Comm 01 / PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION
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Chapter 1: Communication Processes, Principles and Ethics
F. COMMUNICATION ETHICS
Communication ethics takes place when a
behavior of a person or a group is subjected by
their morals thereby affecting interpersonal,
mass mediated, and digital communication.
There should be a balance in speaking and
listening, validity of emotional appeal, the level
between praise and criticism. The imbalance of
communication results in unfavorable
circumstances between two parties and so
honesty on both groups must be maintained.
Aristotle highlighted the significance of
ethos and personal attributes in communication
like honesty and credibility. This results to
scholars to define ethics as the examination on
personal morals, values, and choices.
 The Golden Mean
-states that ethics is embedded in the
character says Aristotle. (Many scholars
believed that Aristotle is the founder of
communication discipline.)
-entails about morality, seen in
moderation since people have moral
virtues that can be translated into
choices or modes of choices
-Each virtue is the mean, the pathway of
two extremes which is the excess and
the deficiency.
-Aristotle (1947: 333-337) said that, “We
can see this most clearly with the virtue
of temperance, the mean between
eating and drinking too little or too
much. Similarly, courage would be the
mean between the extremes of fear
(deficiency) and overconfidence
(excess). Truthfulness would be the
mean between false modesty and
boastfulness; justice would be the mean
between distributing too few goods (or
punishments) and too many.”
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Handout No.
 The Categorical Imperative
-highlighted by German philosopher
Immanuel Kant
-“Act only according to that maxim by
which you can at the same time will that
it should become a universal law,”
(1959, cited from Tubbs, 2013)
-A categorical imperative under certain
circumstance many not be acceptable by
others.
-For truth is essential and when people
lie, there is a tendency to harm
someone, likely when someone will lie
to protect the welfare of the individual,
such action is bound by the universal
laws of morality than the outcomes of
people’s actions.
 Utilitarianism
-Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill put a
strong emphasis on the consequences and
outcomes of our actions.
-the base of utilitarianism as ‘actions are
right in portion as they tend to promote
happiness, wrong (insofar) as they tend to
produce the reverse of happiness,’ (Mill,
1968: 249 as cited in Tubbs, 2013)
-happiness is the ‘pleasure and the absence
of pain’ including intellectual gratification
and principles.
 Justice and the Veil of Ignorance
-American Philosopher John Rawls expresses
that ethics is a principle of justice rather than
utility by allowing people to free themselves
from bias and self-interest.
-social position, education and many others
are known as “accidents of birth” allowing
people to put behind a curtain of ignorance.
-Rawls (1971, 137) said that, ‘no one knows
his place in society, his class position or
social status; nor does he know his fortune
in the distribution of natural assets and
liabilities, his intelligence and strength, and
the like. Nor again does anyone know his
Comm 01 / PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION Handout No. 06

Chapter 1: Communication Processes, Principles and Ethics

conception of the good, the particulars of his

rational plan of life, or even the special
features of the psychology such as his
aversion to risk or liability to optimism or
pessimism. More than this, I assume that the
parties do not know the particular
circumstances of their own society.”
-since people do not know their situations in
society or their natural assets, no individual
in his or her status should use it to his or her
benefit. While they won’t know which
principle will be of value, it will eliminate the
probability of groupings to create an alliance
as they have no knowledge on how “to favor
themselves.” Once corrected, they can make
an ethical decision in which there is equally
with no person or group being favored.
 Lying and Interpretation
-telling a lie and making it as truth is
dangerous for people in providing
information
 Whistleblowing
-It happens when someone from a group
violates the group’s norm by revealing
an evidence or activity that is considered
dishonest, unethical, forbidden within
the organization that can be private or
public. It requires great courage since
the whistleblower speaks out his or her
status in a risk that will compromise his
or her safety (Tubbs, 2013).
 Leaks
-these are known information shared to
others like information disclosed to the
process a concealed identity who is a
familiar source. It protects the source
and avoids confirmation of the truth
(Tubbs, 2013).

 Secrets, Disclosure, and Privacy Reference:

-Issues on disclosure of information is a
case to case basis SyGaco, S. (2018). Principles and
-“For example, imagine yourself as a competencies in purposive
reporter for the school newspaper. As communication – writing, speaking,
part of your job, you interview a and presenting to different audiences
university official, and she gives you
and for various purposes. Quezon
some controversial information on the
City: Great Books Trading.
promise that you will not reveal her as
the source. Grades of several athletes
have been altered to raise their
academic averages. Later, a heated
debate is stirred up by your article, and
the dean of students demands to know
the source of your information,” (Tubbs,
2013: 204-205)
-In mass media, the ethical issue on the
right to privacy is very important as
journalists are confronted with the issue
that the public has the right to know
while their sources have the right to be
protected and the right to privacy.
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