The Controversy Of Honesty By Immanuel Kant

Lying is one of the ethics cases that usually happen in our daily life. We know that lying is a one of unethical behaviour that everyone must avoid because it will give harm to a person that has been cheated. The case study that we choose was written by Tim C. Mazur about lying. Based on this case study, Tim C. Mazur was written about Ross Perot 's who a politician person that lied about he secretly investigated his presidential campaign volunteers. And according to a philosopher, Immanuel Kant said that lying was always morally wrong. Besides that, second perspective which is virtue ethics that Tim C. Mazur was discuss in this case study also maintains that lying is morally wrong but though less strictly than Immanuel Kant perspective about lying. Next perspectives that have in this case study are utilitarian ethics. Utilitarian claim that actions including lying are morally acceptable when the resulting consequences maximize benefit or minimize harm. So based on this case study, we will discuss about lying based on positive side and also negative side which is in ethical and unethical value.

People view lying from all different directions and perspectives. Lying is justified when used in certain circumstances. Immanuel Kant, a german philosopher from the 1800s, believes lying is never justified until a matter of life and death is present. Lies can be excused when a certain scenario of danger or harm comes into play. Referring to any threat to a person’s life can diminish the duty of the truth. When someone’s life is at stake it is almost vital to lie, or risk harming the person in the process. Kant has a sincere belief “that any generous motive, any threat to life, could excuse a lie…” as Bok expresses in her

He is very anti-lying and shows us this in Metaphysical Principles of Virtue, which he provides us with a whole section on the topic. He bases it on the idea of categorical imperative. This is the idea that if one person does an action then everyone does the action. This is not to be taking literal. If this was applied to lying then there would be no trust and communication would become impossible and communities would fall apart. We see an example of his strong view on the topic; we see an example of this when he says “lying is the greatest violation of duty to himself man’s” (Kant, 90). He also breaks down lying into two categories internal and external. Internal being the worst because you are treating yourself as a mean and not an end. He also thinks that lying takes away a man’s dignity in the eyes of others and himself. These statements show how strongly Kant felt about lying and that one should ever do it.

In The Ways We Lie, by Stephanie Ericsson, and Anton Chekhov’s, The Lady with the Dog both have messages about lying. Ericsson discusses a few of the many types of lies or deceit, such as white lies and facades. Chekhov, on the other hand, does not particularly talk about lying, but the characters lie and deceive each other. Although it is easier to lie than to tell the truth, I claim that people should tell the truth all the time because lying is morally wrong, and it leads to unforeseen consequences.

I maintain lying is justified when you lie to protect others. For example in the article lies lies lies by Paul Gray states that many people are honest about how they look. Lying could protect others if you make up your protecting someone you don't want to hurt because they tell you to do that. Also for example in the article on paragraph seventeen only like seventy seven percent of students track how many lies they do each day counting and counting. Also in the article it says that if you lie you might feel bad but that's why you shouldn't lie.

Honesty is a valuable trait to possess as a human being because it leads to a greater personality. Choosing to tell the truth promotes courage and integrity. Honesty is a path where a person has to decide between right and wrong. Overall, telling the truth when there is no witness is the most important thing as this

As stated by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which one may be true”. The Scarlet Letter takes place in Puritan times, where tolerance was at an all time low, and where women were publicly humiliated for adultery, which is in fact what the scarlet letter “A” represented. Also, during this period of time, due to the religious background, customs, and the mindset adopted by people, there was a lot of superstition on the origins and consequences of evil. Thus, through this quote, Nathaniel Hawthorne expressed his personal belief regarding on the topic of corruption, honesty and deception. Hawthorne

According to Mill, lying is the worst thing an individual can do. In the state of lying it weakens a person ability to the the truth, the person is incapable of telling the truth in the future. At most time lying usually is morally wrong because it decreases overall happiness in the society. It is only morally right to lie to produce more happiness or ensure that the desire to live is fulfill in a person. For example it is reasonable to lie if you mother was in danger, you would lie in order to save her life, and in doing so one is outweighing the claim of justice

This isn’t an easy process as others make it out to be. Now,I would be a liar if I said this writing assignment is pointless. I’ve been given the opportunity to voice my personal opinion; based on the topic of lying. Two choices were available and one was voided. I find it discouraging that i’m writing my intro a second time. What i’ve just wrote hopefully is captivating enough to keep my readers attention. I figured since my thesis is about my opinion whether lying is acceptable or unacceptable. If i’m truly going to be honest, I am not entirely positive about this topic. Truthfully, I was confused regarding this assignment. I was asked what my thoughts were on lying, and told to explain it in a essay. I completed a part of it, but was told

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caufield distances himself from others. In fact, Holden begins his narration on top of Thomsen Hill, alone, while “...the whole school except me was ...down at the game” (Salinger 3). Furthermore, it can be inferred that Holden,”the most terrific liar you saw in your whole life”, lies to isolate himself and get out of uncomfortable situations (Salinger 16). While it is clear that Holden wishes to alienate himself, the reasons why he does so is more complex. It appears that Holden wields alienation as a form of self-protection. He tries to alienate himself from a number of things, including sexual intimacy and “phonies”, that represent adulthood. This suggests that Holden is afraid of growing up and

Would you tell the truth if the whole world would explode? In some circumstances the truth is not always the best tactic. Many scenarios may not be life threatening, but there is a price to be paid by choosing to tell the truth as Sekhar had learned in R. K. Narayan’s short story, “Like the Sun”. You should not go around telling lies to everyone about everything, but sometimes not telling the absolute truth may be best. Honesty is not always the best policy in some incidents because you could hurt someone’s feelings, put your relationship with others at risk, or reveal confidential information.

Honesty is defined as the quality of being fair and truthful and originates from the Latin word “honestus” meaning "moral purity, uprightness, virtue, justness." “When you tell a lie, you steal someone 's right to the truth…there is no act more wretched than stealing.” Khaled Hosseini wrote this line in his book The Kite Runner not only to explain the weight a simple lie can hold but also to express how important honesty really is. Would you trust a man who has stolen from you? Would you then trust a man who has kept the truth from you and told a lie in its place?

Lies, they come in different forms and shape some of then are little lies, big lies or white lies. However, I believe lying, in all forms, is bad. After watching the film it made me agree even more with the fudge factor concept. When we lie we are doing something that it is considered awful, unacceptable, dishonored and incorrect. However, all of us had lied before and we still view ourselves as good people. I lie all the time, lying have got me out of uncomfortable situations with my families and friends. For example my sister really liked a dress and asked me if I like it, but I really hate it. If I would have reply no, then I would have hurt her feelings. As humans, we tend to justify our actions in order to find comfort or peace with ourselves. Some individuals justify their lies by saying things such; I did not wanted to hurt my friend or family, everyone else is doing it or I had no choice. In reality, these are not valid excuses for lying, eventually we are going to end up hurting them. There are situations in life when for me it is easer to lie instead of saying the true, but there is always a sour taste in my mouth after lying to someone I love regardless of the reason.

In general aesthetics is defined as concept that is dualistic - it involves on the one hand the artist and on the other hand the art critic or the philosopher. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy and as such is interested in art itself and not in specific works of art.

In this quote, Immanuel Kant addresses whether an action’s moral worth, such as telling the truth, is able to be considered good no matter the circumstances. Kant already established to have moral worth an action must be done from duty, have its moral worth from the maxim, or the intention, that a person wills in doing it, and to be done in reverence of the law (Kant 66-68). Kant sees telling the truth for the sake of duty as having moral worth as it is already in line with what he believes gives an action moral worth. While telling the truth out of fear of a lie’s consequences may give the same result but have different moral undertones. For a person to tell the truth because they feel the backlash of people discovering they had lied, and then lose their credibility, makes this an action done out of fear and not duty (Kant 70). Since in order to lie in order to avoid undesirable outcomes a person looks at outside factors and is driven by fear it does not follow Kant’s guidelines and does