#📓 #📚 #🟠 # The ethics of being in a communications context ![[calendar-plus.svg]] <small>Nov 14, 2021</small> | ![[calendar-clock.svg]] <small>Jan 03, 2023</small> 🏷️ [[ethics]], [[dialogic communication]] **Authors:** [[C. G. Christians]] **Citation:** Christians, C. G. (1997). The ethics of being in a communications context. In C. G. Christians & M. Traber (Eds.), _Communication ethics and universal values_ (pp. 3–19). Sage Publications. --- # Notes #### p. 3 - Much of Western philosophy holds that there are universal moral truths based on reason. ([note on p.3](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=1)) #### p. 4 - Diversity means there aren't universal truths. Those are simply attempts by dominant group to define good for everyone. ([note on p.4](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=2)) Moral standards can only be understood in context. ([note on p.5](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=3)) > Are there global principles or a moral order or master norms that belong to our humanness? ([Christians 1997:6](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=4)) #### p. 7 - Hans Jonas asserts that there is at least one natural universal truth - life itself. ([note on p.7](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=5)) Moral duty to preserve life. *How does this play in abortion debate?* #### p. 8 - [[protonorm of sacredness of life]] #### p. 12 - Universal values reflect the oneness of humans but must be interpreted through individual context. ([note on p.12](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=10)) Compromises between rational absolutes and relativism. Sacredness of life that binds humans into common oneness based on basic [[moral principles|principles]] serves as master norm that can still be culturally diverse in how it is interpreted through situational contexts. ([note on p.15](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=13)) #### p. 16 - Without universal norms, individual values are just arbitrary preferences. ([note on p.16](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=14)) > A commitment to universals does not eliminate all differences in what we think and believe ([Christians 1997:18](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=16)) #### p. 18 - Ethics grounded in being is [[pluralism|pluralistic]]. #### p. 19 appeals at international forums for human rights and freedom are meaningless if they do not derive from respect for "the miracle of Being, the miracle of the universe, the miracle of nature, the miracle of our own existence" ([Christians 1997:19](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=17)) #### p. 19 > Through human solidarity rooted in a universal reverence for life, we respect ourselves and genuinely value the participation of others in a volatile age where "everything is possible and almost nothing is certain" (p. 614) ([Christians 1997:19](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/27BSE8YH?page=17)) ## My Questions & Thoughts --- # Other References