so that you respect yourself and others.
(Suggested use: all media fields, but may be particularly useful in journalism)
Emile Durkheim (French, b. 1858): Determine the moral ideal or moral fact that
governs a planned action. Explain how society benefits from the action – that is, how
does the proposed action contribute to and reflect the existing social and moral
fabric of life? (Suggested use: applicable to all media)
Jean-Paul Sartre (French, b. 1905): Get a clear and accurate picture of a situation
by examining the choices of action available. Select an option for which you can
provide a justification and for which you accept total responsibility. (Suggested use:
all media, but take care in determining the action)
John Rawls: Everyone is equal, without any distinctions in power, wealth,
education, responsibility or any other factor. Therefore, all people involved in a
decision will make choices based on moral considerations, since they will not be
able to make choices based on self-interest or class-interest (social status). (The Veil
of Ignorance)
Ayn Rand (Russian American, b. 1905): Examine the reality of a situation in as
objective a manner as possible. Determine the standards to be followed and the
goals to be met by a decision. Submit these observations to a reasoning process
yielding a solution that meets your needs as an individual. (Suggested use: most
ethical dilemmas, but the self-interest aspect may make it difficult to use in media
situations)
Lawrence Kohlberg (American, b. 1927): Before attempting to find a solution to an
ethical dilemma, determine on which moral level you are presently functioning. As
you approach a new ethical problem, make a decision that is backed by logical
reasoning and sound moral judgment, always moving toward the more mature
postconventional level of decision making. (Suggested use: all media)
Carol Gilligan (American, b. 1936): Recognize that males and females have
fundamentally different ways of looking at moral problems. Before deciding on a
solution to an ethical dilemma, determine what the solution might be from both the
care and justice perspectives. Ask whether there has been an exchange of ideas,
whether such exchange was open to all, and whether new voices (particularly those
of women and minorities) have been heard. Determine which perspective best
provides a solution to the dilemma. (Suggested use: All media, though difficult to do
in male-dominated and/or profit-oriented situations.)
Michel Foucault (French, b. 1926): Recalling the set of truth obligations, examine
an ethical problem and a desired course of action. Ask two questions: “Is the
proposed solution a reflection of my personal ethical standards?” and “What power
relationships influence the solution?” If you are comfortable with the answers to
each of these questions, implement the desired action. (Suggested use: Possible
application to power relationships in media – for example, when media set the
agenda for what Americans talk about but consumers don’t have an avenue to make
their voices heard.)
Jean Baudrillard (French, b. 1929): Examine possible responses to an ethical
dilemma and select the one that is least manipulative and intrusive, the one that
most closely represents true reality. (Suggested use: All media; Baudrillard believes
that media shape reality, and that reality is often a false one, devoid of meaning and
context; he says, “The only weapon of power … is to re-inject realness and
referentiality everywhere.”)
Islam: Remembering that an individual’s primary responsibility is to live in
complete obedience to God and to seek His pleasure, resolve an ethical dilemma by
acting in accordance with the principles set forth in the Quran.
Buddhism: Consider an ethical dilemma in light of the Eightfold Path, remembering
that one’s goal is to gain enlightenment and end suffering. (The Eightfold Path
includes the right way of seeing, right thinking, right speech, right action, right
effort, the right way of living, right mindfulness and right meditation.)
Judeo-Christian: Remembering that an individual’s primary responsibility is to
serve and be faithful to God, resolve an ethical dilemma by actin gin accordance with
the principles set forth by the Jewish or Christian religious tradition.