ABSTRACT
When we took on the challenge of writing a book on Communication Ethics we knew it would be a special opportunity. Like many of you who have opened this book, we have been both excited and confounded by the myriad issues involved in any study of communication ethics. The process of researching and organizing this book has been much like the process of felling and removing a tree from your backyard. Much of the process can be easily seen and chopped up into manageable sections. But when one gets to the roots-underneath the surface-things are more complex. As we tugged on one root we discovered a tangle of other roots just below the surface. The roots in communication ethics are almost always entwined with roots in philosophy, religion, politics, and so on. Along the way, we got both encouragement (“Haven’t you finished that book yet?”) and challenges (“Can you really teach ethics to students?”) from friends and colleagues. While we think we have answered the first question, the second remains in play for us.
