Monday, February 28, 2011

Is There Something Intrinsically Good About Fair Play?

I told the shorter of the short people yesterday that he should not cheat at solitaire. He responded, "Why not?" To which I said, "Ummmm..."

Clearly, "cheating" in this case indicates breaking the rules and not swindling another player. By breaking the rules, he is, in fact, just playing a different, albeit easier, solitaire game of his choosing. But there does seem to be something wrong. Is it a virtue type thing, that the cheating is embedding a proclivity towards dishonesty, or at least taking the easy way out, in his character?

So, is there anything wrong with cheating at solitaire?