Is it ever moral to cheat? When? Why?

Some ideas to consider:

• Cheat to avoid being the chump [chump := someone whose naivete or misplaced trust is taken advantage of by others]. When non-cheaters lose out because of the unfair advantage enjoyed by others, they may become frustrated and disillusioned, and lose their moral framework. This is particularly a problem in environments where cheating is widespread. It is often a rationale for cheating on taxes.

• Cheat because of overwhelming expectations. In some demanding preparatory programs (like medicine), students are expected to devote an amount of time to study that outside observers consider unreasonable. Students who cannot work without sleep or who have outside commitments (family, employment, religion, politics) may feel compelled to cheat.

• Cheat because the system is intrinsicly unfair. In some musical performance competitions for young people, memorization of the music is required. However, memorization skill varies widely among musicians and has little correlation to other musical abilities. Therefore, some contest judges violate the rules and permit contestants to look at a score, which is cheating.

• Cheat on irrelevant tests. Some commercial licenses require testing, such as the Minnesota pesticide applicator's certification. The multiple-choice tests cover a broad range of topics that don't apply to most applicants. Cheating is rampant because applicants are unwilling to acquire useless knowledge. Similar rationale applies to college students forced by distribution requirements to take classes they find pointless.

• Cheat for a higher purpose. Candidates may cheat on tests to gain employment because they consider the welfare of their families more important than an abstract moral imperative against cheating. The ends justify the means.