Ethics Begin with You
by Thomas Fischer
Honesty is not that difficult a concept to begin with but many people from all walks of life fail to comprehend morality. Author of The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead David Callahan says, "We have created a social context in which cheating has become both a rational choice and one subject to little moral censure." He goes on to say "Simply put, we have a nastier, more cut-throat set of values than previous generations did. As the race for money and status has intensified, it has become more acceptable for individuals to act opportunistically and dishonestly to get ahead." (Callahan, 2004).
There is one thing wrong with the idea in the hypothetical situation presented in Making Ethical Decisions. When it states, "no one will know if your eyes wander toward the answer key" it misses the mark slightly. (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh, 2005). The cheater would know even if no one else would, he would know. My parents did not raise me to behave in such a manner but that is not the only problem with this hypothetical situation. Sure it might make my grade point average improve and it would give me a good grade for the class but those factors are not worth the risk of being kicked out of school for cheating. One could not live with himself if he were to cheat to get ahead. Some people may say they can live with that guilty conscience but my philosophy has always been and will continue to be what goes around comes around and if you cheat at anything in the end, you will lose.
The consequences of the action are negligible if you can live with yourself and you are not caught but most people could not live with themselves if they were to cheat. Knowing you got away with it would eat away at your conscience for the remainder of your life. The alternatives are clear to any person with a core set of values. The first alternative is that you continue with your work and finish it to the best of your ability even if that means, since you did not study, that you may fail the test. The second alternative, which has been previously mentioned, is to let your eyes wander and risk being expelled from school for cheating. One is right and one is wrong. Every person has to make up his or her own mind and make his or her own choices.
My decision or my choice would be to ignore the answer sheet and to opt for the moral high ground. It is a simple thing to take the easy road and be a cheater but it takes a strong individual to make the right choice. Even if it meant failing the class as long as I did the best I could under the circumstances I could be proud for not taking the easy way out. Besides, I could always repeat the class and study harder the next time.
In a modern cutthroat society where the CEOs of companies cheat to better the company, the conclusion is that in the end it does not pay off. This is evident in the Enron scandal and the case against Martha Stewart and in other cases where frauds have been brought to justice. It does not matter what anyone says if you cheat you will lose. The situation presented here is the perhaps one of the simplest moral dilemmas a person could face. There are only two possible courses of action. If you cheat then you have to live with the guilt and the possible consequences that may include suspension or expulsion from school. If you don't cheat then you can live with the knowledge that you did the right thing.
References
Callahan, D. (2004). The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead. Harcourt.
Nickels, W.G., McHugh, J.M., & McHugh, S.M. (2005). Making Ethical Decisions. Understanding business.(7th ed.) Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. Page 16.