Professional Civility: Communicative Virtue at Work

371 Pages·01.435 MB·English

by  Janie M. Harden Fritz

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JANIE M. HARDEN FRITZ
Professional
Civility
COMMUNICATIVE VIRTUE AT WORK
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fritz, Janie M. Harden.
Professional civility: communicative virtue at work / Janie M.
Harden Fritz.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Professional ethics. 2. Business ethics. I. Title.
BJ1725.F75 174—dc23 2012034869
ISBN 978-1-4331-1985-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4331-1984-2 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4539-0947-8 (e-book)
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the
“Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is
available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.
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All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as
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About the author(s)/editor(s)
Janie M. Harden Fritz received her Ph.D. in communication arts from the
University of Wisconsin. She is an associate professor in the Department of
Communication & Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University. She is co-
editor (with Becky L. Omdahl) of Problematic Relationships in the Workplace
Volumes 1 and 2 (Peter Lang, 2006, 2012), co-editor (with S. Alyssa Groom)
of Communication Ethics and Crisis (2012), and co-author (with Ronald C.
Arnett and Leeanne M. Bell) of Communication Ethics Literacy: Dialogue
and Difference (2009). She is a past president of the Eastern Communication
Association and the Religious Communication Association.
About the book
The crisis of incivility plaguing today’s workplace calls for an approach to
communication that restores respect and integrity to interpersonal encounters
in organizational life. Professional civility is a communicative virtue that
protects and promotes productivity, one’s place of employment, and persons
with whom we carry out our tasks in the workplace. Drawn from the history
of professions as dignified occupations providing valuable contributions to
the human community, an understanding of civility as communicative virtue,
and MacIntyre’s treatment of practices, professional civility supports the
“practice” of professions in contemporary organizations. A communicative
ethic of professional civility requires attentiveness to the task at hand, support
of an organization’s mission, and appropriate relationships with others in the
workplace. Professional civility fosters communicative habits of the heart that
extend beyond the walls of the workplace, encouraging a return to the service
ethic that remains an enduring legacy of the professions in the United States.
This eBook can be cited
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marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the
physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by
this marker.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION: A FRAMEWORK FOR PROFESSIONAL CIVILITY
A Call to Responsibility: Civility and the Professions
Professional Civility: Communicative Virtue at Work
Structure of the Book
CHAPTER 1: VIRTUE ETHICS AND THE PROFESSIONS
Introduction
A Foundation for Professional Civility as Communicative Virtue at
Work
MacIntyre’s Virtue Ethics Applied to the Professions
Conclusion
CHAPTER 2: THE TRADITION OF PROFESSION AS PRACTICE
Introduction
The True Professional Ideal
Goods of Professions
Conclusion
CHAPTER 3: THE COMMUNICATIVE VIRTUE OF CIVILITY
Introduction
Civility in Context
Incivility as Communicative Vice
Civility as Communicative Virtue
Theoretical Coordinates of Civility as Communicative Virtue
Conclusion
CHAPTER 4: PROFESSIONAL CIVILITY AS COMMUNICATIVE VIRTUE AT WORK
Introduction
Virtues, Professions, and Civility: Professional Civility as
Communicative Virtue
Professional Civility: Conceptual Coordinates
Practices of Professional Civility: A First Look
Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: A PRAGMATIC CASE FOR THE EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION IN THE
WORKPLACE
Introduction
Communication as Constitutive
Communication and Work Environments
The Organizational Socialization Process as Context for
Communicative Shaping
Effects of Incivility
Conclusion
CHAPTER 6: PROTECTING AND PROMOTING PRODUCTIVITY
Introduction
Work and the Human Condition
Productivity and Communicative Action
Levels of Engagement
Conclusion
CHAPTER 7: PROTECTING AND PROMOTING THE GOOD OF PLACE
Introduction
Care for the Local Home: The Metaphor of “Guest”
Organizations as Public Narratives
Unity of Contraries: Support and Dissent
Enlarged Space
Conclusion
CHAPTER 8: PROTECTING AND PROMOTING THE GOOD OF PERSONS
Introduction
Workplace Relationships
Public and Private Life: Historical Shifts
Interpersonal Practices of Professional Civility
Conclusion
CONCLUSION: PROTECTING AND PROMOTING PROFESSIONS
Introduction
The Ongoing Story of the Professions
Toward a Renewed Professionalism: Professional Civility
Professions and Communicative Practices: Enactment and
Construction
Summary: Protecting and Promoting the Good(s) of Profession
References
Author Index
Subject Index