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National columnist identifies ethics as basis for happiness
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by Jacquelyn Askins
Friday, November 16, 2007
A nationally known journalist spoke with University of
Wisconsin students about media ethics Thursday night, adding his own comedic
twist to the topic.
Randy Cohen, who writes a weekly New York Times Magazine
column "The Ethicist," in which he responds to readers' ethical questions,
spoke at an event sponsored by the Jewish Cultural Collective. Cohen also
contributes regularly to "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio and
was previously a writer on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
In his lecture on ethics and morality, Cohen discussed the
purpose of ethics.
"The entire point of ethics is to maximize human happiness,"
Cohen said. "That's happiness with a capital H, happiness in the fullness of
life."
His presentation also focused on the important role
circumstance plays in ethical decisions and deemphasized individual character
as the main determinant of morality.
Cohen mainly argued that ethicists put too much emphasis on
the individual and not enough on the group circumstances that contribute to
ethical decisions.
"Circumstances, the conditions in which we act, the
communities of which we are members are the big determinants of our behavior,"
Cohen said. "Character hardly comes into it at all."
Ethics studies are unique because they focus on individual
occurrences rather than larger trends, Cohen added.
"Most philosophers approach virtue by emphasizing character,
by starting with an isolated individual," Cohen said. "This relentless focus on
the individual is not something we do in other areas of inquiry."
To change behavior, Cohen said, people should concentrate
less on character and more on community.
"The question was: How do we get people to behave well?" Cohen
said. "I would assert, not by trying to change their characters, but by
changing their circumstances and creating ethical communities."
Lecturers brought in by JCC usually target undergraduate
students, but Cohen was expected to draw in a different crowd.
"We wanted to appeal to a different audience," JCC chair and
UW senior Alex Sheridan said. "Typically the JCC events are catered toward
undergraduates, but we know that Mr. Cohen has a rather large following, so we
thought it would be a good idea to show a different side of the organization."
JCC representatives said they felt positive about the
turnout at Thursday's event.
"We attracted a really great audience," JCC communications
director Rachel Lansing said. "Granted, we have UW college students, but there
are also a lot of adults who enjoyed the event, so I think it was definitely a
big success."
Even though Cohen was meant to bring in an older and
community-based audience, student attendance was still very high and student
opinion was positive.
"It was entertaining and interesting at the same time," UW
senior Kevin Clarke said. "He had some cool points, and neat things he does."
Sheridan added the event gave students a chance to ask Cohen
questions that cannot be answered in his weekly column.
"It was really nice to ask him some of the ethical questions that undergraduate students face," Sheridan said. "He does not get to answer many of those in his columns, so it was cool to hear his perspective."
Anonymous (November 16, 2007 @ 5:57pm):
One word response to Cohen: Yawn. He was better off writing humor for Letterman. Now he's just a joke.
Anonymous (November 18, 2007 @ 6:40am):
Excellent speaker. No yawns from me. Supports his replies with rationale that is easy to understand, but not simplistic
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