COM 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: National Communication Association
PREPARING TO PARTICIPATE
Chapter 3: Ethical Communication
3.1
Knowledge
Describe the difference between ethics and ethical communication.
Ethics are standards that people follow based on the choices we should or should not
make. Ethics also explain do us why we behave like we do. On the other hand, Ethical
communication is applying ethics to our messages that we want to portray to our
audiences. This means we have to choose one ethic over another to make decisions about
our messages. This can result in different conclusions.
Application
Think of an example of something that may be legal, but not ethical. Is it possible for
something to be ethical, but not legal?
Yes, something can be ethical and not legal. For example, it is illegal to help someone
commit suicide. But, in the medical profession, if they know for certain that a patient will
not get better, under the permission of their families, they will put them on hospice care
because they believe it is their ethical duty to put someone out of their misery if they can
no longer fight to live. An example of something being legal but not ethical can be
smoking. Smoking is legal but is unethical because it damages our bodies.
3.2
Knowledge
List and explain the four standards that can be used to make ethical communication
decisions.
The 4 standards that can be used to make ethical communication are:
1. Political Perspective:
a. This standard helps us understand our values and our ethical reasoning’s
in the political system. Sometimes values can be conflicted with political
views. The audience has a right to agree or disagree upon the subject
matter if they feel uncomfortable or threatened.
2. Dialogical Perspective:
a. This standard suggests that the interaction between people, promotes the
development of your personality, knowledge, and you own self. This
means, everyone involved should be able to make decisions based on their
understanding of the dialog between themselves or the people they are
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Document Summary
Ethics are standards that people follow based on the choices we should or should not. Describe the difference between ethics and ethical communication. make. Ethics also explain do us why we behave like we do. On the other hand, ethical communication is applying ethics to our messages that we want to portray to our audiences. This means we have to choose one ethic over another to make decisions about our messages. Think of an example of something that may be legal, but not ethical. Yes, something can be ethical and not legal. For example, it is illegal to help someone commit suicide. An example of something being legal but not ethical can be smoking. Smoking is legal but is unethical because it damages our bodies. List and explain the four standards that can be used to make ethical communication decisions.
