Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Should You Tell a Man’s Fiancée That He Faked His Degrees?” A few years ago, I realized that a close friend was misrepresenting himself professionally as having multiple graduate degrees that he did not actually earn. When I confronted him in a compassionate way, he denied it, but[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Can a Woman Pretend to Be a Lesbian to Get a Couples’ Discount?” My local pool offers memberships for single people, couples (defined as “significant others living together”) and family memberships. The couples and family memberships are discounted from the rates for single people. I am a woman[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Is It O.K. to Find Sexual Satisfaction Outside Your Marriage?” I am married and have three children with my husband. For the most part, our lives are happy. My husband and I have a good relationship and are active in our children’s lives. However, I am utterly unsatisfied[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Do I Have to Tell My Family I’m No Longer Religious?” I am an African-American woman from a very religious Southern Baptist family. I now live in Europe with my husband, who is an atheist, and my two children. I am spiritual but not religious in any way[…] Keep reading →

First, the New York Times’ clickbait headlines for the Ethicist column. Clickbait means an article promises something sensational but doesn’t deliver. A sensational headline is fine for a sensational story, but the Ethicist column nearly always has sensational headlines while the questions are generally humdrum. More precise than “sensational,” the headlines provoke outrage and make you want to give a piece of your mind to the question the headline suggests[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Should I Tell My Friend I Had a Fling With Her Ex?” After attending a house party that my friend S. hosted, I made a rather rash decision to text her the next day and hopefully strike up a fling. Surprisingly, she took the bait. Soon enough we[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Should a Teacher at a Sketchy College Help Recruit Students?” I am a professor at a university that has experienced serious financial problems in the last five years. As a result, our university has brought in a number of “consultants,” many of whom work largely for for-profit universities.[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “My Wife Wants to Adopt. When Do I Tell Her I Won’t?” My wife and are I childless. We can’t have children of our own, and in any case, I have never wanted children. Now we are in our 40s, and my wife is starting the process of[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “When a Friend Cheats Often on Her Husband, Should You Keep Quiet?” More than two years ago, my best friend’s husband discovered that she was cheating on him with her business partner. They decided to work on their marriage and go to counseling, together and separately. I’ve had[…] Keep reading →