Ethics 101

Randy Cohen writes “The Ethicist” column in The New York Times Magazine, weighing in with his opinions on how to solve readers’ moral quandaries. He’s also an award-winning television writer (for The Rosie O’Donnell Show and Late Night With David Letterman). He spoke to the Pitch from his home in New York City.

How does one get on this career trajectory — you’re a comedy writer, and then you’re the Ethicist?

Well, I’d say I’m a writer and then an ethicist.

I got my job through The New York Times, like so many people. I’m not sure who all the other people [who applied for the job] were. The Times was admirably discreet or suspiciously secretive, depending on your point of view, but I gather they were more plausible candidates. They were people with strong philosophy backgrounds or people who actually teach at the university level. And I am, of course, neither of those things.

This kind of writing isn’t a credentialed field. It’s always better to know more, and I wish I had a Ph.D. I wish the Times would just send me back to school for a few years. But maybe credentials are meant to tell a boss to predict how well you’ll do in a job, the way SATs help admissions offices predict how well a kid will do freshman year.

I hear you didn’t have great SAT scores, and you seem to be doing OK.

I’m hanging in there. Although I regularly get letters, quite ferociously disagreeing with something I wrote in the column, and they’ll say, “And you should be fired. And I’m going to write your boss and tell him.” And I think, OK, I get it. Anyone who disagrees with you should lose their job. And be killed. It seems a sort of belligerent approach to cultural conversation.

Take us through the process of your column.

The letters come pouring in. I get a couple hundred a week, more or less, and about half of those are pointing out how wrong I got it in the current column. The other half are new questions. … In some sense, my job is to oversimplify, and these are complicated questions, and I have just a tiny amount of space to answer them. And often the letters from the readers are very generous-spirited. They’re written with the feel that we’re all in this together, trying to solve these interesting problems. I love that kind of mail, and I often change my thinking because of what readers write.

Have you ever written to an advice columnist yourself?

I have not.

Are there people in your field whom you admire?

I think Dan Savage is the best practitioner. He’s as good as it gets at this stuff nowadays.

Does your opinion matter more to your family and friends now?

Absolutely. It’s shocking, isn’t it? People who’ve known me forever and wouldn’t have given two cents for my advice now call me up and in a very serious tone of voice and request it, and it’s because of the awesome power of The New York Times to convey credibility.

They could pick any old dog off the street and say, “You’re the ethics dog,” and people would ask the dog’s advice — and I’m the dog. I love being the dog.
— Rebecca Braverman

Randy Cohen speaks at 7 p.m. Monday, November 28, at UMKC’s Pierson Auditorium (5100 Rockhill). The event is free, but reservations are required; call 816-235-6222.