Ethics and technical communication: a case for foundational approaches

Author

Markel, Mike

Author_Institution

Dept. of English, Boise State Univ., ID, USA

Volume

40

Issue

4

fYear

1997

fDate

12/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

284

Lastpage

298

Abstract

The study of ethics is important for technical communication students and professionals because as workers and as citizens they confront ethical dilemmas and must act. The article describes and contrasts several foundational and nonfoundational ethical approaches. Analyzing two well known ethics cases from the perspective of the different approaches, it is argued that although foundational approaches are limited, they provide better insights than do nonfoundational approaches. Finally, the article describes a problem solving technique, based on foundational approaches and communicative ethics, that can be used by technical communication students and professionals to analyze ethical dilemmas

Keywords

education; personnel; professional aspects; technical presentation; citizens; communicative ethics; ethical dilemmas; ethics; ethics cases; foundational approaches; nonfoundational approaches; problem solving technique; professionals; technical communication students; workers; Computer aided software engineering; Ethics; Explosions; Guidelines; Helium; Industrial training; Problem-solving; Professional communication; Rhetoric; Writing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0361-1434

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/47.650006

Filename

650006