Originally Posted by RLAJay

This is just rationalisation of cognitive dissonance. You know you did something wrong but rather than accept how wrong it truly is you would rather play it down and or rationalise it as something ok.

Be a man and accept your wrong, learn from it, and don't do it again. Rationalising by saying "It would have been someone else anyway" doesn't make what you've done any less immoral in respect to the poor bloke that you've caused emotional hurt to as a direct result of your actions. Saying that he would have had that trauma from someone else anyway doesn't make it ok.

There are better examples but I'm drawing a blank right now. Imagine that you just saw someone's car keys left in the door of their car in a bad neighbourhood. Does stealing that car on the premise of "someone else would have stolen it anyway" make it any less of an immoral act?