Universal Pragmatics: a Critical Approach to Image Ethics

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 370 555 IR 055 008

AUTHOR Craig, Robert L. TITLE Universal Pragmatics: A Critical Approach to Image Ethics. PUB DATE 93 NOTE 14p.; In: Visual Literacy in the Digital Age: Selected Readings from the Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (25th, Rochester, New York, October 13-17, 1993); see IR 055 055. PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Criticism; *Ethics; Mass Media; *Nonverbal Communication; Photographs; Photography; *Photojournalism; *Pragmatics; Visual Literacy; *Visual Perception IDENTIFIERS Visual Journalism

ABSTRACT Visual criticism is a major component of the new visual communication. Visual communication has changed through the advent of new technology which allows images to be combined and manipulated with relative ease. Visual criticism analyzes the forms and practices of image production and examines the roles of images in society creating a new dialogue concerning image ethics. Through a study of the works of Paul Grice and Jurgen Habermas, the relevance of pragmatic universalists to media ethics will be seen. When used in conjunction with these principles, visual criticism can set standards for visual communication in society. (JLB)

*********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educahonal Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI o Ms document has been reproduced as recerveo from the person or organaatron ongrnatrng 0 Melo, changes nave been made to Improve MWMuCt.OnouWity

Pontt. Of view of op.monsstatedsnItusdocu. ment do not necessardy represent offrmal OERI posMon or pohcy

Universal Pragmatics: A Critical Approach to Image Ethics

by Robert Craig

Newhouse School Syracuse University 215 1 Tniversity Place Syracuse, NY 13244-2100

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY PEST COPY AVAILABLE Alice Walker

2 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Universal Pragmatics: A Critical Approachto Image Ethics

Robert L. Craig

Introduction: Visual Criticism photographer's ability to create the Visual communication has come pretty, persuasive and heavily-conno- under intense intellectual scrutiny tated pictures advertisers demand. during the last twenty years as schol- What all this points to, of course, is ars have sought to understandthe that a photograph is not just a photo- role photographs, graphics and illus- graph. trations play in modern communica- Different genres of photography tion. The value of studying visual have different visual, aesthetic, and communication has been heightened narrative forms that distinguish, say, by the development of inexpensive, news photography fromfine arts or easily operated, digital imaging hard- advertising photography. If we need ware and software, which isaltering further evidence of the differences in the face of the visual professions. photographic genres, a very good Besides changing the way image- piece is that they have different codes makers work, the new technology puts of ethics: The kind of photographic the power to combine and manipulate manipulation that helps win an award images into the hands of those who for an advertising photographer gets heretofore lacked the finances or the a news photographerfired.I handicraft skills needed to accom- One journalistic reaction to the plish these tasks with such seeming new imaging technologyhas been to naturalism. extend existing codes of ethics, which Reaction to the new technology address set ups and alterations, to varies. In newsrooms, where the credi- digital technology. Tony Kelly notes bility of the photographic image that the San Francisco Examiner takes underscores the objectivity of news, the position that it does "not permit some argue that such technologyhas anything to be done to a photo elec- a limited role, if any atall. tronically that could not be done in a Advertising photographers, of traditional darkroom."2 course, welcome new technical In discussing journalists' reactions advances because they extend the to digital alteration at a Poynter

3 Institute conference on photojournal- film, exposures and lighting; framing ism ethics, Kelly notes thatsome jour- the subject; positioning and holding nalists felt that even darkroom tech- the camera; deciding upon chemistry niques are being overused and that and developing and enlarging times; allowing such manipulationswas "let- burning and dodging; re-touching; ting the camel get hisnose under the editing through scaling and cropping; tent," and making it difficult to deter- choosing among multiple shots; scan- mine where to draw the line. ning; layout and juxtaposition; color According to Kelly, the overriding separations; color correction; strip- concern among journalists was the ping; platemaking; and printing. fear that the credibility of journalism From this perspective, the capacity might be eroded by digital imagemak- of the new digital technology to easily ing. The protocol these journalists manipulate images has only made came up with to deal with the ethics of more visible the constructed nature of photo manipulation reflected this all images. concern: In the case of news photography, Manipulation of (documentary and Dona Schwartz argues that focusing news) photographs, whkh alters the on technology misses the fact that content or context is unacceptable. becoming a news photographer Electronic or manual methods means learning to recreate a limited should be used only toassure the stock of conventional news narratives.4 highest reproduction quality of the In toto, these approaches grind toa photograph. Photo illustrationsare halt when they are pitted againstone conceptual images and should be another. Journalists, who believe that (easily) distinguishable from docu- the truth, objectivity and credibility of mentary photography.3 the press are at stake, attempt to hold the fortress against a new technology The term photo-illustrationwas that could undermine these values. coined to cue readers to the fact thata The critics argue that the fortress is photograph had been heavilycon- built in a flood plane. structed, set up, doctoredor altered, Journalists develop situation ethicsto that is, that it is a montage. help them grapple with the ethical A more academic reaction isto issues that arise in everyday work. point out the ideoiogical limits of this Although situation ethics fall short debate by challenging itsparameters- when situations arise for whichan eth- to manipulate or not to manipulate. ical code hasn't been written, and they These parametersare incorrectly don't address philosophical issues premised on the false (and hidden) such as the ontology of photographic assumption that there is some purely meaning, they do clarify something of mimetic or realistic core to images the communication practices in which whereby they directly transcribeor journalists believe theyare engaged, reflect reality. such as, their commitmentto truth. Every photograph is constructed, This value is important becauseeven manipulated, doctored, edited,etc. in the face of devastating critiquesof through selectingcameras, lenses, universal truth, a commitmentto

4 truth remains a principled position. must raise the issue of media'ssocial Journalistic concern over credibility responsibility. As for ethics, visual crit- cuts both ways. It is quiteimportant icism would be quite helpful, if it pro- for readers to believe th ia. journalists vided a way to discuss ethical situa- are giving them thebest information tions without proscribing solutions. available, but it is not good for society when readers are too credulous. The Visual as Human Communication The recogmition that all images are Visual criticism began by recogniz- constructed and have an ideological ing that vision and imagemaking are character cannot be denied. The as integral andfundamental to apparent objectivity or naturalnessof humanity as language, thus the term photographic representation hides a visualcommunication.However, rhetorical form which implies and because language has held a special persuades us of its own credibility. place in scholars' estimation, it has Photos thereby serve the ideology of been the subject of more intensive press objectivity. To the extentthat inquiry than visual communication. As photography's mimetic quality a result, much has beenlearned about obscures the fact that all news is language, and although much of it is framed, it becomes a powerful ideo- specific to language, some of it has logical tool. had important implications for the Still, are we to conclude that eve, y study of visual communication. photograph should be labeled a Since the mid-1950s, when increas- photo-illustration or a montage? ing numbers of scholars shifted their And, do we extend this logic to con- attention from high culture to the clude that any manipulation of any study of popular culture and mass image is thereby acceptable? media, semiotic analysis of bur- While both perspectives have geoned. Some important semioticians strengths and weaknesses, they leave are Roland Barthes, StuartHall, us at an impasse, thoughvisual criti- James Monaco, John Hartley, Robert cism may break this impasse. Visual Hodge, Gunther Kress, John Fiske, criticism is a major component of the and Judith Williamson, all of whom new visual communication. used semiotic methods to analyze Historically, visual communication media images. Their works con- studies incorporated traditional tributed greatly to visual literacy by approaches to photography and giving us a better language for graphics, but it distinguished itself describing and analyzing visual com- from them by insisting on visual criti- munication: e.g., signs, symbols, cism. Visual criticism analyzes the icons, indices, signifier, signified, ref- forms and practices of imagemaking, erents, codes, conventions, arbitrari- and it also examines the role images ness, polysemy, denotation, connota- play in society. Work in this area may tion, signification, codes, conventions, help us find a framework to account the politics of representation, etc. for the fact that images are construct- This approach moved the study of ed. It should shed light on the differ- mass media away from its focus on ences among genres of images.And it media's effects on audience behavior to examine media texts (including about speech allow us to infer mean- photographs) and their production. ing from it. Because of the importance of media One area of pragmatics called uni- in modern society and, in turn, versal pragmatics focuses attention on because of the centrality of imagery evidence for the existence of univer- in media, semiotics has pushed visu- sal or transcendental foundations of al communication into the center of communication. According to uni- debates about the role media plays versal pragmatists, these universals framing our perceptions. between speakers are the logical basis of language, if communication Pragmatics is to be efficient or if, indeed, it is to Pragmatics, another area of lin- take place at all. guistic study, may also provide great Paul Grice (1989) and Jurgen insight into visual communication. Habermas (1987) have made impor- Pragmatics is the study of how people tant contributions to the study of are able to communicate. Rudolf universal pragmatics. Grice studies Carnap distinguished pragmatics the principles he believes we all from other areas of linguistics in the assumewhenweconverse. following way: Habermas takes these observations If in an investigation explicit to the societal level, arguing that reference is made to the speakenor conversational principles are the to put it in more general terms, to necessary foundation of a rational society. the user of a language, thenwe assign it to the field of pragmat- Once the work of Grice and ics.... Habermas is discussed, the rele- If we abstract from the user of vance of pragmatic universals to the language and analyze only the media ethics will more clear. expressions and their designata [referents] we are in the field of Grice's Conversational Principles semantics. And if finally,we Universal pragmatists argue for abstract from the' designata also the existence of normative struc- and analyze only the relations tures or principles of communica- between the expression we are in tion. These structures, theysay, are (logical) syntax.5 the basic assumptions we make about the speaker-hearer relationships Pragmatics linguists (pragmatists) when we speak. I propose that these study how speakers come to under- same universal assumptions provide stand one another, often examining a basis for visual criticism. I will the specific social and culturalcon- argue that if there is such a thing as texts of communication. Photojour- visual communication, itmust be nalists' concerns with credibility,con- based in the same set of principles text and content fall squarely into that underlie spoken communica- the purview of pragmatists, whoare tion. very much concerned with how Paul Grice,in"Logic and speakers' and listeners' assumptions Conversation," developed a series of maxims and submaxims that he The category of Relation contains a claims must undergird conversation single maxim: in order for it to be rational and Be relevant. mutually intelligible to a speaker and listener. The category of Manner refers to how The maxims are grounded in three what is said is said instead of what assumptions: conversation is based on gets said. It contains a supermaxim a series of related (notdisconnected) and four maxims: remarks; that a speaker and listener have a common purpose; and that Be perspkuous. they have a shared sense of purpose 1. Avoid obscurity of expression. about the direction their conversation 2. Avoid ambiguity. is taking (thus taking into account the 3. Be brief observation that the shared purpose 4. Be orderly.7 of conversation often changes during its course). For Grice, the purpose of speech is For Grim., a Cooperative Principle to to produce a "maximally effective guides conversational speech: "Make exchange of of information," and his your conversational contributionsuch underlying premise about conversa- as is required, at the stage at whichit tion is that it is a "variety of purpo- occurs, by the accepted purpose or sive, indeed rational behavior." He direction of the talk exchange in observes that the Cooperative which you are engaged."6 Principle and the speech maxims Grice's maxims are based on the form the basis of the way people Kantian categories of Quantity, learn (as children) to behave when Quality, Relation and Manner. they communicate. He believes that it Grice lists t-wo maxims under the is reasonable to make such assump- category of Quantity. Both refer to tions about communication, and that the quantity of information speakers we shouldnot abandonthe provide: Cooperative Principle or the maxims. 1. Make your contribution as infor- Grice says his maxims should be mative as is required (for the current expanded to explain other purposes purposes of the exchange). of speech such as persuasion or 2. Do not make your contribution directing the actions of others, and more informative than is required. proposes that anyone who cares about the goals The category of Quality contains a that are central to conversation/com- supermaxim and two maxims. munication (such as giving and Try to make your contribution one receiving information, influencing that is true. and being influenced by others) 1. Do not say what you believe to be must be expected to have an interest, false. given suitable circumstances, in 2. Do not say that for which you participation in talk exchanges that lack adequate evidence. will be profitable onlyon the assumption that they are conducted achieve consensus, mutual under- in general accordance with the standing must be achieved through Cooperative Principle and the argumentation among people about maxims. 8 claims, propositions and assertions Journalists are among those most that others make. concerned about the credibility of Habermas believes a set of norms communication. Thus, Grice's ethi- he calls truth or validity claims are the cal principles would seem to provide 'foundation of mutual understand- a potentially interesting framework ing. In becoming a speaker, every for the ethical analysis ofjournalism. individual learns to make proposi- Grice places great emphasis on tions, and every proposition carries the theory that as speakers and lis- with it a truth claim. Thus, when teners we assume communicative competent speakers utter proposi- principles are operating when we tions, they imply that they are based talk. In the give and take of conver- in truth. The merits of truth-claims sation, we understand the context of may be debated by the speaker and our conversation; we assume a con- listener. For Habermas, the ultimate stantly reversing speaker-listener purpose of debating the truth claims relationship that is based on the underlying propositions is to allow premises that the speaker is being speakers to build a rational and just truthful, informative, relevant and society. clear; and we infer meaning based Habermas (1987) isolates three on this knowledge by judging its forms that propositions take and dis- validity on the basis of ourown cusses the truth claims they entail: knowledge and experience. All of As the medium for achieving these assumptions, it seems tome understanding, speech acts serve: are a powerful foundation for a a) to establish and renew interper- healthy relationship between jour- sonal relations, whereby the speaker nalism and readers. takes up a relation to something in the world of legitimate (social) Jurgen Habermas: orders; (b) to represent (or presup- Speech and Validity Claims pose) states and events, whereby the The German philosopher Jurgen speaker takes up a relation to some- Habermas takes Grice's principles of thing in the world of existing states communication further by arguing of affairs; (c) to manifest experi- that without universal pragmatic ences-thatis,torepresent assumptions, human communication oneself-whereby the speaker takes and society would be impossible. His up a relation to something in the pragmatic theory is one component subjective world to which he has of a larger critical theory of society. privileged access. Communicatively For Habermas, the basis ofnon- achieved agreement is measured coercive society and culture iscom- against exactly three criticizable municative consensus among its validity claims; in coming toan members. That is, in order to understanding about something with one anoiher and thus making Journalism as Propositional themselves understandable, actors The parallels between the values cannot avoid embedding their Habermas sees operating in public speech acts in precisely three world- communication are too close to those relations and claiming validity for claimed for socially responsible jour- them under these aspects. Someone nalism to be ignored. Like Grice's who rejects a comprehensible speech principles, Habermas' are concerned act is taking issue with at kast one with speech and thus he believes his of these validity claims. In rejecting validity claims apply to an ideal speech a speech act as (normatively) wrong situation. Although journalism is not or untrue or insincere, he is express- speech, its claims to be truthful and ing with his "no" the fact that the valid (credibility) open it up to analy- utterance has not fulfilled its func- sis as a form of public speech. Indeed, tion of securing an interpersonal asking journalism to conform to the relationship, of representing states of assumptions and conditions of speech affairs, or of manifesting experi- may be quite helpful toboth journal- ences. It is not in agreementwith ists and the public. the world of existing states of affairs, First, if one considers journalistic or with the speaker's ownworld of content not to be truthitself but subjective experiences. 9 propositions about events that journalists claim are truthful, sincere and For Habermas then, communica- relevant, then we have established a tive action is not possible without more accurate definitionof what jour- assuming validity claims are implied nalists do from a communication in propositions and that listeners are stand point. able to challenge propositions as That is, journalists present proposi- wrong, untrue or insincerebased on tions about events and subjects, and reasoning, moral standards or aes- these propositions carry truth and thetic judgment. validity claims. Essentially journalists Propositions that directly contra- claim that their propositions are the dict Grice's principles of speech or most truthful, relevant andsincere Habermas' validity claimssuch as "I propositions they can make about a am a liar," "I am lying toyou," "What subject at a given time. I am saying to you is irrelevant," or "I Second, such a propositional defini- am insincere"createlogical conun- tion situates serious journalism on drums because they throw the whole terrain far closer to what the First logic of communication into question. Amendment protects: the public Lying deceives us because we we are expression of propositions important predisposed to believe that people to society. tell us the truth. Third, by recognizing journalism Communication cannot be based as propositional, the public is encour- on an illogic ofuntruthfulness, irrele- aged to engage in a discourse with vance or insincerity. Truth,relevance journalists by questioning the ..alidity and sincerity appear to be the default of their claims and by communicating modes of human communication. counter-propositions. Fourth, the fact that journalism advance a*Id challenge propositions, becomes a sounding board for public and they must not be hindered from policymaking enhances its status. participating in public discourse.10 Habermas calls the social space for Conununication and Society such discourse the public sphere. Ifwe Before we apply these pragmatic consider journalism to be part of the principles to the criticism of photo- public sphere, then individuals journalism, another aspect of should have a right, even a responsi- Habermas' thinking should bemen- bility, to participate in it. tioned, and that is the centrality of Like other members of the communication in Habermas' critical Frankfurt School, Habermas worries theory of modern society. that the rational mandate of moder- In his theory, Habermasargues nity is in danger of being lost. He that public discourse isnecessary to argues that instrumental reason, build a rational society. fie believes rather than critical inquiry andopen that in moving froma theological discussion, governs much of today's forms of society to modernity decision-making. He observes that humanity made a major philosophi- modern bureaucracies tend to gravi- cal break with metaphysical and reli- tate toward technical rationality, gious conceptions of society. In the which provides inertia tosupport modern epoch, philosophyturns its decisions that fit establishedpara- attention to the rational construction digms of thought and behavior and of society, its behaviors,norms and favors decisions that are favorableto values. He writes: institutions but not necessarily indi- Modernity is characterized bya viduals or society. Bureaucratic dis- rejection of the substantive ratio- cussion is often restricted by elitesto nality typical of religious andmeta- the means for implementing deci- physica! worldviews and bya belief sions. in procedural rationality and its In short, modernist society is in ability to give credence toour views danger of being overrun bya techni- in the three areas of objective cal one in which instrumentalreason knowledge, moral-practical insight, concerns itself with means and short- and aesthetic judgment.10 term g( als and stifles discussion about the qualities ofa good society, Thus, rather than truth being its long-term aims, and the methods bestowed on humanity from above needed to build sucha society. and decisions being madeon the For Habermas then, thecorner- basis of unrelenting faith in doctrine, stone of a modernist view of society as in theological societies, Habermas is the pragmatic assumption thatwe argues that the essence of modern are able to enter into rational dis- society is that its social institutions course with one another. As should 1,rationally c constructed Habermas notes in thL opening of through public discourse. "Discourse Ethics," "As longas moral In his ideal speech situation, people philosophy concerns itself with clari- and groups have the opportunityto fying the everyday institutions into

10 which we are socialized, it must be questions and issues about journalis- able to adopt, at least virtually, the tic practices. attitude of someone.who participates If one assumes that journalistic in the communicative practice of propositions should be challenged everyday life." 11 rather than being taken for granted, Habermas argues that communica- then even digital manipulation can be tive actionwith the expressed pur- considered valid, like carefully choos- pose of achieving mutualunderstand- ing words and syntax in speech. If ingis the telos of society.12 A criti- photo manipulation removes some- cal theory of society based in commu- thing that is irrelevant to the subject nication is a powerful one because it and doesn't falsify the subject, why ties together cognitive, political, aes- shouldn't it be used? thetic and ethical dimensions. It also It is of course important that all establishes as a human priority the Grice's maxims be met in every pho- building of a good society through tograph, not simply most of them. rational and equal relations of princi- For instance, if a photograph gives a pled communication. false sense of a subject, whether the The question before us now is photo is unambiguous is beside the whether Grice's insight that commu- point. Further, if these principles are nicating is grounded in a set of uni- universal standards, one principle can- versal ethical principles and whether not be violated to achieve another Habermas' communicative ethics and end, even a higher level truth. But if his critical view of modern society can a photo manipulation helps apho- be applied to media ethics. As a start, tographer frame a more truthful, rel- we can consider the ethics of photog- evant and sincere proposition, should raphy and photo editing. it not be utilized? When we look critically at what Ethics and Photography journalists say about the new photog- Photojournalism has an obvious raphy, we see many traces of the advantage over other genres of pho- bureaucratic and technical rationality tography, such as advertising photog- that Habermas' discusses.For raphy, in constructing an ethic, instance, the protocol quoted (above) because it espouses the ideals of truth by Kelly says that digitizing a photo is and social responsibility. It is not dif- acceptable if the intent is to improve ficult to see that Grice and Habermas' it technically. And editors' concerns principles provide a guide for about credibility seem to want the addressing some ethical problems readers to have "faith" in journalism that arise in journalism as communi- rather than actively challengingits cation. And Habermas' insistence on every word. the importance of public communica- Following Grice's ethical principles tion in building a rational society also empowers journalists over and encourages us to consider the rele- against their editors by making it a vance ofjournalism to society. journalist's responsibility to challenge Figure 1 shows one way commu- photographic misappropriation or nicative ethics might be used to raise misrepresentation by an editor. To do Figure 1: Applying Principles of Communicationto News Practice

Grice:Is this photo as informative as required? News Practice: Does this photo or series of photos tell the whole story,or as much as possible, or as much as is needed for the reader comprehension? Would another photo better inform? Would more information such as background,context, or alternative views help the reader better understand the subject? Does a lack of information or poor framing distort the subject?

Grice:Is this photo more informative than required? News Practice: Do I need a photo for this story? Can the meaning of this photo be clarified by cropping?

Grice:Is your contribution true?

News Practice: Does the photo say what you believe to be false? Does itsay something for which you lack adequate evidence? Is the photo libelous? Does it give readers a false idea about the subject? Does the caption or cutline make the photo validatesomething untrue or that you do not know to be true? Are editors misappropriating or misrepresentingyour work? What evidence would bettersupport your claim?

Grice: Is this photo relevant? News Practice: To the story? To the reader?

Habermas: Is this photo relevant? News Practice: To building a better society? What is the purpose of photojournalism anda free press? Is journalism Milling its special obligationas a forum for public communication?

Grice:Is the meaning of this photo clear and Precise? Obscure?Ambiguous? Orderly? News Practice: Has the subject been clearly framed? Do thetechniques used to produce this photo improve itas communication?

12 so addresses an issue ofbureaucratic For Habermas, the validity of all rationality, which is seldom discussed. communications propositions is open Why is it that among the stories told to question. The journalisticideology about journalistic ethics, we hear from of objectivity interferes with the pub- photojournalists about how editors lic's perception of the news by defin- misappropriate their photographs, ing it as something other than jour- but we have no published accounts of nalists' propositions about events. such incidents. Has an editor ever Readers and journalists would be been fired for misappropriating a better served by understanding jour- photograph? nalism as simply the most truthful, Finally, and this is just a casual relevant and sincere propositions that observation, there seems to be a lot journalists can form about a subject at more fluff in photojournalism today, a given time. Journalism's ownnewly and I suspect it is not because photo- acquired self-effacing practice should journalists aren't interested in doing encourage readers to challenge jour- substantial work. The relevance of nalists to defend the.validity of their photojournalism to building a good propositions. Cultivating such mutual society is unquestioned, but its super- expectations between the public and ficial application in fluff and feature journalists requires journalistic insti- are open to question. Habermas tutions to invite readers to actively would have us question the social rel- participate in news production. evance of every word and image that Some community participation in appear in the press. local journalism has already begun. In many cities, small local, community Conclusion and alternative newspapers are being In the old ideology of photojour- published. Even major newspapers nalism, the camera was an instrument are showing more concern for public for accurate documentation, which participation in media. The Star- defined the photograph as an artifact Tribune in Minneapolis is creatiy-g a of the truth. From Habermas' per- new team of journalists to go into spective, the whole institutional setup local communities to help people of journalism, which privileges jour- raise and address community issues nalists' statements as truth, is called and then to report on them. into question. In Habermas' defini- These practices and other innova- tion of communicative action, no tions need to be expanded and car- speaker's utterances have a privileged ried out nation-wide. In doing so, status as truth and in modern society perhaps journalism will turn individ- nothing is to be taken as an article of ual participation in public policymak- faith. ing into a modern social ritual. .. , 4- ... .,

Endnotes 8. Ibid., pp. 28-30. 1. Paul Lester (1991). Photojournalism, An Ethical Approach (Hillside, NJ: 9. Jurgen Habermas (1987). Theory of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). Communicative Action, Vol. I: Reason Lester's excellent book on photo- and the Rationalization of Society journalistic ethics documentsa num- (Boston: Beacon Press), p. 308. ber of cases of photographers being fired for setups. 10. Jurgen Habf!rmas (1990). "Philosophy as Stand-In and 2. Tony Kelly (1991). "Manipulating Interpreter," Moral Consciousness and Reality, Digital alteration of photos Communicative Action, (Cambridge, discussed at Poynter seminar," in MA: The MIT Press), pp. 3 4. Editor and Publisher, 124.23:pp. 16-17. 11. Ibid. Chapter titled" Discourse Ethics," p. 48. 3. Ibid., p. 17 12. For a discussion of the teleologi- 4. Dona Schwartz (1992). "To Tell cal function of communicative action the Truth: Codes of Objectivity in see Habermas' discussion of Austin's Photojournalism," Communication illocutionary and perlocutionary 13.2: 95 109. speech actsin The Theory of Communicative Action, pp. 288-295. 5. Rudolf Carnap (1943). Introduction He argues that theuse of language to Semantics (Cambridge: Harvard with an orientation to reaching University Press), p. 9. understanding is the "original mode" of languageuse, upon which 6. Paul Grice (1989). "Logic and other forms of useare "parasitic." In Conversation," Studies in the Way of this sense language is the telosor Words (Cambridge, MA: Harvard foundation of society, if, ofcourse, University Press),p. 26. we agree that a modern society should be founded in mutual under- 7. Ibid., pp. 26-29. standing rather than coercion.