Lying In Certain Situations: Immanuel Kant Analysis

Why Lying is Okay (in Certain Situations)

Immanuel Kant, a philosopher known for his contributions in deontology. He believes that humans have a perfect duty to not lie, however there are reasons that show that sometimes we have to lie. Therefore, it is my belief that Kant’s deontological ethics, saying that we have a perfect duty not to lie, is false. In support of this, I will argue that sometimes lying is better than telling the truth. For example, one might lie due to personal protection, the protection of children’s innocence, the prevention of harm and hurting someone’s feelings, or the delay of pain and suffering. An example of protecting a child’s innocence is the answer of a parent when their child asks them, “Where do babies

So, each experiment builds on one another. The first one just looks at lying to help someone else, versus being honest, which harms others. And then the second experiment, which had another 200 participants, looks at the effect of lying to help someone else, even when it actually causes harm. So, [they] disentangle intentions from outcomes. And then in [their] third experiment, which again had another 200 or so participants, [they] start to disentangle the effect of lying on the self, versus the effect of lying on others. (Levine, 2014)

Schweitzer and Levine “had people come to a lab and watch someone, or interact with someone, who had an opportunity to lie about the outcome of a coin flip or a die roll in order to make money for their partner” (Levine, 2014). They found that their results were “that when participants are lied to in a way that helps them, they actually really appreciate that dishonesty. It boosts trust, and it causes them to think that their counterpart is moral” (Levine,

They will say how when caught in a lie, you cause people to feel like you cannot be trusted. This leads to ruined relationships, whether it is between family, friends, or your significant other. Examples of this include: 1.) Lying to your parents, getting found out, and them feeling as if they cannot trust you like they did before. 2.) Your friend feeling angry at you after discovering that you have lied to them. 3.) Telling a lie to your significant other, whom you are supposed to really care for and love, and then they find out and he/she breaks up with you. And they will state how once you get a reputation as a liar, it is hard to gain the trust that has been