Finally, I am blogging…

Utilitarianism = the greatest “good” for the greatest number of people. I feel like this is a little bogus because, like the book explains “it reduces all morality to a concern with consequences and views humans as a means rather than as ends in themselves.” This idea is much too general and leaves no room for the uniqueness that is the human race. I think of retail stores whose motto is often “the customer is always right…” If this view of ethics were applied to retail PR, medical PR, entertainment PR, etc. we would not have very happy customers. I don’t think life is so busy that we should generalize entire populations and fail to recognize the opinions and needs of different individuals.

Communitarianism = in PR means that the organization is encouraged to be a responsible member of its community/communities. Though this sounds great, there are problems that could arise here too. A certain community could be promoting a belief, or concept that is not in alignment with the ethics of the organization. The book gives the example of the Dalkon Sheild – a case where neither utilitarianism nor communitarianism can fully be applied. Utilitarianism maybe take care of the majority, but would cause harm to the minority. Communitarianism would have required a recall, leaving women free from harm being treated unfairly.

I think neither of these approaches should be the focus of any PR organization. We should take the time, as professionals and as humans, to consider individuals and communities both.

Tying this in with PRSA: I feel like PRSA’s code leans more towards communitarianism. Most of their words generalize and seem to apply to groups, however they also state that they are considerate of the individual. “We are faithful to those we represent, while honoring our obligation to serve the public interest.” They end with this: “we respect all opinions.” It seems that PRSA understands that neither of these ethical concepts could exhaustively express their desire to promote good ethical public relations. They exist on a continuum, moving back and forth between caring for the community, the client, and the individual – always upholding good ethics and being loyal and honest.

I would hope that PR professionals pull from both utilitarianism and communitarianism – working to honestly serve their communities, attempting to uphold good ethics for the greatest number of people, while also giving attention to the minority who could go unnoticed otherwise.