“The Ethicist”

Ethics Notes on a Busy Week

/ Jack Marshall / 1 Comment
  • Sen. John McCain, who had well-earned credibility on military matters,  released a statement after the State of the Union address saying that “it would be a mistake” to repeal “Don’t ask, don’t tell” as President Obama pledged, and added…

“This successful policy has been in effect for over 15 years, and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our military at all levels. At a time when our Armed Forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy.”

John, John, John. You have, in other interviews, stated that you served with many gay soldiers who performed their duties with distinction, so the current policy continues a form of bias and discrimination without any  justification. The fact that it may be “successful” is not sufficient reason to continue a practice that is unethical, unfair, and a violation of the principles of civil rights. Success is no excuse for violating core ethical principles; one of the primary justifications for the U.S. allowing torture, an outright violation of the Declaration of Independence, was that it was “successful,” an argument you properly rejected. Continue reading →

“The Ethicist” Strikes Out Again

/ Jack Marshall / 4 Comments

I’ll make a deal with Randy Cohen,”The Ethicist” of The New York Times Magazine: I’ll stop criticizing his column when he stops justifying dishonesty. Lately, Cohen has not only been advising his correspondents to avoid telling the truth but headlining the questions where he does so.

Lie proud, Randy!

This week’s endorsement of forked tongues surrounded the sensitive issue of designating a guardian for one’s child. Parents had asked their good friends, another married couple, if they would agree to care for their daughter in the event that the parents perished while she was a child. After the couple enthusiastically agreed, the parents learned that their friends were not sufficiently responsible with their finances, and liked to “live large.” They no longer trust the couple with their daughter’s welfare, and want to re-assign the responsibility of being emergency guardians to relatives. This will require the parents to change their wills.

Their question to “The Ethicist”: Do they have to tell their friends? Continue reading →

“The Ethicist” Jumps the Rails!

/ Jack Marshall / 8 Comments

An ethical dilemma is a situation that requires us to choose between an ethical course and one that fulfills a non-ethical want or need, like getting a promotion, winning the love of our soul-mate, or improving our financial status. Choosing the ethical option often has negative consequences, but it is still the ethical option. Thus it is more than a little disheartening to read the advice columnist who calls himself “The Ethicist” supporting the unethical option—the one that rejects an ethical value in favor of self-interest. Continue reading →

Farewell to the NY Times’ Ethics Blog

/ Jack Marshall / Leave a comment

Well, the New York Times has spoken: it apparently doesn’t think ethics commentary blogs are worth the trouble: it quietly deep-sixed Randy Cohen’s “The Moral of the Story” blog less than a year after launching it. Continue reading →

Sending the Shoppers to Gimbel’s

/ Jack Marshall / Leave a comment

In  the spirit of the fast approaching holiday season, to emulate one of the most famous ethical gestures in movie history—in “Miracle on 34th Street,” when Kris Kringle, working as a Macy’s Santa, sends a shopper to Macy’s arch rival because it has a gift in stock—but mostly because I’m traveling on business this morning and won’t be able to post any thing until late today, allow me to recommend “The Ethicist” Randy Cohen’s current blog posts, and his readers’ responses, about the obligation to vote. I’m 100% with Randy on this one, and I owe him this to help balance my criticism of his column in the past…and undoubtedly, the future.

And we’ll see how long it takes him to send his readers to Ethics Alarms.