What characteristics make up a person? Some say sense of humor, compassion, respect, dignity and the most common characteristic trait mention if you were to ask a person would be honesty. However, how many times have you lied to yourself or better yet how many times have you lied to someone else? Everybody lies. What is strange is how unacceptable lying is. There is no doubt about it, after telling a lie you feel guilty and less of a person. However, the true judgment of your character is why you lied in the first place. Lying is necessary and beneficial. “When lying is necessary to maximize benefit or minimize harm, it may be immoral not to lie,” quoted from the article Ethics of Lying by Tim C. Mazur.
Immoral not to lie! That’s something you don’t hear often. However, the truth of that statement is evident in many different aspects of a person’s life. For example, your friends with a couple who are currently going through a divorce in which there little boy is unaware of at this point. One day you’re talking to the little boy and he asks you if his parents are going through a divorce. Do you tell him or do you let his parent
Some may view utilitarian reasoning for lying as an excuse. However, comparing two instances such as a teenager scratching the bumper of his fathers car verses, a friend not telling another friend that someone finds them annoying, will show you that the benefits of lying out weigh the few fibs that may slip through. Telling your father that the scratch must have just appeared there will not cause harm. Telling your friend that someone finds them annoying may lower their self-confidence. So at looking at the two its obvious its better to lie and protect with the occasional few fibs that slip through then to tell the truth all the time and hurt someone’s feelings severely.
Example Essays Home
