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

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is justified because it’s helping him to get stronger without causing any pain to the person. As a conclusion, we can say that lying is justified only when it tend to produce happiness for the greatest number of people, but without hurting people’s feelings.

In Some cases in life it’s morally justified to lie to achieve happiness, but there is a theory that goes against it saying it’s morally wrong to lie. That theory is known as Deontological Ethics. Deontological Ethics is a theory based on duty and following the right things no matter what the consequences are. Deontological Ethics focus on the action themself, rather than the outcome. A well known philosopher that followed this theory was Immanuel Kant. Kant was one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy. Kant focused on ethics; which is the philosophical study of moral actions. Kant proposed a moral law known as the “categorical imperative,” stating that morality is derived from rationality and all moral judgments are rationally supported. Kant believed that everyone has a duty to follow, in which they all must act on a maxim that they would allow to exist universally. An example would be lying, as Kant says if you lie then you are basically allowing everyone else to lie. This explanation of the Categorical Imperative states , “Yet i maintain that in such a case an action of this kind , however right and however amiable it may be , has still no genuinely moral worth”(Kant 82). Kant is saying that any act has no moral worth if it was done with the result of pleasure or happiness. So if someone would lie for self motivations, interests and benefits then that lie would not be justified or moral.

Kant believed that lying is not justified when done for your own benefit, as presented in The story “The Lie” by T. Coraghessan Boyle. In this story the main character, Lonnie decides to skip work to have a free day to do whatever he pleases. Lonnie calls his boss Radko and tells him that his baby is sick. Lonnie does this for a few days, eventually lying so much to the point that he tells his boss and co-workers that his daughter had passed away. Lonnie is not justified in his actions because he lies for his desire to take a day off from work and enjoy it without thinking about others. In this case , the lie is for his benefit, so his lies are not justified because the lies were not for a good reason but told in order to run away from responsibility. Kant would argue that Lonnie’s actions could never be justified, because they did not serve anyone else and were only self centered. Another argument where it says that it’s morally wrong to lie is in religion. In Islam and Christianity and many other religions they have a text that says that it’s wrong to lie. According to Vern S Poythress, Christian are against lying , “ Thus, at its root Christian life favors truth and stands against lying. This observation by itself might be enough to convince many, were it not for the apparent counterexamples in the Bible and the moral dilemmas that may arise in people’s lives”(Poythress 84). Poythress saying that the religion of Christianity favor telling the truth because in their bible it’s says that it’s morally wrong to lie. The people who are very religious will say I’m not going to lie because my bible says I can’t lie. Similarly in Islam, prophet Mohammed says that we have to try our best to free ourselves of hypocrisy by keeping our trusts, telling the truth and keeping our promises. However, prophet Mohammed said that in some cases in life is justified to lie. For example, making peace between two quarrelling parties and protecting someone’s life. Either in life or in religions, there are some situations where lying is justified, if only it seek pleasure for the greatest amount of people.

Utilitarians win the race over deontological theory on helping society to achieve the greatest amount of happiness for the majority of people. This makes lying justified under some circumstances, for the purpose of making people happy. The theories that goes against it is wrong because in some situations we need to lie to protect people’s feeling. Sometimes there is no solutions other than lying , so the people who said that lying is unjustified are big liars. Everyone lies, no matter how they are loyal to their beliefs. People can’t say that lying is not justified no matter what because as human it’s happens naturally without noticing. The reason is because that lie is not hurting anyone and it’s lies leading to a path that is much easier to travel. Thus lying is justified only if the ends justify the means for the greatest number of people.

In the end you have to ask yourself whether your lie was really worth it or if telling the truth would be better. Lying has its limits at times as well, and you are responsible to know when you have overstepped those limits. If you overstep the boundaries then your lies aren’t justified anymore. As a conclusion, I would say that the truth is a good thing, but sometimes it’s not the best option. Being honest is not always the right decision to make, because a lie, even a white lie, can sometimes bring better results than the truth would, and in such situations lying would absolutely be acceptable. Lies can pollute the world one lie at a time and it is up to you to decide if the mess is worth creating. The power now is in your hands so you have to make the final decision on whether that lie will be a poison or a remedy.

Work Cited

Boyle, T. Coraghessan. "The Lie." New Yorker. Conde Nast. 14 April 2008. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/04/14/the-lie-3. 30 March 2016.

Dworkin, Gerald. "Are These 10 Lies Justified?." The New York Times Blogs Opinionator. 14

December 2015. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 5 March 2016.

Immanuel Kant. "Duty and Reason as the Ultimate Principle." Western Philosophy: An Anthology. Ed. John 506-512

Cottingham. Blackwell: 2008.

John Stuart Mill. "Happiness as the Foundation of Morality." Western Philosophy: An

Anthology. Ed. John 512-516

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