Versions of ethical theory in journalism and mass communication college textbooks are at best misleading. Aristotle’s, Kant’s and Mill’s theories, for instance, are oftentimes dumbed-down to one-line quips or one-paragraph explanations; therefore, when these misleading versions are used to settle media ethics questions, the answers they give are either erroneous or too contentious. My master's thesis Foolproof or Foolhardy: Presenting ethical theory to journalism students explores this dilemma.
Students may come to believe, inadvertently, that these "one-liners" are valid decision-making tools. Students are not taught why the philosophers believe what they do—a historical context is missing. They also do not learn about the pros and cons of the theories. Most importantly, however, the students are not using the theories from what Aristotle called a point of phronesis. Aristotle, Kant and Mill all believed that before one could put their theories to use, one must have the proper education or moral upbringing. Kant called it a “moral catechism” (not to be confused with a religious catechism). Doing ethics comes from habit—or action. This is not a scientific process; via practice, one learns what to do. Only then can one properly apply theory. Reducing ethical theory to slogans is not the proper way to teach or learn theory.
Chapter Two:
Aristotle
Aristotle,
as mentioned earlier, believed that before one could use his decision-making
model the Doctrine of the Mean, one must have the proper upbringing from
“one’s very youth.” One would then learn what to choose, not how
to choose. When choosing what to do, a person identifies the two
extremes of a situation, then finds a mean between the two extremes. However,
this mean is not a specific midpoint; this mean is not mathematical. The
mean will differ from person to person, from situation to situation. A
mean is relative to each of us. It may be closer to one extreme or another;
it is rarely a specific midpoint. Courage, temperance, justice, etc., are
examples of the virtues that Aristotle addresses. Being able to know what
to choose comes via experience and habit, Aristotle would say—just as builders
learn via building. Read Aristotle's original work about the Doctrine of
the Mean in Book
II of the Nicomachean Ethics.
Chapter Three:
Immanuel Kant
Kant’s
duty-based theory centers around his Categorical
Imperative (CI). The CI, or Formula of Universal Law, says that one
should act only on those maxims that one can will universal. They key word
here is “universalizability.” There are other formulas of the CI, too.
For instance, there is the Formula of Humanity, which says that one should
never treat people as means to an end. They should be treated as ends in
themselves. Another formula is the Kingdom of Ends, where Kant sees a republic
of rational beings. All three of the above formulas are just different
versions of the same moral law. Most importantly, however, is that one’s
maxims are such that one would will that everyone would follow them. Read
Kant's original work about the Categorical Imperative in his Groundwork
for the Metaphysics of Morals.
Chapter Four:
J. S. Mill
Utilitarianism
has its roots via Jeremy
Bentham via David
Hume. Bentham was a colleague of J.S. Mill’s father and, thus, Mill
was influenced by Bentham’s ideas of utilitarianism, which quantified benefits
and harms in the decision-making process. (This is where the phrase "The
greatest good for the greatest number" comes from.) Via his calculus of
felicity, Bentham literally calculated decisions. For instance, if two
of us would benefit, but five others would not, we would choose the solution
where the most people would benefit. Bentham was all about quantity, not
quality. however. For instance, he said “pushpin was the same as poetry”
in terms of pleasure. And perhaps it is at this point where Mill came to
disagree with Bentham’s kind of utilitarianism. The mindless game of pushpin
could not compare to the quality of poetry! Mill wanted ethical
decision-making to be concerned with quality, not just quantity.
He felt that Bentham’s version would eventually dumb-down society. Read
Mill's original work where he discusses his theory of utility in Utilitarianism.
Chapter Five:
Applied ethics
With its roots in Athens, Rome,
and Jerusalem, casuistry,
or applied ethics, still exists today, and many professions use the method
to grapple with moral dilemmas in the work place and beyond. Casuistry
can involve the consideration of both the practical and theoretical. In
other words, as we work through a case study, we might work back and forth
between the two to reach a reasoned answer to a dilemma.
Professionals and students should not make decisions via intuition. For instance, one might have a gut reaction on how to solve an ethical dilemma, but one still should work through a process of reasoning and reflection to come to a justified decision. Please note that the justified decision might possibly end up being the same decision that one had as a gut reaction. However, as Sissela Bok would point out, we now have the reasons to explain to the public why that decision was made. We have the premises, so to speak, that led us to our conclusion.
A journalist should also not merely make a decision because of a principle in a code of ethics. These are guidelines, not rules, for the journalist—although some employers may use them as rules. Journalists need to go beyond rule obedience. Guidelines are a good place for journalists to start—they give us the principles of our profession—act independently, seek the truth and report it, minimize harm, be accountable and so on. However, practically, we must look at each ethical dilemma separately. And we use all the tools we have in our ethical toolboxes to arrive at a decision—we must use reasoning and reflection. Case studies are available for discussion purposes from Indiana University, and the Committee of Concerned Journalists.
Chapter Six:
Helpful sites for journalism students
If you need to write a
philosophy paper or a paper for a journalism ethics class here are
my favorite sites that explore topics--and oftentimes offer links to additional
sites--about media ethics.
- Society of Professional Journalists
- 4journalism.com
- Professor Tom Brislin's ethics Web page
- Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly
- Ethics Updates
- Media Ethics Online
- The Ethics Connection
- Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation
- The Poynter Institute
- The Project for Excellence in Journalism