Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
An immoral question?	Jon1667	06/29/03
Following on the question about The Ring of Gyges: Is the question, does morality pay off (or as Socrates put it, is justice profitable) an immoral question? Doesn't it suggest that the only reason for acting morally is that it pays off ("Honesty is the best policy.")? With the corollary that if it does not pay off, or, worse, if it is detrimental to the doer, then he is under no obligation to act morally? (By the way, this is one of the questions that professors of philosophy often ask in class.)
Clarification/Follow-up by Jon1667 on 06/30/03 5:17 am: Hank: You may be right, but I don't think I was asking whether morality pays off. The answer to that is probably that sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes it does in some ways, and not in others. But I thought I was asking whether suggesting that unless it does pay off, there is no reason to be moral, is an immoral suggestion. Suppose that honesty were not the best policy (as the saying goes), would there be any good reason to be honest? Clarification/Follow-up by HANK1 on 06/30/03 1:32 pm: I read your clarification, Ken. Looks as if you MIGHT be characterizing the 'boys' at Enron when you insinuate that morality "doesn't pay off SOMETIMES." In Enron's case, business ethics were 'trashed.' When you say "pay off," are you talking about personal gain, deceiving the public etc.? All actions and thoughts should include truth, goodness and usefulness ... to opine! I feel that being an honest and fair person is much more important than getting 'paid off' for doing something immoral ... at anytime, no matter what the consequences might be. If I felt that immorality was important, I'd have more $$$ than Donald Trump. There doesn't have to be a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. I'd rather have respect from that gentleman in Heaven and my friends down here on Earth! I try to be MORAL all the time ... and I feel that most Experts on this Board feel as I do! I'm a REALIST, Ken, and since I've been 'around many blocks,' I'll just say, "HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY!" There is not such a word as immorality in my vocabulary! Perhaps this is one reason why Carol and I are very happily married! HANK
Answered By		Answered On
HANK1		06/30/03
Does morality pay off? I guess it depends on who you 'hang' with! Maybe someone who is calling the 'slammer' home can give you a better answer! Noone is obligated to be moral! Only those with common sense feel differently. "Life is just a bowl of cherries" for those who walk the straight and narrow, give or take a bump or two in the road! HANK

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