Do You Realize That You Have Become a Criminal and Victim at the Same Time?

Growing on You

Do you realize that you have become a criminal and victim at the same time? There is no evidence, none needed, mainly because no one is running after you for your sins since they have some of their own. Lying could be morally wrong for some people, but for others it could be morally right. In this case, there are only two sides, the liar and the one being lied to. You may not wish to believe so, but you are constantly being lied to, if you disagree then maybe you are the one that's doing the lying. Each group defines the ethics of lying differently and usually it’s based on what they believe is true. Lying is defined as saying something that one believes to be false with the intention of getting someone else to believe it is true. Sometimes we don't know why we lie, but we can usually agree that it's the easier thing to do. From either a Deontological or Utilitarian perspective we can perceive lying in many different ways and present ideas that may conflict with others. Many philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and writers like Dworkin justify lying, claiming it's for the greater good. However, a philosopher like Immanuel Kant might claim otherwise. Lying becomes an acceptable behavior depending on the circumstances, which often makes lying impossible to escape from. Lying is morally justifiable if and only if the means justify the ends, causing pleasure and happiness for the greatest amount of people.

Using lying as a technique to make your life easier doesn't always have to be wrong. Some people may believe that lying is the only way to obtain happiness, since it is the easiest wayward. A theory that supports this claim is Utilitarian Ethics. Utilitarian Ethics states that lying is acceptable if it produces the greatest possible amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The theory emphasize that an action is morally right if it's consequences lead to pleasure and wrong if it ends in pain. A philosopher that morally supports the idea of the ends justifying the means, is John Stuart Mill. Mill was a well known philosopher whose writing included books and essays involving Utilitarian Ethics with an empiricist outlook. Mill's perspective of Utilitarian Ethics was based on the idea that, “The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals Utility, or the Greatest-Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Mill 513). Based on Mill's Greatest-Happiness Principle he states that we should weigh the outcomes and make our decisions based on the outcome that benefits the majority of the people. This means that pleasure is the only desirable outcome of our decision or actions even if lying is involved, however actions are always wrong if they cause pain. Thus, Mill believes that the greatest happiness is seeking for pleasure and eliminating pain, justifying the necessary means to achieve that happiness. Mill believes that lying can be justified in this case since the goal is happiness not the way that happiness was obtained.

Lying is acceptable as long as the means justify the ends, but without making anyone suffer. Many people are able to justify their lies with good reasons, in some cases people lie believing that it's the right thing to do. Other might believe, lying in some cases is the only way out. In everyday life there are some situation where telling either the truth or a lie does not matter. For example, if a girl asks her friend whether she looks good or not in her new dress, her friend will be justified to lie and say that she does. Even though her friend may not, the girl's lie is still justifiable because it was a protective lie that was told to prevent her friends feeling. In this scenario a lie is forgiven because it was done with good intentions and the lie would be allowed since it did more good than bad. In addition, lying can also be acceptable in medical situations in order to encourage a patient, so lying is a medicine that allows patients to feel better. According to Claude Richard, writer of "Therapeutic Privilege: Between the Ethics of Lying and the Practice of Truth", lying can play an important role in the way patients are cared for. As Richard states, “ To comply with the principle of beneficence as well as the principle of nonmaleficence 'to do no harm', the doctor may then feel obliged to turn to 'therapeutic privilege', using lies or deception to preserve the patient's hope and psychological and moral integrity”(Richard 1) . Richard is saying that in order to help patients we have to lie to protect them and make them belief that they can overcome it. So in this situation the motive for lying is good because it's done out of self interest and to protect someone else. In order to help the patient and encourage them to fight, a doctor might feel the need to lie. Based on what Richard says, lying in such a case would be justified since it is considered a protective lie for the well being of others. Both scenarios follow utilitarian theory, seeking the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.

Lying is morally acceptable in some cases in life, only if the purpose of it is receiving happiness and preventing pain. A philosopher who thinks that although lying is wrong, sometimes it's better than saying the truth is Dworkin. Gerald Dworkin is a professor of moral, political and legal philosophy. One of Dworkin recent research that he has been working on is the ethics of lying and deception. He wrote an article called "Are these 10 Lies justified?" which listed lies he thought permissible and asked for readers to respond if they disagreed. Dworkin beliefs that lying is what makes life easier for us and imagine that we can't lie, life will be worse. He says, “We could not lead our lives if we never told lies-or that if we could it would be a much worse life” (Dworkin 96). Dworkin is basically saying that if we can’t lie then, our life is going to be way different and it’s more difficult to control. Dworkin gave the readers 10 lies to decided whether they are justified or not. One lie that i think it's strongly justified is, “A young child is rescued from a plane crash in a very weakened state. His parents have been killed in the crash but he is unaware of this. He asks about his parents and the attending physician says they are O.K. He intends to tell the truth once the child is stronger”( 97). The lie scenario is a case in which lying can be justified; the person doing the lying did so with the intention of helping the child in that difficult situation. We can forgive the physician since he was only trying to help the child and did not lie to get something out of it. lying in this case