Social Ethics

Who Determines what is Normative?

From a social constructionist perspective, what a society or organization considers to be “ethical” is a product of dialogue among its members. Dictionary definitions of ethics and ethical support this view. It is the members of a particular group that define what is or what is not ethical based on the meaning making done in their own processes of dialogue.

Dialogue originates in the public sphere, and those words, statements, and expressions are essentially actions performed with social consequences. Kenneth Gergen argues that dialogue is a form of coordinated action and the meaning of any utterance depends on its functioning within a relational environment. Because meaning is born in relationship, an individual's lone utterance contains no meaning. Rather, it provides the potential for meaning, a potential that can only be realized through another's contribution. This back and forth dialogue is the key building block to creating shared meaning and a shared reality. The central focus of generative dialogue is to bring realities (such as systems of social ethics) into being and bind them to particular patterns of action.

Ethical issues become a domino effect, and the logic of one is used by the culture to frame the debate on the other. One powerful example of this is bioethics. Biotechnology and genetics technology is advancing faster than any other area of our culture. The Human Genome Project, funded by the federal government, mapped the DNA strands to identify every human gene and its function. The results mean a degree of control that the human race has never had before. What will we do with this knowledge and control? Should we clone human beings? How should we think about the issue of using animal organs in human beings? Should we place animal tissue in human beings? Should we use gender selection when parents want to choose whether to have a boy or a girl? All these medical practices are currently being done or can be done.

This same logic is used in the euthanasia debate, where the focus is on the right of the person to die with dignity. Some states now sanction doctorassisted suicide using the implied right of privacy that formerly sanctioned the practice of abortion. Based on the implied right of privacy, a person who is ill and no longer desires to live can legally receive assistance from a doctor to commit suicide. With the baby boomers getting older, the pressure for widespread euthanasia will grow.

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