Communicative Bonds as Moral Bonds *

The problem of morality in communication raises two questions for the sociologist: What ought we to communicate, and how do we communicate what we ought? Both the "ought" and the "how" of communication require definition. Advocates of "more" communication are not only naive; what they advocate is downright dangerous. More people listened to Hitler than to the leaders of the Weimar Republic, but the "sharing" in this communication turned out to be the sharing of evil, not of good.