Passion, like courage, fortitude,  valor, and sacrifice among others, can enable and facilitate both ethical and unethical objectives. Ethical people willingly, openly and fearlessly point fingers at themselves, if necessary and deserved. Ethics Jiu Jitsu is similar to the #6, the Biblical rationalizations “Judge not, lest ye not be judged,” and “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone,”  except that those are used (incorrectly) to suggest that nobody is good enough to criticize the conduct of others, not that the act of criticism is inherently hateful. The ethical human being understands that , and certainly doesn’t think that the employment of one of the “enabling virtues” can sanctify wrongful conduct. I didn’t steal the money from the treasury! That defense worked: he wasn’t legally responsible for her blindness due to an intervening cause. In fact, the opposite is the case: human beings are responsible for each other, and the ethical obligation to help someone, even at personal cost, arises with the opportunity to do so, not with blame for causing the original problem. Yoo’s Rationalization or “It isn’t what it is”. The distinction between “I can’t stop myself” and “I don’t stop myself” is filament thin, as can be discerned by speaking with any alcoholic. Leaders are lying to the public? The Unethical Precedent posits that because the conduct has been done before, it isn’t unethical; #39 is the fallback: “OK, it’s unethical, but it’s unfair to punish me for it if you didn’t punish everyone else before me.”. Therefore, if a wrongdoer can successfully convince the public or society not to care that they are doing wrong, that wrong no longer exists, at least as far as that wrongdoer is concerned. Politicians, policy advocates, scientists, academics, lawyers and the rest have an ethical obligation to recognize the abilities of their likely audience (including those who will relay or interpret it, like the news media), and make their meaning as clear, direct and unambiguous as possible. Art Ethics: The South Carolina Toilet Brush Flag, This Helps Explain Why Trump Is President, Eight Inspirational Football Locker Room Speeches, Ryne Sandberg's Acceptance Speech for the Hall of Fame, Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, Society's Building Blocks: Critically Thinking About Things That Change Society, Ethics Seminars, CLE, Training and Consulting. This vintage of obnoxious rationalization is recently pressed. An unethical act completed using gentle words and a smile is seldom materially improved. The Comparative Virtue Excuse: “There are worse things.”. Related to #16 but still distinct is the excuse that a particular unethical act should be ignored, forgiven or excused as an aberration because “it was just one mistake.” This argument intentionally glosses over the fact that one mistake can be so blatantly unethical and harmful that an ethical person literally never does such a thing, and thus the “one mistake” is a reliable indicator that the actor does not deserve to be trusted. An argument for those who embrace “the ends justify the means”—but only temporarily, mind you!—the Revolutionary’s excuse has as long and frightening a pedigree as any of the rationalizations here. A habit I often cite as the best way to use the Rationalizations list is to stop cold any time you hear one of them coming out of your mouth, and treat it as an ethics alarm. 58. It is true that misfortune carries many life lessons, that what doesn’t kill us often makes us stronger, and that what hurts today may be the source of valuable wisdom and perspective later, but it really takes a lot of gall to cheat, lie to, steal from or otherwise harm someone and claim it will be a good thing in the long term. That is why carrying a cheat sheet into an exam is itself cheating, even if there is no way to prove you looked at it. Ethically, your duty doesn’t change: do what you have promised to do, as well as you can possibly do it. To do otherwise is unethical. “A written code of conduct provides employees and managers with an overview of the type of conduct and behaviors the … “Judge not…” stands instead for two tenets of wisdom, both debatable (but not now): One must also remember that stoning was a life-threatening ritual in Biblical times. Compliance depends on an individual’s desire to avoid punishment. to create a block against internal feelings of … The assertion that only the abstract, not the personal, is relevant is the mark of a sociopath. The claim that something is worth enacting, eliminating, establishing or doing is ethically and morally validates “if it saves juts one life” is aimed directly at the mushy minds of sentimentalists  and the dangerously compassionate. As a distraction, the excuse is a pathetic attempt to focus a critic’s attention elsewhere, by shouting, “Never mind me! To argue that would mean that being unethical…is ethical. Bias is a reflex emotion created by experience. The Lone Inspiration Excuse suggests that a terrible course of conduct can become acceptable by default. The Altruistic Switcheroo: “It’s for his own good,” is self-explanatory. Imaginary Consent,  “He/She Would Have Wanted It This Way”. But that was hardly less plausible than defenders of comedian Wanda Sykes applying the joke excuse to her purely mean-spirited comment about Rush Limbaugh at a White House Correspondents Dinner, when she said “I hope his kidneys fail.” What a knee-slapper! Don’t expect me to thank you, however, or to relieve you of the responsibility for the consequences due for hitting me at all. Create a Code of Conduct. used to justify misconduct in these situations and others that pose ethical dilemmas: Convincing yourself that a behavior is not really illegal. Convincing yourself that a behavior is in everyone’s best interest. That’s not the Golden Rule, however. No, looters, the fact that a business is a smoldering wreck does not make stealing even damaged merchandise from it “okay.” No, pulling the plug on a comatose patient without his previous consent or that of someone he has authorize to give it is still wrong, both legally and ethically. Whose idea was sequestration? The Perfection Diversion, or “Nobody’s Perfect!” and “Everybody makes mistakes!”. Justine appreciates having someone who is willing to support her, and eventually, Hannah convinces one of the partners in the firm to give Justine a high-profile client by lying about her capabilities and experience. State the common rationalizations and beliefs that lead to unethical behavior in law enforcement. Sometimes someone else does it, but the impact of the refusal leads to a good result anyway. Let’s tackle the complicated ethical issues, dive into them, and solve them. Closely related to the Barry Misdirection is……. 25. Second, 36C also repeats the disingenuous assertion inherent in #19. 19. It can take the form of bullying. Rationalization #36, Victim Blindness,  holds that a purveyor of unethical conduct should be exonerated if his victim “asked for” mistreatment or should have taken affirmative steps to avoid it, and #36 A, The Extortionist’s Absolution, holds that when there were sufficient warnings that a victim was at risk, that victim can’t complain about results he could have and should have avoided. An undeserved firing is just as undeserved if a nice farewell party follows. The Rationalization includes euphemisms, lawyerisms, and the logic of the con artist. Sure, let’s stipulate that the jerk is exactly who and what he presents himself as being. On occasion, this rationalization also appeals to #21. A cheater doesn’t have to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt unless his conduct gets him charged with a crime. The explanation can be a valid one when professionals behave professionally. However, when it is used as a substitute for analysis, it is pure rationalization. a) The noble cause b) “The blue curtain”/code of silence c) The slippery slope and the “Mama Rosa’s test” 5. also disregards the ethics of an act or decision, but does so, unintentionally. Thus she obfuscated, spun and lied for Bill, and gave his defenders this jaw-dropping argument, which they used liberally: “If Hillary is willing to forgive him, why shouldn’t we?”. Good movies, maybe, although Woody has had mixed results making those, too. Most people, because of bias, automatically think of themselves as the most ethical person they know. 1. Ethical conduct arises from an individual’s genuine desire to do the right thing. A belief that nobody will notice. They simply were unwilling to face the consequences of all the unethical acts they wanted to do. Thus, unlike many rationalizations on the list, devotees of #3A are often “nice” as well as ethical. Worse, Imaginary Consent presumes what cannot possibly be determined without prior express statements from the deceased. The Extortionist’s Absolution (“You were warned!”). If one is juggling chainsaws, the intelligent retort to someone who claims you are risking your life should not be that it’s obviously safe because you are not yet cut to ribbons. He does something purely for. “No,” says the wielder of 19A, “I made no mistakes. When individuals, organizations and institutions are warned about conduct that is irresponsible, reckless, dangerous, or clearly unethical, as in an ongoing conflict of interest, the brush off frequently is expressed as “We’ve never had a problem with it.” This is, of course, the equivalent of Vin’s punchline. As a general rule, “I hope you die” is not a joke, no matter who says it. A behaviour devoid of good, it is bad act or an illegal act punishable by law. 2. The Idealist’s Delusion is a cynical tool to bypass ethical decision-making by assuming the result, and using ego and guilt to stifle objective analysis. What matters is that he’s our guy! Spousal abuse where women beat up their larger husbands are especially ugly extensions of  this rationalization. The soldiers asked to fire on their own people when the Iron Curtain governments were crumbling all refused, one after another. This places 51A in close proximity to #14, Self-validating Virtue. If the the coded meaning of “It’s complicated” is “it’s love, and we can never plumb the mysteries of the heart!”, the sentiment should be received with exactly the same contempt as “It’s greed,” It’s hate,” or “It’s revenge.”. The name comes from the application of this ratioanlization when soon-to-be President Donald Trump employed it  in his mea culpa for the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he boasted about the various sexual indignities young women would tolerate when a sexual assaulter is a celebrity—like him. The Saint’s Excuse is that the ends justify the means, because the “saint” has decided that the ends are worth any price—especially when that price will have to be paid by someone else. He is an author, an inventor, a funny and clever companion who makes all around him happy. Even if somehow they do not, all Vin’s Punchline argues is that the conduct hasn’t been noticed yet (“The Unethical Tree in the Forest” rationalization) or hasn’t caused any harm (“No Harm, No Foul”). Many of the rationalizations involve a wrongdoer’s claims that the victim of wrongdoing justified the unethical act. Any of us, no matter how virtuous, are capable of becoming “the bad guy”…especially when we are convinced that we are not. Forgive and forget. Complexity doesn’t relieve us of the responsibility of seeking the right approach to these matters. Going back to basics and appreciating small moments. 4. By the time George Bailey and his mother had their fateful conversation in “It’s a Wonderful Life” in which Ma employs #69 to persuade George to snake his friend Sam’s girlfriend, World War I had convinced the world that even warfare needed some agreed-upon limits. Such conduct has to be personal. Oral sex isn’t sex, and so it’s not adultery, either. The Unethical Role Model: “He/She would have done the same thing,” which employs misdeeds of presumably admirable figures of the past as precedent for misdeed in the future, this is an appeal to irrelevant authority. You cannot earn the right to act unethically by depositing a lot of ethical deeds in the imaginary ethics bank, nor can unethical conduct be erased by doing good for someone else. (“Hey, this isn’t the first shell that Hamas has shot into Israel! They know they are immune to serious consequences for irresponsible, biased, unfair and insulting journalism, because of Constitutional protections, so they “punch up” with abandon. Victim Blindness, or “They/He/She/ You should have seen it coming.”and #24. (She had delegated the decision on her own DNR to my sister.) All of that is fine, except when the “silver lining” allows one to ignore or minimize a greater harm, and to trust someone that isn’t trustworthy. The Coercion Myth, or “I have no choice!”. Why should I  have to pay a fine for this, when so many others are speeding right along with me (and so many more are speeding by even faster than I did while I stand still here, kept from going my way, for this futile, revenue-grabbing police action)? 37. 65 A. Bluto’s Mistake or “I said I was sorry!”. It’s you. By emphasizing that the goal was difficult, a fact that indeed was known to all and should have figured into the planning and the execution of the operation to accomplish it, The Maldroit’s Diversion focuses attention and criticism away from those responsible for a disaster—those whose incompetence, lack of diligence, and poor judgment were the real reason an important task was not accomplished, not the fact that it wasn’t “easy.” The rationalization strives to avoid accountability, and conveniently prepares for an ultimate failure to succeed by planting the thought: “This objective is so difficult, who can blame him/her/them for failing to do it?”, 38. How does Krugman deal with this problem? Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The fact that we can find someone objectively remarkable who engaged in just about any crime or unethical act we can imagine merely proves that even the best of us fail to negotiate the challenges of life perfectly. We are seeing this in the reaction to the complete inadequacy of the Obama Administration’s response to the Ebola crisis. In #57, the unethical actor substitutes himself for his victim, and his values and needs as well. A sub-rationalization to #38. Wrong. Abuse of power is in this category. I have decided to do this; therefore this must be an ethical thing to do, since I would never do anything unethical.” Effective, seductive, and dangerous, this rationalization short-circuits ethical decision-making, and is among the reasons good people do bad things, and keep doing them, even when the critics point out their obvious unethical nature. 34. Rationalization 51 is  The Apathy Defense, or “Nobody Cares.” The theory there  is that as long as “nobody “is bothered by the unethical conduct, it’s ethical. “Oh, but that was in the past!” said Frank, in his gentle South Carolina accent. Andrew Jackson was a racist and a killer, but he isn’t admired for being a racist and a killer. 58 A. “Irresponsible not to put our kids in safe car seats? When the wrong resolution is chosen, the fact that the issue was complex is irrelevant to the fact that the final decision was unethical. If the rationalization is verbalized as a cynical tactic  to influence how a wrongful act is seen by others, that makes the wrongdoer a liar, and worse, an ethics corrupter. Contrived Consent, or “The Rapist’s Defense.”. 13. “Well, you solve it then!” is not a fair response. The First Amendment is the bulwark of  our freedom; it also is license for people who want to use their rights irresponsibly to be jerks, or worse. Ironically, the rationalization that “these are not ordinary times” no longer is necessary at that point. Indeed, that’s when values and integrity becomes most important. #36, Victim Blindness takes the side of the treacherous scorpion in the fable of “The Scorpion and the Frog.” #36 A, The Extortionist’s Absolution, takes that argument one step further, asserting that a victim’s defiance of a threat or warning that unethical conduct will be the response to an ethical action constitutes a waiver of ethical principles by the victim. 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