Community over Chaos

An Ecological Perspective on Communication Ethics

Business & Finance, Business Reference, Business Ethics, Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Communication
Cover of the book Community over Chaos by James A. Mackin, University of Alabama Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James A. Mackin ISBN: 9780817388447
Publisher: University of Alabama Press Publication: January 20, 2015
Imprint: University Alabama Press Language: English
Author: James A. Mackin
ISBN: 9780817388447
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Publication: January 20, 2015
Imprint: University Alabama Press
Language: English

This ecology of ethics seeks to balance the needs of the individual and those of the various levels of community.

As James A. Mackin, Jr., shows, both modernism and postmodernism have undermined the traditional foundations for ethics. Using an ecological model, however, Community over Chaos develops a common ground for ethical judgments about communication, thus countering the current theoretical climate of pessimistic cynicism toward the very possibility of ethics.

This theoretical pessimism is not merely an academic problem. The general public is becoming more and more disillusioned about the possibility of ethical communication. We are unable to teach principles of communicative ethics in our primary and secondary schools because we cannot agree on a common ground for those principles. Instead, we teach a narrow form of competence that is concerned primarily with short-term, individual success. Because our communities are built on our communicative practices, our inability to justify communicative ethics must ultimately lead to the disintegration of our communities.

Mackin's ecological model assumes that each of us is a communicative system operating within larger communicative systems that together form our communicative ecosystem. Virtues of the ecological approach are practical wisdom, based in fuzzy logic, and communicative openness and honesty.

Mackin recognizes the importance of both chaos and community in our communicative ecosystems. Chaos, as the source of originality and creativity, can contribute to growth and development; community provides the source of regularity and nurture that makes chaos endurable.

 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This ecology of ethics seeks to balance the needs of the individual and those of the various levels of community.

As James A. Mackin, Jr., shows, both modernism and postmodernism have undermined the traditional foundations for ethics. Using an ecological model, however, Community over Chaos develops a common ground for ethical judgments about communication, thus countering the current theoretical climate of pessimistic cynicism toward the very possibility of ethics.

This theoretical pessimism is not merely an academic problem. The general public is becoming more and more disillusioned about the possibility of ethical communication. We are unable to teach principles of communicative ethics in our primary and secondary schools because we cannot agree on a common ground for those principles. Instead, we teach a narrow form of competence that is concerned primarily with short-term, individual success. Because our communities are built on our communicative practices, our inability to justify communicative ethics must ultimately lead to the disintegration of our communities.

Mackin's ecological model assumes that each of us is a communicative system operating within larger communicative systems that together form our communicative ecosystem. Virtues of the ecological approach are practical wisdom, based in fuzzy logic, and communicative openness and honesty.

Mackin recognizes the importance of both chaos and community in our communicative ecosystems. Chaos, as the source of originality and creativity, can contribute to growth and development; community provides the source of regularity and nurture that makes chaos endurable.

 

More books from University of Alabama Press

Cover of the book Archaeology and Ancient Religion in the American Midcontinent by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book The Yellowhammer War by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book The Trouble with Being Born by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book The Mark of Criminality by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and the Twenties by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book Footprints in Stone by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book The Making Sense of Things by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book Rescuers of Skydivers Search Among the Clouds by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book Citizen Science in the Digital Age by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book My War against the Nazis by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book Alabama Wildlife, Volume 5 by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book Augusta Evans Wilson, 1835-1909 by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book Achilles and the Tortoise by James A. Mackin
Cover of the book The Ascent of Chiefs by James A. Mackin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy