Following is the response The Ethicist gave to the query posed last week. Please read it and evaluate the response. Is Randy Cohen (The Ethicist himself) correct? Please write a letter to Randy Cohen either agreeing or disagreeing with his response.
Alas, there is no way to precisely calibrate when rude changes state to unethical, like water to ice. But it’s true that to annoy those few audience members near you is bad and to hinder the performers is worse, potentially undermining the concert for everyone and thereby doing greater harm.
What’s important is when this fellow’s affliction hit. We do not condemn people for things over which they have no control, like the unexpected onset of a cold or a sudden attack of hay fever. (Although, if this fellow realized his nose-blowing would persist, he should have left the hall.) But if the honker knew or should have known before arriving at the concert that he was apt to be a nasal nuisance, even to just those around him, he had a duty to gulp down powerful decongestants or simply stay home.
Dear Randy Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree that one can not measure when rudeness transforms into unethical behavior. However, I do not feel that the time in which the sneeze attacked occurred is a factor when deciding whether or not the situation is unethical. Although, the "honker" should not be condemned if it was an uncontrollable, sudden attack, that should also be the case for an ongoing attack that began well before the concert. If the sneezer's ethical behavior is measured merely by the beginning time in which their runny nose began, than, this situation is ethical, but still rude.
-Sundae Holmes
Dear Mr.Cohen,
ReplyDeleteYou took the words right out of my mouth. You hit the nail straight on the head. However, I would take one more step and say that he could have been at a more convient spot to leave if he needed to. He should hae been aware of hs situation and thus, adjusted. We do no know if he had previously purchased his ticket, and we wouldn't want something like a cold to snatch the money right out of his pocket, now would we? (Especially considering the quality of the concert, the ticket price may have been through the roof!) In short, Mr. Cohen, I completely agree with you, but with one small qualification, an extra piece of information,if you will.
-Talayne Gardiner
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ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment of the situation fully. Somethings are out of our jurisdiction and cannot be helped, but in this case the man should have left and done his business out of the room. His continuous nose blowing was a disturbance and hindered the performance from going on smoothly. The whole situation could have been avoided. He could have left the room and left so the audience and the performers could go on undisturbed.
-Candace
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree that one cannot measure when behavior becomes unethical. However, I do not believe he continued to sneeze intentionally, which leaves the situation uncontrollable because you cannot stop yourself from sneezing. In regards to that, you can control yourself from sneezing loudly. Then again, we dont know if he was sick before he came to the performance. If he was, then he should have stayed home, but since we dont know we cannot say his beahvior is unethical.
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you to the fullest extent that one cannot measure when behavior becomes unethical. It is not only hard to measure but placing labels on individual's actions also justifies judgment. Who are we to place ourselves on a pedestal and point fingers at so-called "wrong-doers" and deem their various acts unethical?. Sure, the man's act of continuously blowing his nose was EXTREMELY rude. However, it should not fall into the debate of ethical versus unethical. Continuous nose-blowing is too minute an act to be considered as any of the latter.
Conversely, I also agree that if the nose-blower knew that his congestion would persist, he should have been obligated to take a decongestant, or stay home to prevent being a distraction to the audience but more so, towards the performers.
Dear Mr. Cohen
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that you cannot judge when ones behavior is unethical. We don't always know others circumstances and can't be quick to judge others. However, I dont believe that he purposely meant to be a distraction nor to hinder the performance. We can't just say it was unethical because he was blowing his nose but it was in fact rude. In my opinion, the man should have left hall so he would'nt be a pest to the people around him and ruin the performance.
-Asia Goodall
Dear Mr. Cohen
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you that one cannot measure anothers unethical behavior. But I don't think we have the right to judge someone if we don't really know them. Even though the "honkers" behavior was rude but it is hard to controll your sneeze and if the guy blowing his nose knew about this problem ahead of time. Yes he should have gotten up and went else where instead of interupting the show. But who are we to judge? I don't think the "honker" did this intentionally but could have delt with it in a more ethical manner.
- Michael Palmer
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI agree that one cannot measure when behavior becomes unethical. However, we do not know whether the man was sick before he came to the performance or what other situation he may have been in. Yes, his behavior may have been rude and he could have stepped out, but I highly doubt that this was done on purpose because I'm sure he wanted to enjoy the show just as much as the next person. I feel that it would have been in his best interest to step out of the hall and come back in when he felt that he could control himself so everyone could enjoy the show in peace.
-Adia Brady
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI concur in the belief that one cannot measure the line between being rude or unethical. In certain situations it would be impossible and irrational to judge others actions without becoming extremely judgmental. Some actions are involuntary and even though they may be rude, they are inevitable. However in this case the man should have left and handled his business in a private manner. His obnoxious nose blowing was a disturbance and violated common courtesy. The whole situation would have never happened if he would have just left the room. If he knew he was under the weather to that degree where he could cause a sudden hindrance to the performance, then I also agree that he should have stayed home
-Joseph Fiddmont
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree that one cannot condemn another for the things that goes beyond their control. It is also hard to adjust when rude changes state to unethical. But, unethical behavior is the lack of morals,principles, or lack of conformity to professional standards. I believe it is unfair to say that this person lacked morals, especially if he had no prior knowledge that he was sick or had not been previously coughing and sneezing.
If the person was not in a predicament where they could privately blow their nose, and prevent from disturbing the crowd, they should not be ridiculed for publicly blowing their nose. But, I agree that it is extremely rude if they were aware of their condition, had a chance to take care of it, and just stayed in the crowd anyways not to miss the show, this is where it becomes very rude and they may be ridiculed. But, do to our lack of knowledge of the position that the person was in at the time, it is not our place to name the matter as unethical.
-Lorina Kegler
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that a person's actions can not be considered unethical. However, Based on the circumstances, we can not determine whether or not the person intentionally continued to be a distraction during the performance. Like you previously stated, some things are uncontrolable. But either way, if the fellow had a cold and meeded to excuse himself from the room while he was blowing his nose, he still would have been a distraction to some of the people watching the performance. Also we can not determine whether or not the fellow knew he was going to be sick. To suggest that the man should stay home is depriving him of the right to have a good time. For instance, I may want to go out with my friends and I feel perfectly fine. Once we are out I begin to feel sick. I did not know I was going to ill, but that doesn't mean I should have stayed home. Sometimes in life things happen and they are unexpected but you still continue with your day. You can not base your life on "what ifs" or "maybes". You just life your life and what ever happens happens.
-Ayrica Sawyer
Dear Mr. Cohen
ReplyDeleteI agree there is i fine line between rudness and being unethical and it is hard to distinguish. Since we dont know if the man came to the theater sick or if he became sick while watching the show we cannot immediatly distinguish his actions as unethical. Between countinous sneezing the man should have realized he was distracting the audience around him and singers and removed himself from the hall. By not removing himself and distrubing the peace in hall the man was being unethical.
-Sean Thomas
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI agree that one cannot determine when a rude act becomes an unethical one. In the case of the man interrupting the performance, his actions were rude, but I would not consider them unethical. He had no control over his sneezing however he could have excused himself and took care of his business in a private manner. To disturb the performance and lessen the enjoyment value of the viewing of the performance for others sitting within a close proximity to him, was rude. There is also a question of if he had already known that he was ill. If that was the case, I agree with you that he could have taken decongestants or he could have stayed home.
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI agree that one cannot measure when certain behavior becomes unethical. However, the honker should have left the hall when his nose blowing became persistent as you stated. He should have immediately got up and walked out as soon as his nose started to run because I'm sure he knew that he was going to have to blow his nose next. This leaves his actions to rise as unethical due the fact that he had some tissue or a handkerchief with him because he knew he was sick. It probably was not intentionally but it was still rude, and he should have stayed home or sat at the back so it could have been easier for him to leave if in his case he didn’t want to get up to interrupt the show for others.
- Tara Harris.
I agree that it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish rude from unethical. It is dependent upon both the situation and and the personal opinion of those witnessing the act. In regards to the theater-going nose-blower, I beleive that whether or not his nasal issues were of sudden onset or already known to him, he should have been conscious of his environment and promptly removed himself from the hall or been otherwise prepared to handle the disruption.
ReplyDelete-Taylor Johnson
Dear Mr. Cohen
ReplyDeleteWhile I do strongly agree with you on how if the audience member knew that he had a cold he shouldn't have came to the show in the first place, I do strongly disgree with you on how you beieve there is no way to precisely calibrate when rude changes to unethical. If the audience member knew that he had a cold and he knew that it was rude to blow his nose throughout the whole show than to me that seems like a precise caliber of rude and unethical. I do believe though that someone should have told him that he was a disruption and told him to leave or excused him to go and get his self together before he came back in.
Dear Mr. Cohen,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. If the man knew he was going to be a distraction to the performers he shouldn't have come.
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ReplyDelete