Lecture 8 - Ethical Theories

Today's lecture would probably have to be one of my favourite sessions so far! It was extremely interactive and fun and really made you think. We all watched a number of advertisements, whether they were in poster or video form. Each of us then had to rate what we believed the advertisement demonstrated, whether it was  ethical or unethical, in good or in bad taste. The answers given at the end were extremely surprising! Next, the three ethical theories were discussed: Deontology, Consequentialism and Virtue. Deontology refers to the rules, principles and duties that people follow by and how you will do the right thing by following these rules. All Ethic codes are deontological. Consequentialism is getting a “good” or “right” outcome, without worrying how you got there. The end may justify the means and the greatest good for the greatest number. Finally, virtue ethics is all about goodness (aka happiness) and how it comes from good habits or dispositions of character. These habits are “virtues” such as courage, justice, temperance and prudence. Furthermore, these habits of character are the “golden mean” of behaviour. When mentioning courage, it can be defined as the mean between rashness and cowardice, whilst justice on the other hand is the mean between the in-justice of overzealous and excessive law and the injustice of lawlessness. The codes of ethics were lastly discussed and examples given such as MEAA Code, PRIA Code, AFA Code and AANA code. Overall, the lecture was a brilliant one and I thoroughly enjoyed learning the complications and art of ethics in journalism.