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Importance of not lying
Immanuel Kant and lying
Importance of not lying
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Throughout life, people are faced with moral decisions that will impact not only themselves but also, the people they surround themselves with. One of these moral decisions people encounter daily is truthfulness in their actions and words. In Blackburn’s novel, “Being Good”, he states “It is not easy to find a stable attitude to the stringency of the prohibition of lying.” I agree with his quote because everyone tends to lie no matter the magnitude of the lie, in order to protect themselves and the people they care about. Although Blackburn believes it is only ethical to lie on occasion, German philosopher, Immanuel Kant affirms that lying is always morally wrong, no matter what the situation is. Though lying can be seen as a deplorable action, …show more content…
When parents tell their children how great the pictures they drew in school even though were realistically mediocre, is a primary example of dishonesty for the better of others. One of the roles of parents is to provide their children with optimism and support so they learn to be motivated and strive for success. Despite their children’s flaws in certain skills, parents feel obligated to provide them with dishonesty because their kids desire positivity about themselves. Lying is one way to protect people’s feelings about themselves. Philosopher Immanuel Kant has a completely different perspective on the moral righteousness of lying. Kant believes it is unethical and sinful to lie no matter what situation presents itself. “Kant finds it especially offensive, contrasting the ‘dim, moles’ eyes fixed on experience’ with the ‘eyes belonging to a being that was made to stand erect and look at the heavens’. Kant believes in the ideology of promise keeping and if you break your promise, it is considered …show more content…
Blackburn believes that although lying is immoral, it is justified to lie under circumstances to protect themselves and the people they care about. However, Kant has a different approach, claiming that lying under any circumstance is unethical and as a result, sinful. Therefore, I agree with Blackburn’s quote “It is not easy to find a stable attitude to the stringency of the prohibition of lying.” This statement reflects the ideology that although lying is not righteous it is favorable under certain
In The Ways We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson expresses the inevitability of lying and the way it is casually incorporated into our everyday lives. She personally brings light to all the forms of lying and some that are often not recognized as a lie. Ericsson questions the reasons and validity behind lies by highlighting the effects and consequences.
In the article “Is Lying Bad for Us”, Richard Gunderman persuades his readers the effect of lying can have on our daily lives. He expresses strong opinions towards being honest and how lying has negative consequences on not only our mental health but
Although it is considered wrong to tell lies, it seems that literature has offered us situations where telling lies isn’t necessarily bad. Of course, lying often has a tragic outcome, but not always for the person or people who told the lie or lies. Oftentimes, these unfortunate outcomes are directed at the person about whom the lie was told. Furthermore, these stories have explained that dishonesty can result in success for both the liar and the target. Maybe we have been teaching the wrong values to our children.
Ericsson argued that “telling the truth all the time is nearly impossible” (159). Lies are part of everyday life, like drinking coffee for breakfast. For Barkley, lies became a stifling part of his life. The two authors explained how lies can impact a society.
Lying is an issue that has been debated on for a long time. Some people believe that lying is sometimes ok in certain circumstances. Some people believe lying is always acceptable. In contrast, some believe lying is always bad. Keeping all other’s opinions in mind, I believe that lying is a deficient way of solving problems and is a bad thing. I claim that only certain situations allow the usage of lies and that otherwise, lying is bad. Dishonesty is bad because it makes it harder to serve justice, harms the liar individually, and messes up records. Furthermore, it should only be said to protect someone from grave danger.
The people who claim that they do not lie are probably lying when they say it. Whether it is to deceive authority or just to play a joke on a friend, it is part of human nature to lie. In the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby takes on a character of wealth and luxury. Gatsby wants to win back his love interest from five years ago, so he secretly becomes wealthy through owning an illegal drug business, using his abundance of money to impress her. In contrast, in Tobias Wolff’s “The Liar,” he tells a story of teenage James as he lies about his life to appear more fascinating. He lies not because he wants to, but because it comes naturally to him. Both stories convey people struggling to find the purpose of their
Telling the truth can have some consequences, but a lie can cause more damage in a relationship once it has been figured out. People believe that by just lying, a problem is solved, but problems start when lies are told. Lying destroys relationships and truth builds honest relationships which, can last forever. In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Rob Marshall’s Chicago, characters lie because they feel that it is easier. However, lying leads to a downward- spiral. The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or easygoing. The problem with constantly telling lies is that it starts off with one, then leads to another until everything you say is a lie. Being truthful
We lie all the time, lying is not something new to our culture. We lie to our parents, we lie to our friends, we even lie to our significant other, but why do we do it? There is not one set reason on why we lie but they can vary from an insignificant reason to something more nefarious. A good operational definition of a lie is “A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.” (Freitas-Magalhães) We have been raised to know that lying is usually a bad thing, and it’s better to tell the truth, not to mention the circumstances get exponentially worse if you are caught lying. No one wants to be labeled as a liar, or untrustworthy. This may sound unorthodox but I personally think lying is perfectly fine; depending on the situation. If you have a prima-facie duty to be dishonest it’s perfectly acceptable. Ross says a prima facie duty or obligation is an actual duty. “One’s actual duty is what one ought to do all things considered.” (Carson) I’m not the only one who finds this too be true. Ross would also agree with me, He says “Lying is permissible or obligatory when the duty not to lie conflicts with a more important or equal important prima facie duty.” (Carson) As I was doing research on this topic I did read one extremely compelling argument on why we ought not to lie. Aristotle basically said a person who makes a defense for lying could never be trusted. (King.)
We lie a lot, says behavioral economist Dan Ariely. The central thesis of Dan Ariely’s The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty is that human behavior is driven by two conflicting motivations, and that most human values are not compatible all of the time. On one hand,
Kathllen Kelleher, The truth about lying: "Why we do it and when it might be ok"
Using Kantian philosophy a lie is always immoral and wrong, no matter what the situation is. Kantian ethics establishes the idea that good will be based on the action itself rather than outcome or any inclination one may have to perform an act could be good will.
Kant illustrates the point on damage of veracity by stating; “by a lie a man throws away, as it were, annihilates his dignity as a man” (Page 46). Taking in other factors such as the positive and negative effect one must also examine the consequences concerning if the lie is found out and the possible damage to the individuals veracity, including larger examinations on the impacts on society. For instance, does the individual have such a connection to society that if veracity is harmed in anyway could impact more than just those confined to the scenario themselves? After all these questions are asked the person telling the lie has an increased chance in determining whether or not a reasonable society would come to the conclusion that the lie is
Growing up, we are always told to never lie because it is the worst thing you could ever do. “Lying will only lead to a horrible situation with less than mediocre results. While lying is not always good, it is not always bad either. Samuel Butler once said “Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.
Can you see the boy across the street lying to his friends to get out of a party that will end badly? Lying is sometimes acceptable when needed but the truth is the best way to go. There are many reasons why lying could be good or bad. The only good thing about lying is when you are trying to protect someone from the truth. While on the bad side of lying is that everyone deserves to know the truth. Lying is also bad when you don’t want to take the blame for your own actions.
It is attractive to lie when we feel like we are trying to help the situation by skirting around the truth. The situation where this is best expressed it brought up by Kant in his case of the Inquiring Murderer. Here it is suggested that, even though you may be trying to protect a friend by lying to their assailant, you should still tell the murderer the truth. Why is this so challenging to our instincts? Perhaps it is because we feel