Proponents of professional ethics recognize the importance of theory but also know that the field of ethics is best understood through real-world applications. This book introduces students and practitioners to important ethical concepts through the lives of major thinkers ranging from Aristotle to Ayn Rand, John Stuart Mill to the Dalai Lama.

Some two dozen contributors approach media ethics from five perspectives—altruistic, egoistic, autonomous, legalist, and communitarian—and use real people as examples to convey ethical concepts as something more than mere abstractions. Readers see how Confucius represents group loyalty; Gandhi, nonviolent action; Mother Teresa, the spirit of sacrifice. Each profile provides biographical material, the individual’s basic ethical position and contribution, and insight into how his or her moral teachings can help the modern communicator. The roster of thinkers is gender inclusive, ethnically diverse, and spans a broad range of time and geography to challenge the misperception that moral theory is dominated by Western males.

These profiles challenge us not to give up on moral thinking in our day but to take seriously the abundance of good ideas in ethics that the human race provides. They speak to real-life struggles by applying to such trials the lasting quality of foundational thought. Many of the root values to which they appeal are cross-cultural, even universal.

Exemplifying these five ethical perspectives through more than two dozen mentors provides today’s communicators with a solid grounding of key ideas for improving discussion and attaining social progress in their lives and work. These profiles convey the diversity of means to personal and social betterment through worthwhile ideas that truly make ethics come alive.

About the Editors
Clifford G. Christians is Research Professor of Communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and his books include Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, now in its eighth edition. John C. Merrill is Professor Emeritus of Journalism at the University of Missouri–Columbia and author or editor of more than two dozen books, including most recently Media, Mission, and Morality.

Contents
Introduction by Clifford G. Christians and John C. Merrill

Part I. The Altruistic Stance: Loyalty to Others

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama: Universal Compassion by John C. Merrill

Jesus: Loving Neighbors by Mary Hulst

John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism by Raphael Cohen-Almagor

Carol Gilligan: Ethics of Care by Lee Wilkins

Martin Luther King Jr.: Personalism by William Babcock

Mother Teresa: Ethics of Sacrifice by Janice Hume
 

Part II. The Egoistic Stance: Loyalty to Self

Aristotle: Self-Development by Lee Anne Peck

Nietzsche: Becoming an Übermensch by Clifford G. Christians

Machiavelli: Pragmatic Realism by John C. Merrill

Camus: The Rebellious Spirit by David Gunkel

Kautilya of India: Social Egoism by John C. Merrill

Ayn Rand: Rational Self-Interest by John C. Merrill

Part III. The Autonomy Stance: Loyalty to Freedom

Henry David Thoreau: Value of Solitude by Stephanie Craft

John Locke: Natural Rights by Patrick Lee Plaisance

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Courage v. Authority by Ronald C. Arnett

Paulo Freire: Face Saving and Communication by Ronald C. Arnett

Hannah Arendt: Public as Authority by Maurine Beasley

Part IV. The Legalist Stance: Loyalty to Authority

Plato: Elite Norms by Lee Anne Peck

Muhammad:  Honor-Centered Morality by Mohammad A. Siddiqi

Kant: Importance of Duty by Lee Anne Peck

Moses: Deontological Norms by William Babcock

Hobbes: Submission to Leviathan by Stephen J. A. Ward
 

Part V. The Communitarian Stance: Loyalty to the Community

Confucius: Ethics of Character by Virginia Whitehouse

Gandhi: Fellowship of Power by Lee Wilkins

Marx: Transcending Alienation by Jon Bekken

Dewey: Democratic Conversation by Lee Wilkins

Habermas: Consensus and Citizenship by David S. Allen

Levinas: Priority of the Other by Ronald C. Arnett