Abstract
In part one I review the literature, exposing some of the ambiguities, contradictions, and antinomies involved in the notion of communication. The literature presents us with two rather contradictory notions of communication: one rhetorical, the other responsible. Disparity between the two may be seen to jeopardize a “new moral mandate” to corporate business. In part two I develop more explicitly the models of rhetorical and responsible communication, locating the issue at the center of a solution to the problem of collective responsibility. A proper exercise of corporate moral responsibility, I argue, is compatible only with a model of responsible communication. I conclude by challenging top management to strive toward a goal of responsible communication at all levels in their respective corporate institutions.
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Dennis Weiser received his B.A. in Philosophy from Westminster College in 1978. Since then he has worked at a variety of occupations, including a brief stint as deckhand on the Mississippi River System. In 1986 he embarked on graduate study in philosophy at The University of Kansas in Lawrence, where his chief interests are in aesthetics and applied ethics. He is currently engaged in working out the implications of Hannah Arendt's theory of judging for institutional design and public policy. Mr. Weiser is the author of several collections of poetry and fiction. He was formerly regular editorial columnist for The Kansas City Business Journal.
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Weiser, D. Two concepts of communication as criteria for collective responsibility. J Bus Ethics 7, 735–744 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00411020
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00411020