Poll: The Right Thing for the Wrong Reason?

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  mjs01004/11/08 Report as spam
  1

  So what?

  People do many things for the wrong reasons, but as long as what they do doesn't harm anyone or anything (or maybe even helps a little), how can it be considered unethical? Sometimes the right reason is an unknown quality. Who cares if something is done out of ego or selflessness as long as it benefits others? Many acts of charity are made by persons seeking to enhance their own self-image, but who would be so ungracious as to refuse their gift because it was "done for the wrong reason"?

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  10176804/11/08 Report as spam
  2

  Re: So What?

  But if you KNOW they're doing it for the wrong reason does it really help their image? I don't want anyone doing anything for me, that they're secretly dreading, if they're simply doing it because it's the 'right thing' to do.

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  3

  RE: Poll: The Right Thing for the Wrong Reason?

  I'm not sure it's about the "thing". In the majority of my experiences of people who do the wrong thing for the right reasons, the 'do-er' is usually heralded as honorable and just, a vigilante, an activist, an advocate, or a compassionate and caring citizen. In other words, they get the credit for the reason and the thing is almost immaterial. Therefore, I believe it should work in reverse. You get the credit for the motive and not the result.

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  mjs01004/11/08 Report as spam
  4

  Yes, but...

  Motives are hidden and results are transparent. Who determines (beyond an unseen force) what someone's true motive for doing something is? I'm not certain have been taught that altruism is good and selfishness is bad, in which case they are still seeking social or spiritual approval for themselves. Rarely is anything done purely out of non-selfish reasons.
  
  If they are bragging about their good deed - then yes, I suppose you could choose to judge their motive, still, if what they did was good - why would you withhold approval of the results.

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  5

  Re: So What?

  "I'm not certain (they) have been taught that altruism is good and selfishness is bad, in which case they are still seeking social or spiritual approval for themselves."
  That is a very insightful and thought-provoking statement. I'm not sure how to respond because you've tapped a new perspective that I've yet to contemplate. Thank you for responding.

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  Julie O'Malley04/11/08 Report as spam
  6

  We choose ethically if it's easy to do so

  People like to do the "right thing" but we also like to do the "easy thing." Example: Recycling. If the town provides a recycling bin and picks up your papers and plastics each week, most of us will recycle (right thing + easy = YES). If we had to store and take our recyclables to the dump ourselves, far fewer of us would do it (right thing + not easy = NO).
  
  Assuming the Prius is the "right thing," people will buy it if they are in the market for a small car anyway, and it's in their budget. It's easy for them. But people who have to transport a bunch of kids, or need to tow a trailer, or need to feel superior by driving an ostentatiously expensive car will not find it "easy" to do the right thing (they'd have to sacrifice too much), and will not buy the Prius.
  
  That's my theory, anyway.

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  qtrback04/12/08 Report as spam
  7

  The question is ethics not what car you drive.

  I wonder how one can consider a choice "ethical" when the decision was made based on "What's in it for me?"
  As defined by Dictionary.com
  Ethics
  1. (used with a singular or plural verb) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
  2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.
  3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
  4. (usually used with a singular verb) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.
  
  I cannot find in that definition anywhere "good intentions" or the outcome justifying the act. Irt seems to me that ethics are guidelines that induce a mindset that the greater good is the objective of the act.
  
  So even if the Prius owner is doing the "right thing" the motivation behind the purchase of the auto is not the ethical decision.
  
  But thanks Prius owners, you leave me more air to breathe and more room on the hightway for my large deisel truck.