Philosophy Now Forum

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'fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me.'

to betray another is to abuse them -
abuse their trust.

healthy, mutually beneficial relationships, communities & societies -
rest upon reciprocity, kindness, fairness & trust.

to deceive, manipulate, betray, abuse..
is to undermine the foundations of reciprocity -
an unhealthy practice: self gain, community harm.

those who engage in these practices,
are engaging in unenlightened self-interest -
i.e. selfish. -- they're being unethical.

[there are edge cases where one may lie for the 'greater good',
but this must be justified.
in the absence of valid justification,
where there aren't better understood alternatives:]

this behaviour ought be condemned,
and taken as a failing of character -
that the betrayer must make amends & redemption,
demonstrating they will not repeat this pattern.

in the absence of this, they cannot be trusted.
their actions should not be respected insofar
as we believe them to be healthy for community.
as they have demonstrated their disregard for community.

if you discover deceit -
you have discovered infection.
do not overlook deceit -
give it due weight.
recognize it's implications,
or allow sickness & unhealth to spread.

if you can heal infection,
so be it - do so.
if you can't heal infection,
contain it - quarantine it.

to treat it akin to rest of ecosystem,
is to hand infection the keys to welfare -
empowering infection to spread it's tendrils,
at the risk, expense & detriment of the healthy.

"those who engage in these practices are engaging in unenlightened self-interest -
i.e. selfish. -- they're being unethical."

Only if they existed in a socialist society would this be true. In a western liberal society, "to deceive, manipulate, betray, abuse" should be encouraged (to accelerate political and economic change).

Yeah, I'm sorry, but "what is ethical" is totally irrelevant where the working citizens don't own and control the means of society's production. That is to say, a philosophy of ethics is impossible until this end is reached.