Rhetorical Listening and Moral Sensitivity

Abstract

Rhetorical listening is explored within the practice of ethics as facilitating moral sensitivity to the interests of Others to thrive. By stimulating the moral imaginations of ethical actors, rhetorical listening prompts recognizing Others, especially those whose presence is obscured by language practices and rhetorical forms, as communicators possessing an interest to thrive in their relationships. Martha Solomon's analysis of the medical reports of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study is used to illustrate how rhetorical listening stimulates the moral imagination to recognize seen and unseen Others and facilitates moral sensitivity.

Notes

¹Moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt proposes that many, if not most moral judgments are automatic, based upon emotions that create moral intuition. Moral sensitivity occurs when individuals experience moral emotions such as compassion, resentment, respect, anger, guilt, gratitude or disgust (Haidt, 2008; Haidt & Joseph, 2004). For Haidt, moral intuition occurs at the unconscious level and often is inexpressible, so there is little role for communication in ethics. I approach ethics as a human practice concerning what is good, right, or virtuous for Others. Because ethics is a practice, actors can become mindful of how they practice ethics and learn how to improve their individual ethical practice. While offering reasons that justify an action for critical examination by Others is part of the practice of communication ethics, Haidt's research is a reminder that sometimes actors may have difficulty explaining their actions.

²Neuro-psychological research provides evidence in support of this claim. Patients with brain damage to the prefrontal cortex, which links emotion to cognition, are unable to empathize which, in turn, impairs their moral judgment (Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2003). One study found that persons with brain damage to their empathic centers lacked sensitivity to the interest of an innocent person to thrive. They felt no moral inhibition, visceral or otherwise, at sacrificing an innocent person's life to resolve an ethical dilemma (Lough et al., 2005).

³Krista Ratliffe (2005) has developed a concept of rhetorical listening as an interpretive trope for facilitating cross-cultural communication that negotiates intersecting identifications with gender and race. She conceptualizes rhetorical listening as analyzing claims of cultural logics, especially regarding race and gender. In contrast, I situate the notion of rhetorical listening in a communication approach to ethical practice based on the constitutive nature of communication transactions in creating relational connection. Rhetorical listening is a practice of attentiveness in which communicators engage their moral imagination to discern the presence of seen and unseen Others as communicators. The practice of rhetorical listening prompts the experience of moral emotions that stimulate moral sensitivity.