The ethics of ghostwriting

i) Lately, the practice of celebrity megachurch pastors using ghostwriters has come under scrutiny. Is ghostwriting unethical? There are two parties to the transaction. As a rule, I think it's unethical for the client not to credit his ghostwriter or collaborator. 

Ghostwriting is sometimes defended where there's no expectation that the speaker or the named author is the actual author. For instance, we don't expect airhead movie stars to write their own biographies. We don't expect presidents to write their own speeches. We don't expect famous comedians to write all their material.  

ii) However, this isn't quite analogous to ghostwriters. We often know who presidential speechwriters are, viz. Ben Stein, Peggy Noonan, Ted Sorensen, William Safire. Likewise, Woody Allen wrote material for Sid Caesar. 

iii) Debates over the ethics of ghostwriting tend to focus on the ethics of using a ghostwriter rather than being a ghostwriter. What about the moral status of the ghostwriter himself? Is his line of work  dishonest? 

From what I've read, ghostwriting can sometimes serve the same purpose as pseudonymity, in cases where a writer must conceal his identity for his own safety. Take political dissidents writing in a closed society. 

iv) However, in cases where it's unethical to use a ghostwriter, is it unethical to be a ghostwriter? Doesn't his cooperation make the ghostwriter morally complicit in the misconduct of his client?

That depends. There's a difference between doing wrong and being wronged. Now, cooperation can involve complicity in wrongdoing–if I'm helping someone wrong others. Say I'm the getaway driver for a bank heist.

But let's take a different comparison. I'm a coal miner. I live in a company town. I have to shop at the company store, which overcharges the customers–adding to the company's profit margin. Say it makes customers buy on credit, which comes out of their paycheck. They never get ahead. 

I'm not doing wrong by shopping there. rather, I'm being wronged by shopping there.

But I don't have a real choice because I can't afford to quit my job. 

By shopping there, I participate in the company's exploitation. I'm complicit in wrongdoing in that convoluted sense. But that doesn't make me the wrongdoer. Rather, I've been forced into an untenable position. The company left me with no better options. So that's what I'm stuck with. 

v) Likewise, ghostwriting can be a career-booster. It looks good on your resume to be a presidential speechwriter. Likewise, Nicholas Perrin was one of N. T. Wright's "research assistants." Perrin has since gone on to author two of his own books, and I think it's safe to say his work for Wright made it easier for Perrin to become a published author in his own right. It helps to break the ice. So it's not necessarily an exploitative relationship. 

That assumes the ghostwriter doesn't have to sign a confidentiality agreement keeping his identity a secret.