The Badger Herald: News: National columnist identifies ethics as basis for happiness

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National columnist identifies ethics as basis for happiness

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By Jacquelyn Askins
Friday, November 16, 2007 2:36 a.m.

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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."

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