The Ethics Guy(registered trademark) to speak at EMU's Ethos Week

Originally submitted by: jadelay

Dr. Bruce Weinstein, also known as The Ethics Guy(registered trademark), is the capstone speaker at the upcoming Eastern Michigan University College of Business Ethos Week luncheon on March 14. Dr. Weinstein is an author and a syndicated columnist, whose advice and insights on the ethical conundrums of working and everyday life are found in "Ask the Ethics Guy." The column is distributed, according to Dr. Weinstein's website, by McClatchy-Tribune and also appears on BusinessWeek.com. In addition, Dr. Weinstein gives "keynote addresses, workshops and seminars showing why taking the high road is not only the right thing to do; it's the smart thing to do, too." (See The Ethics Guy-registered trademark-website.) I look forward to attending the luncheon on Friday, March 14 to hear what Dr. Weinstein has to say. At the same time, I wonder why he found it necessary to get a trademark for The Ethics Guy moniker. I don't have a problem with his earning a living from giving ethics advice. After all, Socrates and all the other ancient ethics guys had to live too, in order to live well in the ethical sense. And when I thought about the trademark behind The Ethics Guy a little longer (maybe 10 minutes or so), I guess I can understand where he is coming from and why he decided to go to the trouble of obtaining a circled R to go with his publishing self. Because ethics positions are often controversial, he may well have concluded he didn't want another Ethics Guy out there spouting off views that he strongly disagrees with, and indeed, even thinks are unethical. I don't know. But I still find it curious and the argument of having such a right to prevent others from being ethics guys is not all that convincing. Suppose for example, we all decided to become ethics commentators on this site. (This is not really a hypothetical, because everyone is an ethics commentator on this site. We even offer advice to each other.) Suppose further that we all determine that our names, whether they are covers, noms de plume, "Second Life" avatars etc. should be trademarked... and that we syndicated our views, just as Dr. Weinstein has done. Would this be smart and the right thing to do too? I would like to hear other reasons why there should be only one The Ethics Guy in the world today.