On an assignment like this, it is very easy to fall back on shallow, "cop-out" answers. Try to avoid this. The point of the assignment is to shake up well-entrenched ideas, and to encourage you to lead a more examined life. You might not be able to come up with an ultimately satisfying answer, but the real test is how you choose to respond in the face of this challenge. This is a test of your "intellectual mettle."

To help you out, I’ve listed several of the responses that I often encounter to questions like this, along with the replies I tend to make when I feel (in some cases, quite literally) like being "Devil’s Advocate."

1. "Morality is subjective."

This is a cop out. Remember that just because people disagree about what is morally right or wrong, that doesn’t mean that there is no single answer or that everyone’s opinions are equally worthy. Compare knowledge of moral standards to other types of knowledge. People, and even whole societies, can, and often are mistaken.

2. "You shouldn’t cheat, because you’ll likely get punished for it."

Keep Socrates’ question in mind: Is an act wrong simply because you are liable to be punished for it, or are you liable to be punished for it because it is already wrong? Here you need to consider the question of why punishing authorities (parents, teachers, society, perhaps even God) have this prior sense that cheating warrants punishment.

3. "I learn what is morally right or wrong from my family, my religion, or society."

Yes, but how can you be confident that they taught you what is really morally correct and incorrect? Avoid blindly appealing to authority.

4. "The morally correct act depends upon the situation."

This might well be correct, but you need to go further than that. What exactly are the features of a situation that are relevant for determining whether it’s right or wrong? Mill’s position, for example, is situational. An act is morally correct if it is likely to promote the overall good. Cheating, in some circumstances, can be justified on utilitarian grounds.

5. "Cheaters only cheat themselves."

This threatens to beg the question. If cheating is OK in the first place, what’s the harm in cheating oneself?

6. "Cheaters can’t really live with themselves. They have no personal integrity or positive self-image."

Why couldn’t a cheater take pride in their cheating, in their ability to "beat the system?" Just as the characters in Ocean’s 11 can take pride in an elegantly orchestrated casino heist, couldn’t one derive a sense of accomplishment from a well-planned cheating scheme? Why couldn’t cheating be any part of a dignified life?

7. "Cheating defeats the purpose of the class."

Perhaps. But now I’d like you to consider people who take classes for other, "less noble" purposes – for example, in order to graduate, or because it is required. Would it be OK then for them to cheat? Sure, the university’s purpose is to have you learn, but that needn’t be your purpose. Why exactly should you care about the plan the university, your parents, or society has for you?

8. "Cheating is morally permissible, or at least not morally wrong for some people."

If so, then why exactly do instructors and institutions punish those that they catch cheating? Are they (the instructors and administrators) confused?

9. "I shouldn’t cheat since it would violate the promise or agreement that I’ve made with the university or the instructor."

This could well be on the right track, but you should tell me why you should keep your promises or your agreements. Note in particular that this is a funny kind of agreement. Unlike agreeing to exchange goods or favors, it is likely that no one would ever notice if you were to cheat.

10. "Cheating goes against everything I believe or stand for."

You need to explain why what it is you believe or stand for is correct. Otherwise, you threaten to commit a subjectivist’s fallacy.