Murder on the Orient Express

If viewers can get past Hercule Poirot’s extraordinarily long (and awful) mustache in the 2017 film, Murder on the Orient Express, listening closely to some of the detective’s choice observations on human nature and ethics can deliver philosophical dividends. Indeed, Poirot admits to being able to see the world only as it should be, which enables him to detect even small physical (and psychological) aberrations, even concerning eggs for breakfast, and so he has become, as he unabashedly states, the world’s best detective. After having solved the case on the stopped train, however, he realizes that even his “gift” at detection is not fully in line with how things should be, and so he compromises with his austere ethical standards because he finds himself in a “gray area,” ethically speaking.

The full essay is at "Murder on the Orient Express."

The Corporate Apology

In classical literature, an apology can mean a defense, such as Plato’s Apology. In modern parlance, an apology is known as an expression of genuine sorrow and an acceptance of responsibility for having caused harm to another person. Consumers should be on guard lest a company use the semblance of an apology for marketing purposes. Robert Bacal advises that an apology be used as a strategy to use “along with other techniques."[1] According to Bacal, “perfunctory or insincere apologies are worse than saying nothing at all.”[2] Accordingly, he advises that a “sincere apology can help calm a customer, particularly when you or your company has made an error. You can apologize on behalf of your company.”[3] However, how can an apology be both sincere and geared to manipulating a customer? I contend that giving a "perfunctory or insincere" apology is unethical because it is essentially a lie spun under the subterfuge of compassion. 

The full essay has been incorporated into On the Arrogance of False Entitlement: A Nietzschean Critique of Business Ethics and Management, available at Amazon.

1. Robert Bacal, Perfect Phrases for Customer Service, 2nd Ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2010), p. 19. Italics added.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.