The Man Behind "The Ethicist"

By Jessica Caswell

Ethics has always been something we wonder about. Did we make the right decision in that sticky situation? What if you questioned whether you made the right decision or not?

Well have no fear Randy Cohen, writer for The New York Times Magazine is here to answer all your burning questions about life’s moments when you think, “Should I or shouldn’t I?”

Since 1998 Cohen has been writing the column The Ethicist for The New York Times Magazine. Cohen has answered questions ranging from whether or not it’s OK to use Wi-Fi that’s not yours to whether or not to tell your friend their husband “propositioned you.”

Cohen has won awards for his writing including an Emmy Award for his work on the Late Night with David Letterman show. He was the lead writer for The Rosie O’Donnell Show and also wrote a book called The Good, The Bad and The Difference.

His book, The Good, The Bad and The Difference is a collection of Cohen’s work, but with updates from his original replies of what happened after he gave the advice and reactions from the readers.

Cohen grew up in a Reform Jewish household and said that changed the way he saw the world according to an interview he did with Gothamist.com. But he also made sure to include that other than Bah Mitzvahs and weddings he has not been inside a synagogue in thirty years.

Recently, Cohen was on The Oprah Winfrey Show where he answered questions alongside Faith Salie who writes for O, The Oprah Magazine.

Winfrey called Cohen and Salie “the ethics dream team.” The pair was there to go through some ethical dilemmas for Winfrey’s viewers. In the end, they seemed to rarely agree on any of the questioned asked.

Mary, an audience member, wanted to know what she should’ve done 15 years ago when two of her friend’s husbands propositioned her for sex. Should she have told them or not?

“When it’s a one-time misstep, I would let it go. If there’s wine, if there’s candlelight, if there’s moonlight, we all make mistakes. We’re all human,” Cohen told Mary and Winfrey, who seemed shocked at his answer. “But if it’s a persistent behavior, if someone would do this again, then I think you have to tell…I use the sort of guideline ‘Once is never, twice is always.’”

Winfrey and Salie didn’t agree with Cohen’s argument and told him they would want to know. But, Cohen fought back by telling them that when this question has come up in his column that half say they would want to know and the other half say they wouldn’t want to know.

Questions like this one come up all the time in Cohen’s column, but he will be the first one to say that he thinks that anyone can do what he does.

“I love my job and hope my bosses know that, but believe that a hundred different people could do it and do it well,” Cohen said.

If you get a chance to read one of Cohen’s columns you will walk away with a little bit understanding of life’s everyday situations. You may not always agree with him, but surely he will make you scratch your head and think, “Hmmm.”

If you would like to read Randy Cohen’s column click here:
The New York Times Magazine