Arnett, R. C., Fritz, J. H., Bell, L. M.: Communication Ethics Literacy: Dialogue and Difference

Excerpt

Arnett, Fritz, and Bell’s (2009) Communication Ethics Literacy: Dialogue and Difference provides a way of learning about and understanding multiple perspectives and approaches to communication ethics by crafting a framework for communication ethics literacy. The authors provide an expertise in ethical engagement from a communication perspective focused on practical applications in various contexts. Ronald C. Arnett (Duquesne University) has authored over eighty articles, six books, three edited books, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his scholarship that centers upon communication ethics. Janie Harden Fritz’s (Duquesne University) scholarship focuses on communicative practices in organizations that centers upon communication ethics and civility related to individual commitment to institutions. She has been published in numerous business and management journals, authored and edited five books related to communication ethics and civility, serves as the editor-in-chief of Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture and Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, and is the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding work and leadership. Leeanne Bell McManus (Stevenson University) is business communication faculty and her research interests include communication ethics, pedagogy, and conflict negotiation processes. They offer differing modes of engagement for ethical human decision-making that recognize the multiplicity of environments within which human beings encounter others. Communication ethics literacy identifies possible ethical approaches toward the other that takes into account the particularities unique to various contexts of human experience. The authors recognize that there is no one way to the ethical engagement of the other, and they offer a metaphorical map that can guide ethical journeys, taking into account the historical moment, its particular questions, and the difference that emerges as a result of narrative contention marking our contemporary milieu. Arnett, Fritz, and Bell also illuminate that understanding ethical ways of decision-making and engaging the other rests in continued learning about the other and the environment, as well as identifying the common ground from which communication may begin. This book review explores the parameters set by Arnett, Fritz, and Bell for understanding communication ethics literacy, provides chapter summaries, sketches the metaphorical map that defines communication ethics literacy, and considers implications of this book for both the business and communication disciplines. …