Mill’s and Kant’s Ethical Theories of White Lies
White lies, although lies, are not considered deceptive, and should be used to spare another’s feelings when the truth would hurt them more.
A white lie is telling someone what they want to hear and can be used if there is no harm in not telling them the truth. Lies originate from an intent to deceive while white lies originate from a sense of compassion for the individual and a desire not to hurt them. Trust and a good relationship between others can be destroyed if the truth is told and the person receiving the truth is not prepared to hear it. White lies are told to spare someone’s feelings. Lies can damage a situation or hurt people.
For example, let’s say that my friend April struggles …show more content…
According to Kant, the rightness of wrongness of actions does not depend on the consequences but whether they fulfill our duty. Kant’s believes that we have a Perfect Duty to others to tell the truth and an Imperfect Duty to others to assist them if they need achieving their goals (Martin, Vaught, & Solomon, 2017). Kant believes that everyone has a right to know the truth and they should not be denied the truth.
According to Kant, all lies, including white lies are deceptive. By deceiving April, I would disregard the dignity she deserves as a human being, I would ignore the fact that April is a rational person who deserves to make choices with full information, and deceiving her is disrespectful to her rational will. Unfortunately, Kant’s approach doesn’t take into consideration the potential outcomes of telling the truth in the real world.
If I told April that I believed that she would ultimately fail at her diet attempt again then I would not be acting in a way that promoted her happiness in disagreement with Mill’s Theory. April would probably think that I was mean, a terrible friend, and that she couldn’t count on me to support her. Expressing my true thoughts would probably be the end of our …show more content…
What if by not telling April the truth I somehow jeopardized her health? What if I did not tell her that I was concerned about the impact of her weight on her heart and she continued to try and fail various diets and then had a heart attack and died? I would have failed my duty to be truthful to her and would feel guilty for contributing to her demise. I would have failed as a
White lies, although lies, are not considered deceptive, and should be used to spare another’s feelings when the truth would hurt them more.
A white lie is telling someone what they want to hear and can be used if there is no harm in not telling them the truth. Lies originate from an intent to deceive while white lies originate from a sense of compassion for the individual and a desire not to hurt them. Trust and a good relationship between others can be destroyed if the truth is told and the person receiving the truth is not prepared to hear it. White lies are told to spare someone’s feelings. Lies can damage a situation or hurt people.
For example, let’s say that my friend April struggles …show more content…
According to Kant, the rightness of wrongness of actions does not depend on the consequences but whether they fulfill our duty. Kant’s believes that we have a Perfect Duty to others to tell the truth and an Imperfect Duty to others to assist them if they need achieving their goals (Martin, Vaught, & Solomon, 2017). Kant believes that everyone has a right to know the truth and they should not be denied the truth.
According to Kant, all lies, including white lies are deceptive. By deceiving April, I would disregard the dignity she deserves as a human being, I would ignore the fact that April is a rational person who deserves to make choices with full information, and deceiving her is disrespectful to her rational will. Unfortunately, Kant’s approach doesn’t take into consideration the potential outcomes of telling the truth in the real world.
If I told April that I believed that she would ultimately fail at her diet attempt again then I would not be acting in a way that promoted her happiness in disagreement with Mill’s Theory. April would probably think that I was mean, a terrible friend, and that she couldn’t count on me to support her. Expressing my true thoughts would probably be the end of our …show more content…
What if by not telling April the truth I somehow jeopardized her health? What if I did not tell her that I was concerned about the impact of her weight on her heart and she continued to try and fail various diets and then had a heart attack and died? I would have failed my duty to be truthful to her and would feel guilty for contributing to her demise. I would have failed as a