Ethical communication

Ethics is easiest to grasp when it is tied to actual practice, and this book is built on that idea for students and working communicators alike. Its chapters profile a range of moral thinkers, from Aristotle and Ayn Rand to John Stuart Mill and the Dalai Lama. Each profile covers the thinker's life, core ethical stance, and lasting contribution, then considers how that outlook applies to a modern communicator's work.

Rather than treating the thinkers as abstract theory, the contributors organize their profiles around five perspectives: altruistic, egoistic, autonomous, legalist, and communitarian. Real figures illustrate each one. Confucius stands for loyalty to the group, Gandhi for nonviolent action, and Mother Teresa for self-giving sacrifice.

The lineup of roughly two dozen thinkers is deliberately varied in gender, ethnic background, era, and region. This counters the assumption that moral philosophy has been shaped mainly by Western men. The authors argue that moral reasoning remains worth pursuing today, and that many of the values these thinkers defend are shared across cultures and sometimes universal.

The overall aim is to give communicators a grounding in key ethical ideas they can use to improve public discussion and work toward social progress, in their careers and personal lives.