Assignment 1 “When Is “Everybody’s Doing It” A Moral Justification?” Ronald M. Green

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Steps 1 and 2 have been completed.
Step 3: Summary
What does the “everybody’s doing it” claim actually mean?
1. People tend to bring up the “everybody’s doing it” argument when it comes to taking part in an act which is not morally right and may cause some harm to people.
2. Bribery, cheating, corruption and deception are such behaviours that can be used as examples for this claim.
3. Most of the time, this claim is only used as a form of defense mechanism when people are on the verge of receiving a punishment for this immoral behaviour.
4. The author believes that when such situations arise where a person might have the choice to make an undesirable move, you can never question the behaviour as being harmful or not. What’s immoral, is immoral.
5. There are two ways by which it can be determined whether is justified to use the “but everybody else is doing it” claim; logically dealing with a situation, and the second way is to go through the five steps of permit immoral behaviour.
The five steps that permit the enrollment of a person in immoral behaviour
6. When faced with a situation that may cause a severe loss, it is recommended to go through the five steps of the “Conditions Permitting One to Engage in Harmful but Prevalent Behaviour”.
7. The five steps state the following:
a. If not taking part in such a behaviour with cause you, or others around you harm
b. On the other hand, if by taking part in this behaviour, you will not cause a lot of harm to others
c. Ensure that your behaviour will not glorify the behaviour itself and that others will not be likely to do it themselves.
d. You taking part in this has no relation with others taking part in the same behaviour. In case the public finds out that you had been caug...

... middle of paper ...

...s and refusing to pay the bribe can lead to the shutting down of your business, it is morally justifiable to act in your own favour. (Paragraph # 24) o The situation needs to be looked at logically and after going through the “Conditions Permitting One to Engage in Harmful but Prevalent Behaviour” thoroughly. (Paragraph # 48)
- Moral Choice: o Needs to be logical, before anything else. (Paragraph # 47) o Moral choice does not only depend on the person. It also depends on the public. It is the person’s responsibility to base the choice on how it will impact society at large. (Paragraph # 8) o Knowing that your decision can encourage and empower others to refrain from taking part in immoral acts or it can result in everyone else conforming to the same immoral act. (Paragraph # 17) o Everyone has a duty to reduce and also prevent harm on others. (Paragraph # 25)

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