The Ethics of Advocacy: Moral Reasoning in the Practice of Public Relations

Advocacy ethics as an area of inquiry arises from a concern about practices of persuasion that operate only on the basis of what is effective in the quest to achieve advocacy objectives, without suffi cient regard for the basic moral principles that might be violated, or the people and interests that might be harmed in the process. In broad terms, the fi eld of advocacy ethics pushes back against the (Adam) Smithian notion that “out of self-interest…harmonious societies grow” (Kagan, 1998, p. 189). It challenges from a variety of perspectives the assumption that caveat emptor (let the buyer beware), and related attitudes, is a legitimate moral position for advocates to embrace (Patterson & Wilkins, 2005, p. 61; Baker, 1999a).