ETHICS OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2017/2018
- Teacher
- SERGIO GESSI
- Credits
- 12
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- M-FIL/05
Training objectives
- Training objectives
The ethics of communication represents the secular response to the needs of contemporary society, aware that it is necessary to search for shared solutions to common problems in the spirit of a civilised coexistence.
The existence of a social network made up of citizens who are free to determine their own choices - on the basis of documented knowledge - and who are responsible for their actions is an essential prerequisite.
Freedom and responsibility are pivotal concepts in the perspective of a communication based on dialogue and therefore ethically oriented; they constitute the foundations and define the conditions for an authentic confrontation, marked by truthfulness and mutual listening, in which the interlocutors argue subjective beliefs without any instrumentality or willingness to impose their own point of view; on the contrary, ready to reconsider the personnel recruited for what is acclaimed in the discursive sphere.
Ethics in communication is exercised where one defines a public space of confrontation in which each dialoguer can freely manifest his theses, and also responsibly assesses their foreseeable implications.
The exercise of free will is the guarantee that individual convictions - which guide choices and give impulse to action - are independently weighted and not heteronomically imposed; and this presupposition constitutes a condition of imputability, a requirement on the basis of which each person can be legitimately called to answer for his own conduct.
Responsibility, on the other hand, means conscious and mature assumption of responsibility for what follows from one's own autonomous and unconditional (as free) choices.
Freedom and responsibility are, therefore, essential conditions for a proper ethical dialogue.
The Ethics of communication is an anomalous discipline. The didactic objective of transferring content, knowledge and knowledge related to the subject matter cannot therefore be separated from a twofold aim: to promote the conscious awareness of the role and social dimension of each individual, and consequently to stimulate reflection on the modes of exercising the subjective condition of participating member of a community. Prerequisites
- The full understanding of the meaning of communication ethics presupposes knowledge of the foundations of philosophical thought and of the various disciplines that study relational and communicative processes and dynamics. In addition, the ethics of information - enshrined in teaching - is based on reference to theories and techniques connected with journalism in particular and the media system in the broadest sense.
Having knowledge of these elements is useful but not indispensable: during the course, conceptual references will be provided that are essential to face the study of the subject with the necessary awareness Course programme
- The course will address the problematic issue that raises ethical and moral issues. This is a question that is far from abstract, since it concerns the cultural core of social approaches based on dogmatism or relativism, as well as the presuppositions of individual choices and behaviour.
Starting from the clarification of this basic theoretical question and the consideration of its significance in reference to the modalities of inter-subjective relationship, we will try to define the disciplinary specificity and the broader meaning of the Ethics of communication.
It will be evaluated for its particular effects in the different areas of communicative action, from daily interpersonal exchanges to multiple and articulated relationships in sectors and professional contexts.
According to the analysis perspective of the various disciplines that operate in the field of communication, consideration will be given to the crucial aspects - from an ethical point of view - related to politics and the social sphere, public relations, science and medical field, marketing, business and environmental context.
Journalism and the world of information will be considered with particular attention, evaluating its functions, characteristics and development trends. A significant part of the course will be reserved for the definition of the function of the press, of the communication models adopted by the different media, of editorial working practices. The role and social responsibility of the journalist will be analysed.
Introductory module
The problem of freedom and responsibility
Language and languages, forms of communication
Ethical reflection in the history of philosophical thought
Possibility and choices, the meaning of life
Conceptual themes and insights
The definition of a common space of confrontation: the ethics of communication
Contemporary reflection and the ethics of dialogue
Ethics of communication in the media, in public relations, in business, marketing and advertising, in the social, intercultural, political, economic, environmental and biomedical spheres
The information system and the role of the journalist: scenario, rights and duties, practice, representation of reality and construction of news. Theoretical and practical aspects. Didactic methods
- The classroom activity must be engaging to be stimulating. The traditional frontal lessons will therefore be complemented by multimedia materials of various kinds (musical works, films, videos...) and will include moments of debate and discussion on ethical issues, stimulated also by the presence of external guests.
To support interactive teaching, a Facebook page is active as a place for informal comparison and as a repository of useful audiovisual and documentary material (https://www.facebook.com/responsabilmente)
All slides are available on the teaching site to support the teaching activity.
The third round of "Ethics in Practice"seminars will also be held in spring 2018 to learn, understand and reflect. Learning assessment procedures
- The examination consists of an oral interview aimed at verifying the effective understanding of the assumptions, fundamental values and procedures typical of the discipline. Rather than the notional knowledge of the contents, the mastery of the matter expressed through the ability to argue one's own assertions, and the ability to define logical and conceptual connections in relation to the controversial issues that the Ethics of communication assumes as its privileged field of analysis, will be the object of positive consideration.
Reference texts
- The examination requires knowledge of the basic contents of the course. This will require the study of the following texts:
Fabris Adriano, Etica della comunicazione, Carocci
Fabris Adriano, Guida alle etiche della comunicazione, Ets
Pratellesi Marco, New Journalism. Dalla crisi della stampa al giornalismo di tutti, Bruno Mondadori
In the interview:
- attendants will also have the opportunity to discuss a topic of their choice among those addressed during the course
- the non frequenters are instead required to read in addition and explain the lines of argument of one of the following texts (choice of choice):
- Bellino Francesco, Per un’etica della comunicazione, Bruno Mondadori campus
- Franchi Maura, Schianchi Augusto, L'intelligenza delle formiche. Scelte interconnesse, Diabasis
- Goffman Erving, La vita quotidiana come rappresentazione, il Mulino
- Manetti Giovanni, Fabris Adriano, Comunicazione, La Scuola
- Mariano Luigi, Etica utile, Utet
- Mordacci Roberto, La vita e le buone ragioni, Bruno Mondadori economica
- Papuzzi Alberto, Professione giornalista, Donzelli
- Pecchenino Mauro, Le nuove relazioni pubbliche, Carocci
- Reichlin Massimiliano , Etica della vita, Bruno Mondadori
- Rovatti Pier Aldo, Etica minima, Raffaello Cortina editore
- Russ Jacqueline, L’etica contemporanea, il Mulino
- Sclavi Mariella, Arte di ascoltare e mondi possibili, Mondadori
- Sorrentino Carlo, Studiare giornalismo. Ambiti, logiche, attori, Carocci
- Vanin Luca, Public speaking online, Parla al tuo pubblico nel web, Flaccovio editore
- Viano Carlo Augusto (a cura di), Teorie etiche contemporanee, Bollati Boringhieri
- Zagrebelsky Gustavo, Contro l’etica della verità, Laterza
(Indicative translation of titles of proposed texts)
Bellino Francesco, For an ethic of communication, Bruno Mondadori
Franchi Maura, Schianchi Augusto, The Intelligence of Ants. Interconnected Choices, Diabasis
Goffman Erving, Daily life as a representation, Il Mulino
Manetti Giovanni, Fabris Adriano, Communication, La Scuola
Mariano Luigi, Useful Ethics, Utet
Mordacci Roberto, Life and good reasons, Bruno Mondadori
Papuzzi Alberto, Journalist Profession, Donzelli
Pecchenino Mauro, New Public Relations, Carocci
Reichlin Massimiliano, Ethics of Life, Bruno Mondadori
Rovatti Pier Aldo, Minimum Ethics, Raffaello Cortina editore
Russ Jacqueline, Contemporary ethics, Il Mulino
Sclavi Mariella, Art of listening and possible worlds, Mondadori
Sorrentino Carlo, Study journalism. Areas, logics, actors, Carocci
Vanin Luca, Public speaking online, Speak to your audience in the web, Flaccovio editore
Carlo Augusto (edited by), Contemporary Ethical Theories, Bollati Boringhieri
Zagrebelsky Gustavo, Against the Ethics of Truth, Laterza
