Expanding the Philosophical Base for Ethical Public Relations Practice: Cross-Cultural Case Application of Non-Western Ethical Philosophies

摘要

Western philosophical approaches, such as utilitarianism, have informed journalism and public relations practices in the West with little regard for non-Western frameworks. To rectify the ethnocentrism of ethical reasoning prevalent in Western public relations practices, we discuss two non-Western philosophical foundations: the palaver-tree concept from Africa and Confucianism from Asia. By focusing on the philosophical base as the first step of the ethical decision-making process, the final part of this paper applies these two non-Western approaches to a U.S. crisis-management case, comparing and contrasting their values with utilitarianism, as well as demonstrating their utility in the West.