Essay On Right To Lie

Third, proponents of the right to lie support it because of the dangers associated with being honest and truthful in all situations, particularly with regards to developing and maintaining social relationships. Despite the consideration of lying as a wrong and immoral act, speaking the truth in every situation is relatively difficult because truthfulness can sometimes damage social relationships and even contribute to harm on the society. In some cases, speaking the truth is a nightmare and worse than lying even though the truth is always desirable. Korsgaard states that being truthful in some situations may make an individual a victim of wickedness of other people who are increasingly willing to abuse the truthfulness (p.14). Therefore, the …show more content…
Honesty and transparency to ourselves and the society cannot be tolerated just as lying. From an ethical point of view, the right to lie does not exist and should not be established since it interferes with the essential element of human dignity i.e. self-worth. The arguments raised by proponents of the right to lie seem to suggest that lying should be justifiable in certain situations and not others depending on the objective. If the right to lie is established based on proponents’ arguments, it can be easily manipulated to contribute to increased unethical behaviors in the society and cause harm on individuals.
Actually, some of these arguments relate to the development and maintenance of sense of self as well as promoting human dignity, which can be accomplished without the right to lie. The dangers of the right to lie on individuals and the society seemingly outweigh its benefits, which imply that lying should not be justified or excused. Every individual who tells a lie should be ready to face the consequences of his/her action regardless of whether the action was fueled by good intentions or not. Truthfulness and honesty is a duty that must be considered as the basis of all duties, actions, and