Philosophy
Professional golf has made a certain kind of club illegal. It disallows certain kinds of grooves on the head that add spin to the shot, allowing players to cover up what would have been a bad spot with the extra spin. As the rule is written, there happen to be old clubs that no one uses anymore that slip in through a loophole, but clearly violate the spirit of the rule. Pro golfer Phil Mickelson tracked down one of these old clubs and was using it. His fellow golfers accused him of cheating. He argued that he was following the rules, but he was clearly trying to gain an advantage that his competitors did not have achieved not through effort or skill, but by using equipment they did not have because they were trying to adhere to both the letter and spirit of the rule.
He was following the rule, but was he cheating?
- 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...
- Cheating And Dumping
A couple good ethical and political questions. Anonymous (if that is your real name) asks, "Is using cheat codes when playing a video game cheating?"Clearly, the person is intentionally violating the spirit of the game in order to gain an unearned advantage....
- Catcher's Ethics
The shorter of the short people has taken to playing catcher on his little league team. So, when we watch a ballgame, we often pay special attention to what the catcher does. In a game the night before last, the Orioles were playing the Mariners and with...
- Thoughts On The Asterisk
Want to add my two cents on the asterisk question. The hard part is keeping straight exactly what the asterisk is being applied to. Is it the home run record? Is it the claim that Bonds is one of the greatest ever? Is it his claim to being Hall-of-Fame...
- How Big A Deal Is It If Nadal's Uncle Was Coaching Him?
There was a dust-up at the French Open, in which Roger Federer accused his arch-rival Rafael Nadal of cheating. The claim was that he was being coached by his Uncle Toni from the stands. If you are unfamiliar with tennis, you might wonder why this would...
Philosophy
Cheating and Breaking the Rules
Professional golf has made a certain kind of club illegal. It disallows certain kinds of grooves on the head that add spin to the shot, allowing players to cover up what would have been a bad spot with the extra spin. As the rule is written, there happen to be old clubs that no one uses anymore that slip in through a loophole, but clearly violate the spirit of the rule. Pro golfer Phil Mickelson tracked down one of these old clubs and was using it. His fellow golfers accused him of cheating. He argued that he was following the rules, but he was clearly trying to gain an advantage that his competitors did not have achieved not through effort or skill, but by using equipment they did not have because they were trying to adhere to both the letter and spirit of the rule.
He was following the rule, but was he cheating?
- 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...
- Cheating And Dumping
A couple good ethical and political questions. Anonymous (if that is your real name) asks, "Is using cheat codes when playing a video game cheating?"Clearly, the person is intentionally violating the spirit of the game in order to gain an unearned advantage....
- Catcher's Ethics
The shorter of the short people has taken to playing catcher on his little league team. So, when we watch a ballgame, we often pay special attention to what the catcher does. In a game the night before last, the Orioles were playing the Mariners and with...
- Thoughts On The Asterisk
Want to add my two cents on the asterisk question. The hard part is keeping straight exactly what the asterisk is being applied to. Is it the home run record? Is it the claim that Bonds is one of the greatest ever? Is it his claim to being Hall-of-Fame...
- How Big A Deal Is It If Nadal's Uncle Was Coaching Him?
There was a dust-up at the French Open, in which Roger Federer accused his arch-rival Rafael Nadal of cheating. The claim was that he was being coached by his Uncle Toni from the stands. If you are unfamiliar with tennis, you might wonder why this would...