“Donald, did you eat the last slice of cheesecake?” asked my mother. “No, I didn’t even know we had a cheesecake” responded my father. Some people would think that my dad did not eat the cheesecake, however, for those that know my dad, they would be 100% certain that he ate the cheesecake. Why did my dad lie? One reason could be that he thought my mom would be more merciful on him, or that she might actually believe him. Although, those hypothetical reasons are actual lies, because my mother would have the same reaction whether or not he told the truth; she would whack him on the head with a spoon and lecture him. Which is another lie, because I know that my mom would just yell and curse at him. Which brings us to the question of whether
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Ethics are principles based on morals, the judgments of right and wrong. If lying involves any type of cheating, deceiving, or if it causes harm to another, then it is wrong. Contrastingly, if a lie is out of good intentions, innocent at heart, or prevents another from harm then it is acceptable. Looking at my introductory paragraph, I pinpointed exactly where I lied. In the instance where I stated, “she would whack him on the head with a spoon”, I lied in order to generate more interest in my audience. This instance inflicts no harm and is therefore an acceptable reason to lie. Whereas Paul Ekman’s example of the cheating husband telling his wife that his cellphone was on silent while he was “working” late, when he was really in a hotel room with his mistress, was out of wrong …show more content…
Although one can choose to lie, it does not necessarily mean that it was the right choice. Depending on the situation and type of lie, societal ethics and morals determine if one’s reasons for lying were sound. Using lying to deceive or cheat on a person is morally wrong. In contrast, if the lie is innocent at heart or causes no harm, then it is morally acceptable to lie. However, in certain situations the line between right and wrong is blurred. So, one would have to weigh the lie on a “moral scale” to accurately measure what side of the spectrum the lie is on. Similar to my thinking process for my introductory paragraph when I stated “Donald, did you eat the last slice of
Ethics are principles based on morals, the judgments of right and wrong. If lying involves any type of cheating, deceiving, or if it causes harm to another, then it is wrong. Contrastingly, if a lie is out of good intentions, innocent at heart, or prevents another from harm then it is acceptable. Looking at my introductory paragraph, I pinpointed exactly where I lied. In the instance where I stated, “she would whack him on the head with a spoon”, I lied in order to generate more interest in my audience. This instance inflicts no harm and is therefore an acceptable reason to lie. Whereas Paul Ekman’s example of the cheating husband telling his wife that his cellphone was on silent while he was “working” late, when he was really in a hotel room with his mistress, was out of wrong …show more content…
Although one can choose to lie, it does not necessarily mean that it was the right choice. Depending on the situation and type of lie, societal ethics and morals determine if one’s reasons for lying were sound. Using lying to deceive or cheat on a person is morally wrong. In contrast, if the lie is innocent at heart or causes no harm, then it is morally acceptable to lie. However, in certain situations the line between right and wrong is blurred. So, one would have to weigh the lie on a “moral scale” to accurately measure what side of the spectrum the lie is on. Similar to my thinking process for my introductory paragraph when I stated “Donald, did you eat the last slice of