For example, freedom is to be sought and prized. Milton, Mill, the existentialists and all of that. Then they learn that freedom may be the greatest foe of ethics. They read James Fitzjames Stephen and they begin to have doubts about J. S. Mill. Control, they hear, is more important than freedom. Voices like Hegel, Hobbes, Heideigger, Fichte, and Marx warn against the democratic use of freedom and urge the sacrifice of self to the good of the state. So what, the student asks, is the proper ethical stance-individualism or group solidarity? Both, the perhaps equally-puzzled teacher may respond. But students have trouble in seeing how one can follow the individualistic and passionate Nietzsche and at the same time be a rationalist like Locke or Hume.

The student of media ethics picks up ethical concepts from other courses-sociology, psychology, English, economics, biology, et al. And from parents, friends, teachers, television, radio, music lyrics, movies, the Internet, newspapers and magazines, the church and other organizations. The media ethics course gets one shot at him or her. Quite likely, it will be too little and too late. Students have already been solidly injected with the values of commercialism and materialism, and it is seldom that an ethics course can make a big difference. If it is so, where is the evidence? We think it does, we hope it does some good, but we never know. But, then, we really don't even know the value of a course in Shakespeare.

We must just go on teaching-confusing and enlightening at the same time-and hope a few sparks may light some fires.

?John C. Merrill, indefatigable author and professor emeritus in the University of Missouri-Columbia, has frequently published his polemics in MEDIA ETHICS. His E-mail address is merrillj@missouri.edu

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