So many children wrote a letter to so-called Santa Claus to different
designated addresses across the globe. Often, but not all, volunteers
at the postal office would reply these mails.

Now, there is a paid-service that let parents of children to
'personalized' a letter and send the personalized letter to their
children on the 'behalf' of the Santa Claus. But, of course, the
children does not know that the parents is behind the act. The
children would believe that the letter is from the Santa Claus.

Now, this is just like when parents left cookies and milk on Christmas
eve and remove it next morning to stage that the Santa Claus came to
their house. Or these days parents could even buy a kit full of
Santa's personal stuff like Santa Claus Driving License ID. Parents
could buy these kits and left 'traces' that Santa came to the house.
Of course, when children found these traces, they really believe Santa
Claus was here!

Now the question is: Is this moral (or is it ethical?) from a business
point of view?
Should business engage in these business - providing service and good
that let parent stage that Santa Claus is real?

Please do not answer the question like "it depends on what your moral
standard is" etc... I am looking for a well-researched answer with
references.

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Request for Question Clarification by keystroke-ga on 01 Aug 2006 05:44 PDT

My first thoughts into this are.

1 What harm has it done to help children continue to live in their
world of fantast? I am 27 and I believed in santa claus when I was
younger, I have younger family members and when I knew there was no
such person I never spoiled it for my siblings, I let them live with
the knowledge of this good man that bought presents. When we all
reached an age old enough to realise it was not real not one  of us
was, or is negatively affected by the fallacy that our parents acted
out.

A similar thing was done with the tooth fairy, easter bunny and the
little pixies and unicorns that live at the bottom of your garden.

This is NOT an answer in any way, but more of a "first hand"
experience of what it was like believing in santa claus and finding
out he did not exist. I have not been negatively affected, that I can
tell, nor have my siblings from the act that my parents did in order
to make us good children and to give us a really exciting day on the
25th of December when we believed a jolly fellow in a red suit had
come down the chimney we didn't have :)

--Keystroke-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 01 Aug 2006 06:59 PDT

As you can see for the scholarly resources at this link:


http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=ethics+believing+santa+claus&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en


there is no shortage of philosophical discussion on the ethics of
promoting a belief in Santa Claus.


Even more certainly, there's no 'right' answer to your question...it
truly is a matter of personal preference and practice.

Can you clarify what it is you'd like from the researchers here?

Thanks,

pafalafa-ga

Give me a break......lighten up.

Steph53

If you watch "Miracle on 34th Street" you see the result of brutal
honesty on children-- they fall victim to some deranged geezer who
claims to be Kris Kringle!

Let's look at from another angle.
The businesses are just offering a product  - and there are businesses
offering much less ethical/much more unethical products  - in
someone's eyes.
You don't have to think of just sex and pornography:  abortions,
alcoholic beverages, tobacco, unnecessary cosmetic surgery, anything
abhorent to the ecologically oriented.
No one has to buy the products or services.

I really think that it does come down to: "it depends on what your moral
standard is".  If you don't like it, don't buy it.

I can imagine that there are papers decrying the subject, but those
writing them are starting from their own point of view.  There are
probably less or no papers specifically defending this "industry"
simply because those who accept it don't find it necessary to do so.

Wait.  Whaddaya mean Santa ain't real?  Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!  Mommy!

What?! What?! Oh great. Thanks a lot. :P