But how many people cheated their way to actual huge altruistic benefits—cheated and actually realized the justifying greater good? Surely there must be at least one or two cases known to history—at least one king somewhere who took power by lies and assassination, and then ruled wisely and well—but I can’t actually name a case off the top of my head.
That may be because they were successful. Every time the FBI stops a potential terrorist attack through the use of an undercover informant or some deceptive trap for the terrorists, we don’t hear about it. We tend to hear about the deceptive schemes that go wrong, because a successful deception will never be found out. However the deceptions we hear about and, maybe more importantly, remember, are the ones that a) went wrong, and b) were attention gathering, which often means unethical. I somewhat doubt that any major improvements to society were created without anyone resorting to a little bit of backroom arm twisting.
That may be because they were successful. Every time the FBI stops a potential terrorist attack through the use of an undercover informant or some deceptive trap for the terrorists, we don’t hear about it. We tend to hear about the deceptive schemes that go wrong, because a successful deception will never be found out. However the deceptions we hear about and, maybe more importantly, remember, are the ones that a) went wrong, and b) were attention gathering, which often means unethical. I somewhat doubt that any major improvements to society were created without anyone resorting to a little bit of backroom arm twisting.