Cross-Cultural Application of

Ancient Chinese Philosophy in

Journalism Ethics Analysis

Koji Fuse, Ph.D.

Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism

University of North Texas
SWECJMC Symposium
Dallas, Texas
Nov. 11, 2011

Journalism Ethics
Dominance of the Western taxonomy of macro ethical
theories: consequentialist ethics, deontological ethics,
and virtue ethics
Need for global media ethics to grapple with diverse
cultural values and sensitivities (Christians, 2005)
Starting with exploration of different ethical approaches in the world
to avoid a top-down approach

Postcolonical approach to knowledge

Taking non-Western philosophical systems seriously and taking time
to research and theorize them while grounding them in their
respective local contexts; All knowledge is indigenous (Bujo
2000/2001; Rao, 2010)

John C. Merrill (1994)

Confucian journalist, Taoist journalist: possible to adapt nonWestern philosophies to analyzing contemporary journalism practice
beyond cultural boundaries

Hundred Schools of Thought

Hundred Schools of Thought ( ): not a
hundred but about 10 or so ancient schools of
thought
Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.476 B.C.) and Warring States
Period (475 B.C.221 B.C.): intellectually fertile golden age of
Chinese civilization; emerged during wartime; thinkers itinerated to
various states and attempted to persuade the state rulers to adopt
their ideas about government, diplomacy, defense, warfare, and
conduct of life

Three major ancient Chinese schools of thought:

Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism
Moral imagination: different types of reasoning when facing a moral
dilemma (even though the resolution of the dilemma is similar to
those by other philosophical systems)
Not making a judgment on which one is better or worse, or
superiority of the West over the East or vice versa

Three Major Schools of Thought

Schools

Principal thinkers

Locus of
ethics
Agent,
action

Dao ( ):
way, path
li ( ): ritual

Confucianism
( )

Confucius ( )
Mencius ( )
Xun Zi ( )

Mohism
( )

Mo Zi ( )

Action

jianai ( ):
universal love

Daoism
( )

Lao Zi ( )
Zhuang Zi ( )
Lie Zi ( )

Agent

wuwei ( ):
inaction
weiwuwei ( ):
action without
action

Other key terms

junzi ( ): exemplary
person, gentleman
wuchang ( ): five
constant virtues
ren ( ): benevolence
yi ( ): righteousness,
justice
zhi ( ): wisdom
xin ( ): trust
wulun ( ): five
cardinal relationships
xiao ( ): filial piety
mianzi ( ): face
feigong ( ): against
offensive warfare
li ( ): benefit
tiandao ( ): heavens
way
yin and yang ( ):
evil and good, positive
and negative

(Classical) Confucianism
Confucius (Kong Zi), Mencius (Meng Zi), Xun Zi
Goal: to build a unified China under one virtuous sage-ruler by restoring
the tradition of the early Western Zhou Dynasty
Confucian dao (way, path): li (ritual, rite); contemporary applications
including harmonious words and actions, such as appreciation,
politeness, apologies, and face-saving communication; ultimately leading
to a harmonious, humanistic society
Junzi (exemplary person): habitual practice of li channel to express
sincere human emotions
Wuchang (five constant virtues): ren (benevolence), yi (righteousness,
justice), li (ritual, rite), zhi (wisdom), xin (trust); not completely rigid but
flexible; Under certain circumstances, yi may require us to suspend li in
order to be ren.
Wulun (five cardinal relationships): (1) ruler and minister, (2) father and
son, (3) husband and wife, (4) elder and younger brothers, and (5) friend
and friend; reciprocity (Do not impose on others what you yourself do
not desire)
Mianzi (face): reciprocal; {W}hoever is devoid of the heart of shame is
not human; (Mencius).

(Early) Mohism
Mo Zi (not Mao Zedong)
Goal: to materialize the world in which all states could coexist
peacefully; Mohism being Confucianisms strongest archrival,
opposing the latters core principles
Mohist dao (way, path) or tiandao (heavens way): jianai (universal
love); universality as the source of all the great benefits (Mohist
universal love) and partiality as the source of all the great harm
(Confucian graded love)
Feigong (condemnation of offensive warfare): against the mainstream
zeitgeist that the weak would fall victim to the strong; compared to
theft or murder, the even greater unrighteousness of offensive
warfare against other states is not condemned (the unrighteousness
of the powerful); a division of the Mohist school to manufacture
defensive weaponry, train members, dispatch them, etc.
Li (benefit or pragmatic utility): praising an extremely frugal life while
condemning needless expenditure (e.g., music, dance, funeral rituals,
aggressive offensive warfare); not like utilitarianism because of
Mohisms collectivism, authoritarian rules, and espousal of ghosts

(Classical) Daoism
Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, Lei Zi
(T)he definition of a Taoist is, normally, what a Confucianist is not!
(Lin, 1947); repels against Confucian formalities and conformity
Goal: to construct a humanistic world in accordance with the dao by
letting people experience epiphanic transformation of themselves to
acquire detached fortitude, clairvoyance, and spontaneity (mature
Daoist) after going through deep skepticism, relativism, and wuwei
Dao in Daoism: wuwei (inaction, without action) and weiwuwei
(action without action); The way that can be spoken of is not the
constant way (Lao Zi); Confucius believed that the dao could be
improved upon by humans, but Lao Zi believed that the dao couldnt
be improved upon because it refers to the natural order of things
Yin (contractive or negative force) and yang (expansive or positive
force): not bipolar but complementary because (f)rom the unity and
harmony between yin and yang arise all things (Zhuang Zi);
relativism and skepticism against Mohist-like confidence in pragmatic
utility; A man is supple and weak when living, but hard and stiff when
dead. . . . Thus the hard and the strong are the comrades of deaths;
the supple and the weak are the comrades of life (Lao Zi)

(Classical) Daoism
Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, Lei Zi
Not like Western individualism: Enlightened Daoists would exhibit
quiet, persistent activism instead of lively, forceful, aggressive
activism; Daoist freedom of thought and action is not a freedom to
function effectively in society but a freedom that ignores and
transcends the social order; Western individualism focusing on
freedoms of and from something specific, Daoism positing
generalized freedom of all from all without specific content
(freedom of a presocial or an asocial being)

Embedded Journalism
Embedding
Journalists receiving an invitation to join troops and live and
share combat experiences with the military units; more than
600 U.S. and foreign journalists involved; opening up an
opportunity to have soldiers speak more candidly and report
on combats more closely, but leading to journalists
unconscious adoption of the U.S.-centric perspective into the
conflict
Michael Hastings (2010) The Runaway General published
on Rolling Stone, Lara Logans criticism of Hastings and her
pro-military comments as journalist, and the ensuing
controversy
Utilitarian means-end rationality and Mills staunch defense
of freedom of speech: powerful justification for this practice;
embedded journalism is a rational choice for war
correspondents, and an alternative is no direct access to the
U.S. military and physically risking the self

Three Types of Journalists

Confucian journalists
Absolute obedience to rituals (li) set by the government; agreeing with
the sentiments of the government and the public; a mouthpiece of the
governments stance under the rubric of the objectivity norm and
publish stories to promote the military

Mohist journalists
Willing to challenge and critique the powerful, the U.S. military and the
government, to shed light on the predicaments and sufferings of
powerless Iraqi and Afghan civilians (e.g., WikiLeaks); Mohist love is
universal, not partial; advocacy of antiwar stance (feigong); taking selfsacrifice and physical risks

Daoist journalists
Novice Daoist: doing nothing special (wuwei)
Mature Daoist: challenging the whole structure of embedded journalism
by disputing with the powerful media-military-government complex;
quitting their jobs in mainstream journalism and initiating their
independent weiwuwei (returning to what journalism is supposed to do)
via alternative media

Conclusion
Limitation of this paper on moral reasoning
Should explore actual examples of journalists using each
philosophical approach
Other ancient Chinese schools of thought, such as the Legalist
School and the School of Vertical and Horizontal Alliances; other
non-Western philosophical frameworks

Challenge: strong opposition to this line of study

Confucianism is too sexist!: Yes, that was born more than 2,500
years ago. What about Aristotle? How about Kant?
Those non-Western philosophies are irrelevant!: How relevant
was the feminist theory, black feminist thought, critical race theory,
queer theory, etc. perceived by the mainstream scholarship when
they emerged for the first time? Allan Blooms (1987) The Closing
of the American Mind
Paying non-Western philosophies the same hermeneutic respect
as Western philosophical systems