source link: https://youtu.be/hsqmnCRKPUA | Lana Blakely
It’s about truth telling.
Usually, we think about lies as = saying words of untruth
- with the intent to deceive or mislead ⇒ lying by commission
But there are other types of lying:
- lying by omission: purposefully withhold relevant information → the person is still left misled
- lying by implication: not correcting someone when they make an incorrect assumption
Philosophical frameworks
UTILITARIANISM
“It’s not so much about intent,
as it is about CONSEQUENCES”
“We should do what makes the GREATEST GOOD,
for the GREATEST AMOUNT OF PEOPLE”
⇒ thus… can be both by saying the truth, or lie.
so…
⇒ since consequences >> intent
⇒ lying is OK if it’s for a “greater good”.
KANTIANISM
“Lying is morally wrong,
you must speak the truth at all times,
and there is NO EXCEPTION.”
so…
⇒ because you CAN’T violate sb’s rational autonomy,
⇒ lying is NOT OK, EVER
VIRTUE ETHICS
“You want to become the BEST person that you can be,
you want to be kind, trustworthy, honest, …
so lying is not it.”
so…
⇒ for your own morals and ambitions,
⇒ you will NOT LIE.
Our justifications
There can be a myriad of justifications we tell ourselves
- I wasn’t sure myself
- I didn’t technically LIE
- I didn’t want to hurt them
- What if it’s worse to tell the truth
- It was not even a big deal
- They never asked
Emotional ambiguity
DEF: Emotional ambiguity = headspace of “i don’t know how i feel yet”
It basically feels like we don’t even know the truth for ourselves.
so… how to navigate this?
UTILITARIANISM
given that…
⇒ since consequences >> intent
⇒ lying is OK if it’s for a “greater good”.
so…
⇒ you do the one with less harm in the long term.
e.g.
-
if lying → false signals → false hope ⇒ HARM
⇒ not ethical -
if lying → no harm… instead it saves some unnecessary harm
⇒ it’s OK, might have been the right thing to do : D
KANTIANISM
since…
⇒ because you CAN’T violate sb’s rational autonomy,
⇒ lying is NOT OK, EVER
so…
⇒ you’re responsible for unintentionally mislead someone if you weren't honest
e.g.
- if you’re not sure → be honest → say you’re not sure
⇒ honesty and truth >>>
VIRTUE ETHICS
since…
⇒ for your own morals and ambitions,
⇒ you will NOT LIE.
but context matters.
Humans are not perfect,
as long as you feel like you did the best you could,
with what you knew at the time,
it’s ok.
Who deserves the truth?
UTILITARIANISM
Again, the key point here is
CONSEQUENCES as a whole
If society speaks the truth → it’s for the greater good right?
Constant lying → could be really bad right?
Anyway, the most important:
look at the OUTCOME, is it positive? or negative?
… you get your answer.
KANTIANISM
It’s all about
MORALS, and truth is a moral duty.
Just think about if everyone would accept lying as a morally OK thing to do, and do it all the time. What do you think?
If that sounds wrong. Then it means it’s IMMORAL to go against truth, even once.
so… truth is not seen from sb’s else pov, if it is “deserved”,
it is more so about yourself, it is a reflection of your INTEGRITY.
VIRTUE ETHICS
Here is all about
WHO YOU ARE, it’s about being human and aware and trying your best, follow your “heart”
So really, it’s not about who deserved the truth,
but more so about, who you decide to be: someone kind, nice, honest, etc.