Is it ever acceptable to justify unethical behavior Why or why not - Essay Example

Is it ever acceptable to justify unethical behavior? Why or why not? Very often, we tend to justify unethical behaviors. Sometimes, cheat because they know everybody in the class is cheating. They tend to think that if they do not cheat, they would be alone who would be suffering since everybody else’s answers would be correct except them. So in an urge to compete, they cheat. Many people involve in acts that are legal in their countries but they are not necessarily ethical also. Such practices include but are not limited to euthanasia, abortion, and prostitution.

These people tend to follow the law of the land. As long as the law of their country does not forbid them from indulging in a certain kind of practice, they do not have any reason not to execute that act. Although to lie when the circumstances are dire might be appropriate, yet to decide the level of direness involved in certain circumstances is complicated. One might be able to call a certain situation as dire using one’s philosophical intelligence in an attempt to justify one’s unethical behavior (Vora, 2012).

While to lie when a life can be saved with it might be appropriate, but there is a lot of subjectivity about the appropriateness of lying when a child lies to save his mother the grief that the truth is likely to cause. Hence, to lie when the outcome is very positive might even be ethically justified, though the perceived level of positivity varies from one individual’s point of view to that of another. So sometimes, it is acceptable to justify unethical behavior because the outcome might be very favorable or the act might be legal.

References:Vora, H. (2012, June 25). 5 EXCUSES we use to justify our unethical behavior. Retrieved from http://aryatva.com/2012/06/25/5-excuses-we-use-to-justify-our-unethical-behavior/.