Which outcome would you prefer?

Outcome A. What’s that saying, “no good deed goes unpunished”?

 

Interesting question. It's sadly not an academic one since these seem to be the only two options we have in real life.

 

B, while it's morally corrupt which is not a life I want to lead, I do realize that you need other people to like you in this world to be a happy person. If nobody liked you, you would not have friends, a good job, a spouse, children, or many of the other things in life that make life good.
It's kind of a dumb question in my opinion, because it's too extreme. Be a jerk and be liked or Be a good person and not be liked...not a very realistic scenario.

 

That’s the point of the exercise, to see if people are good because they want to be good or just to have the reputation of being good, and it’s not even new, plato wrote a whole book on the subject (the republic). There is no doubt that b) is better for the individual especially if he has no moral compass which itself is given to him to encourage group unity. It is however only an option if everyone else or the majority pick a), otherwise the society would not function if everyone is stealing and cheating each other regardless of their reputation. So being good and having the reputation of being good is actually acting in your own self-interest.

But you can absolutely be though of a scoundrel and still have some people like you, have a job, children ect there’s plenty of folks like that and folks who like scoundrels, it is just that most people will not like you. A real life example is Gorbachev/Yeltsin.

 

At the heart of it thats what it is the only difference is to what degree

 

Outcome A