Chapter 12 Blog Post

This chapter was kind of a review of some of the main points of the book.  Although many of the concepts of Chapter 12 were discussed in other chapters of the book, their reiteration was helpful to emphasize their importance to the study of communication ethics.  I was a little surprised that there was not much new information in the chapter.  The idea of crisis communication is an important one.  This is defined by the book as dealing with different views of the good.  On page 213, it says that “Communication ethics is the call to learn about differing views of the good assumed by different positions.”  I also like how on this same page the authors talk about how we “miss the communication challenges and opportunities before us” if we “ignore the diversity of goods” (213).  In a world where difference is something that we have to learn to deal with, it is important to understand that people have different ideas about the good.

I like the way that unethical communication was defined on page 221:  “[A]ssuming that you know everything and assuming that what the other knows is not worth knowing.”  That way of thinking seems to be less common every day.  There seems to be an unprecedented level of tolerance in our country and many Americans seem to abide by what the book calls “learn and discern” (221).  Our society is much more open to a diverse range of viewpoints and lifestyles today than it has ever been before.  The chapter states that just because we may not agree with someone on the ethical aspect of a situation it does not mean that they are wrong.  Disagreement is an opportunity to learn from the Other.

There are differing views of the good and it is important that we not let our own views on a topic keep us from trying to understand the views of the Other, even if we initially do not think that we will find any common ground between our own view and theirs.  The book mentioned numerous times that living in a postmodern world means that there is no longer a universal idea of the good and because of that, it is necessary to engage in ethical communication with the Other.