We are currently in an era where the profession of public relations is widely viewed as being “spin doctors” and hype can often eclipse reality. Most individuals see public relations as people who manipulate the public mind, rather than tell the truth. We are often accused of distorting reality, propaganda and withholding information. With these circumstances, you could have thought that “ethical public relations” was an oxymoron. Although not everyone is in tune with today’s public relation’s world, it is critical to assert a practitioners' beliefs of ethics in the practice of public relations. Being an ethical public relations practitioner is fundamental, especially when it is your duty to build trust and enhance stakeholders’ reputations. …show more content…
To become a well- respected and trustworthy practitioner we have to be aware of how we deal with media and portray our clientele. Even though you may view something as ethical someone else may disagree, which could be the result of the person having a deontological or a consequentialist ethical view. Even though there is a list of ethical views I wanted to focus on two, in particular, deontology and consequentialism. Deontology and Consequentialism can be extremely similar philosophical views as they focus on doing the greater good. However, both contain key factors that make each idea unique and different. It could be said that both theories arrive at the same conclusion but through the way of different paths. Though, beyond the surface each of these ethical ideologies, they begin to differ …show more content…
Therefore, a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome or result and the ends justify the means. This would mean that a consequentialist person would make their ethical decisions based on costs and benefits, so the morally right action is one of the best overall consequences. The benefits of this approach are that you have to take into consideration all alternatives and think about what consequences will follow your actions. Like deontology, there are problems with having a fully consequential ethical view. It is important to note that with the positives there are also problems that can arise with this point of view. The major problem with this approach is how can you efficiently calculate the greatest good? as you are required to guess the benefits of the outcome of your choice?. One example of this could be what if a solution drastically harms a minority group, would it is considered ethical if the majority group benefited from the consequential decision. It is important to realize that this would negate the goal of public relations which is to build relationships and trust with all stakeholder groups. Grunig states that this is a faulty line of reasoning when he suggested that “We believe, in contrast, the public relations should be based on a worldview that incorporates ethics
Newsom, D., Turk-Vanslyke, J., & Druckeberg, D. (1996). This is PR: The realities of public relations 6ed. United States: Wadsworth Publishing
Bowan, S (2007). Ethics and Public Relations. Retrieved on February 14, 2012 from : http://www.instituteforpr.org/topics/ethics-and-public-relations/
...t or wrong in any situation. By using the principles of consequentialism the guess work of deciding what to do in a dilemma can easily be solved by doing what creates the best overall result.
According to deontology, people have an obligation that is imposed upon them by the duty to perform certain actions without due consideration on their consequential outcomes, (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2011). This explains the instances where it is morally justified to perform a certain action whose pain is greater than the collective pleasures that can be derived from it, (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2011). One of the major contributors to the deontological ethical theory is Emmanuel Kant. Deontologists include other ideologies that are inherently lacking among the consequentialist theories, particularly the utilitarianism. These aspects include the duty to act as well as a consideration of the intention to do what is right against what is wrong, (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2011). Deontological theorists argue that good intentions or good will is what informs the moral worth of an action and not just a consideration of the
ABSTRACT: Recently, unrestrained consequentialism has been defended against the charge that it leads to unacceptable trade-offs by showing a trade-off accepted by many of us is not justified by any of the usual nonconsequenlist arguments. The particular trade-off involves raising the speed limit on the Interstate Highway System. As a society, we seemingly accept a trade-off of lives for convenience. This defense of consequentialism may be a tu quoque, but it does challenge nonconsequentialists to adequately justify a multitude of social decisions. Work by the deontologist Frances Kamm, conjoined with a perspective deployed by several economists on the relation between social costs and lives lost, is relevant. It provides a starting point by justifying decisions which involve trading lives only for other lives. But the perspective also recognizes that using resources in excess of some figure (perhaps as low as $7.5 million) to save a life causes us to forego other live-saving activities, thus causing a net loss of life. Setting a speed limit as low as 35 miles per hour might indeed save some lives, but the loss of productivity due to the increased time spent in travel would cost an even greater number of lives. Therefore, many trade-offs do not simply involve trading lives for some lesser value (e.g., convenience), but are justified as allowing some to die in order to save a greater number.
We now live in a liberal democracy were public opinion influences political action. So as public opinion has sustained an influential presence within politics we have now seen the emergence of public relations within politics. According to Moloney public relations is “the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning the understanding, support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain good will and mutual understanding between organisations and its publics” (Moloney, 2:2006). In relation to politics public relations is about maintaining a positive relationship with the public. Public relations main concern in relation to politics would be the reputation and image...
Deontology is a non-consequentialist theory. While consequentialism believes the ends always justify the means, deontologists claim that the rightness of an action should not be solely dependent on maximizing the good, even if that action goes against what is ethically right. For example, four critical conditioned patients in a hospital need a different organ to survive and a healthy man comes into the hospital for a check-up, would you kill the healthy man to save the four? According to consequentialism, the doctor should take the healthy man’s organs to save the others, thus maximizing the good. However, we all know that it is ethically wrong. Deontology objects to this way o...
Consequentialism is a term used by the philosophers to simplify what is right and what is wrong. Consequentialist ethical theory suggests that right and wrong are the consequences of our actions. It is only the consequences that determine whether our actions are right or wrong. Standard consequentialism is a form of consequentialism that is discussed the most. It states that “the morally right action for an agent to perform is the one that has the best consequences or that results in the most good.” It means that an action is morally correct if it has little to no negative consequences, or the one that has the most positive results.
Deontological moral theory is a Non-Consequentialist moral theory. While consequentialists believe the ends always justify the means, deontologists assert that the rightness of an action is not simply dependent on maximizing the good, if that action goes against what is considered moral. It is the inherent nature of the act alone that determines its ethical standing. For example, imagine a situation where there are four critical condition patients in a hospital who each need a different organ in order to survive. Then, a healthy man comes to the doctor’s office for a routine check-up. According to consequentialism, not deontology, the doctor should and must sacrifice that one man in order to save for others. Thus, maximizing the good. However, deontological thought contests this way of thinking by contending that it is immoral to kill the innocent despite the fact one would be maximizing the good. Deontologists create concrete distinctions between what is moral right and wrong and use their morals as a guide when making choices. Deontologists generate restrictions against maximizing the good when it interferes with moral standards. Also, since deontologists place a high value on the individual, in some instances it is permissible not to maximize the good when it is detrimental to yourself. For example, one does not need to impoverish oneself to the point of worthlessness simply to satisfy one’s moral obligations. Deontology can be looked at as a generally flexible moral theory that allows for self-interpretation but like all others theories studied thus far, there are arguments one can make against its reasoning.
These are two ethical theories, they both have similarities and differences. While Consequentialism usually focuses on the moral worth of an act, deontological theories usually focus on judging the actual actions themselves. According to Peterson (2013) consequentialism usually focuses on the consequences of taking some decision or the results of a specific ethical decision that was chosen by an individual. It is about how many people will benefit from the act that will be taken by the police. This means if the police are making the decision, according to this theory, they need to ask themselves what exactly they want to do and who is the beneficiary of the action (Carlson, 2013). Deontology more less is the sense of morality, what is right and what is deemed wrong.
Deontology, on the other hand, emphasizes on the moral intuitions that guide one’s conscience for or against certain actions (Curcă, 2013). Deontologists are the opposites of utilitarians because the essential judgment of taking or not taking a course of action is observed in its strictest sense. Apart from feelings and conditions, deontologists also consider the consequences of not following religious rules and natural laws of morality to guide every course of action. Thus, deontologists value three major principles of decision-making: intrinsic morality, the duty of care, and the moral consequences of an action.
Ethics is not a concept that is thought about often, but it is practiced on a daily basis. Even while unconscious of the fact, people consider ethics while making every choice in life. There are many theories to which people allude, but two radically different theories that are sometimes practiced are deontology and utilitarianism. Deontology deals with actions in a situation while utilitarianism examines the consequences of those actions. While polar opposites on the broad spectrum of ethics, deontology and utilitarianism are bioethical theories that can be applied to nursing practice and personal life situations.
A nonconsequentialist act is the deontology theory. Deontology is a moral obligation or duty to act relating to a principle or rule. Deontology requires the act of humanity. It is never the treatment as a means to an end. A rule of deontology is that one should act in a manner that maxim the act intending to develop the act as a universal law. However, deontology can obligate someone to act in a way that seems wrong and unethical (Mossier, 2013). It is a rigid theory that fails to capture the complex issues that arise. Therefore, one would need to act as everyone would act in that specific situation. When applying the deontology theory, one should focus on the will of the person acting, the person’s intention of carrying out the act, and the rule according to which the act is carried out. Deontology can impact human life within society through the application to the principal in gender equality in areas of employment, health care, and the education system. The
Seitel, Fraser P. (2007). The Practice of Public Relations (10 Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ethics, as according to Johanessen, Valde, & Whedbee (2008, p. 1) is a study that argues what should be the grounds principles for right and wrong human behaviour. There are public relations scholars from Kruckeberg (1998) have made a point to relate universal ethical values as professional values. It is therefore necessary to integrate these values into the public relations profession. The Institute of Public Relations Singapore (IPRS) has supported this in their code of ethics. A principal stated that, “A member shall conduct his professional activities with respect for the public interest and the interest of the profession.” This means that every decision and strategy that the public relations practitioner should account for their employee, client or community. However, a report done by