Moral Issues In Tao Te Ching

With finals bearing down, I formed a study group for my chemistry 1A class with a handful of my peers. Prior to the meeting date, all but one of us had worked through the final and we planned on going over missed problems. The study partner’s unpreparedness is reflective of his work ethic throughout the quarter. As we work through the test together I can clearly see his incomprehensive knowledge of basic chemistry principles. Halfway through the test his desperation turns into a plea for help. He asks me if I will sit with him in the back of the classroom and allow him to cheat off of my test. In this moment I discover my most pressing moral issue, do I allow him to cheat off of my test? His request makes me immediately uncomfortable and his subsequent pressing of the issue only makes me more so. So clearly I have an issue with his request. The problem ultimately boils down to a conflict of morality. I will use the Tao Te Ching, and Mans Search for

On the issue of morality Sartre says, “let us say that moral choice is to be compared to the making of a work of art” (361). When I approach the issue of cheating I have to consider three different moral beliefs. My implicit belief, my study partner’s belief, and societies’ belief. I should consider all three beliefs before settling on the belief to guide my actions. At the same time, I need to consider another one of Sartre’s ideas. He writes: “man is nothing else than a series of undertakings, that he is the sum, the ordination, the ensemble, of the relationships which make up these undertakings" (356). So while I have the freedom to decide my own moral beliefs and act upon them I am responsible for the consequences of my actions. Ultimately it boils down to, whether or not I should risk myself for him and whether or not helping him cheat will really help him in the long