Suppose That You Know Your Father Has Robbed a Bank. He Didn’t Keep the Money for Himself but Gave It to Some Poor Elderly People Who Live Alone, and Without Sufficient Support, in a Slum Area Nearby. You Know That This Additional Money Was a Great Help

Essay prompt: 1

Suppose that you know your father has robbed a bank. He didn’t keep the money for himself but gave it to some poor elderly people who live alone, and without sufficient support, in a slum area nearby. You know that this additional money was a great help to the elderly people. If you go to the authorities with this information, you know that your father will go to jail for at least 10 years and that any remaining money will be taken back from the elderly poor your father tried to help. What would you do?

Robin Hood was a hero who stole from the rich and give to the poor. His act redistributed income from the affluent to the necessitous which help promote equality of wealth among the society. Suppose that I knew my father has robbed a bank and he used the money to help the poor elderly people, just like Robin Hood, I will not provide this information to the authorities which will put my father to jail for at least 10 years and that any remaining money will be taken back from the elderly poor my dad tried to help. The four maxims mentioned in groundwork for the metaphysics of morals state that we have to offer help when others are in great hardships. Helping poor elderly people who live alone, and without sufficient support is therefore a duty of a rational being. This essay will argue that it is morally justifiable to cover up an illegal action in the above case. This argument will be supported by two moral concepts which are the principle of utilitarianism and the uprightness in Confucianism.

One reason why it is morally admissible to cover up an illegal action is that the action has maximized pleasure in the society. Under utilitarianism, it is morally justifiable to cover up an outlawed move given that the move will bring the best consequence. The principIe of utiIitarianism states that we should always choose whatever action or social policy that would have the best consequence for everyone concern.When we face moral decisions, we should always choose the move that brings the best outcome. As David Henderson(2014) remarks: “The purpose of morality is to make life better by increasing the amount of good things (such as pleasure and happiness) in the world and decreasing the amount of bad things (such as pain and unhappiness)”. In the above case, the money will be taken back when I report my father to the authorities. This decrease the amount of pleasure and happiness enjoyed by the poor elderly which is against the purpose of morality. Therefore I should help cover up my father’s act. Let’s look at a real example.There was a Germany bank manager,Mrs Schmidt, being arrested after she has stolen more than £1 miIIion from the accounts of her rich customers to lend money to the poor in 2009. She could have face a four-year sentence for her crime. However, as she did not take the money for herself, the court decided not to send her to jail. She reimbursed the bank with her retirement pension and was resigned from the bank. This news has proven that people in the society concurred that when the law breaker’s act is not based on self-interest and his/her aim is to benefit the society, he/she should not be sentenced. Therefore, it is morally justifiable to cover up the criminal’s act when his/her action has maximized the benefit enjoyed by the society.

Another argument that support the act of covering up an illegal action in the above case is the concept of filial piety in Confucius. FiIial piety (Xiao) is a basic for Chinese ethics. It states that fiIial piety is the foundation of all virtues(百行以孝為先), which means it should be weighted the most among all other virtues. When filial piety is in conflict with another ethical concept, we should fulfiII filial piety first, prior to others. Therefore I should never lodge an accusation against my father. According to Analects: “In our village we have one example of straight person. When his father stole a sheep, he the son gave evidence against him.’ Confucius answered, ‘In our village those who are upright are quite different. Fathers cover up for their sons, and sons cover up for their fathers. In such behavior is straightness to be found as a matter of course.” (Analects, Book XIII.18). This shows that the disruption of filial love in Confucius is not encouraged. Integrity is not about telling the truth, but concealing our own father unlawful behavior because he is the one who educate and nurture us. As a grown-up, we have the responsibility to protect our own father and cover up his act. As a resuIt, it is morally justifiable to cover up the criminal’s act when he is your father in Confucius ethics.

Some claims that robbing breaks the Law. This act should not be accepted in front of the Law of Justice, therefore I should go to the authority in order to place righteousness