PR ethics Ch.5

Public interest

The collective welfare, shared interests, and common good of a community or society as a whole.

Teleological (outcome-based)

An approach to ethics that uses the future goals, outcomes, or consequences of an action to determine what is ethical.

Problem of evil

The reality that humans are often self-serving, corrupt, and prone to exploiting positions of power, secrecy, or authority for selfish gain.

Types of bad managers

Redding's typology of common unethical management behaviors consisting of being coercive, destructive, deceptive, intrusive, secretive, manipulative or exploitative, plus a lack of listening.

Pathetic liars, narcissistic liars, and sociopathic liars

Three workplace liar types where pathetic liars cover for incompetence, narcissistic liars seek power and blame others without accountability, and sociopathic liars manipulate without conscience or empathy.

Regulatory agencies

Government bodies at local, state, or federal levels established to enforce fair business practices, transparency, and legal compliance (such as OSHA, SEC, FDA, and EPA). CSR and philanthropy

Creating shared value (CSV)

Philanthropy and business giving that is strategically aligned with an organization's goals to create mutual benefit and societal enrichment.

Sustainability reporting

The disclosure of an organization's environmental stewardship and operational impact to stakeholders to bolster responsible practices.

Teleology

The philosophical study and framework centered on the telos, or the outcomes and consequences of actions.

Consequences

The projected or actual future results and impacts produced by a decision or action. Ends

Utilitarianism

A consequentialist normative theory defining the ethical as that which maximizes utility, or the greatest good for the greatest number.

Utility

The use, function, or outcome produced by a decision.

Hedonistic utilitarianism

Bentham's early consequentialist calculus focused strictly on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.

Selective exposure

A dangerous tendency where people avoid exposure to ideas or thoughts different from their own, which Mill argued must be actively countered with open research.

Greater good principle

The foundational utilitarian rule that actions are right in proportion as they promote the greatest happiness for the majority.

Maximin principle

The core utilitarian rule of maximizing happiness and aggregate good while minimizing harms and negative outcomes.

Act utilitarianism

A form of utilitarianism that applies the maximin calculus to one unique, specific scenario to determine the choice creating the greatest good for that specific situation.

Rule utilitarianism

A form of utilitarianism that examines consequences through general rules of action based on historical precedents and similar past cases that can be followed by everyone.

Grievous harms

Extreme negative consequences, atrocities, or extreme suffering that cannot be justified simply to achieve majority benefit.