Should We Always Tell the Truth Essay Example
Should We Always Tell the Truth Essay Example

Should We Always Tell the Truth Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (945 words)
  • Published: February 1, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Telling the truth seems to be a rule that we have to follow in any circumstances. We learn not to lie during our childhood, and we try to follow that moral obligation during all our life. However, it is sometimes better not to tell the truth. In certain circumstances, it seems better to lie for reasons which maybe more or less legitimate. Hence should we always tell the truth? Or can we sometimes lie and stay morally irreproachable? Are there any circumstances where lying is legitimate?

When two people are together and one of them knows something which concerns in a direct way the other one, the first one has two possibilities: he can tell what he knows and be honest; or he can lie or stay quiet – lying by omission

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– and be in a certain way dishonest. The difficulties appear when the truth known by the first one may hurt the second. It that situation, shall the first one tell the truth? The truth is sometimes a fact which implies no consequences. For example, if I say “the weather is beautiful today”, there are no consequences. It is a fact and it is true.

But in certain situations telling the truth causes problems; for example: a doctor who knows that his patient is going to die soon or a husband who cheats on his wife. We have to tell the truth because it seems more respectful to people and it is how we can gain their confidence. But sometimes, it is hard to tell the truth because it may causes difficulties and pain and, in certain circumstances, it

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seems more comfortable to lie or to stay quiet. Of course, in some cases, it seems normal to lie: for example, not revealing information about someone which could lead to his death.

In that case, lying tends to be a moral obligation because preserving someone’s life appears morally much more important than telling the truth. But in other cases, it is hardest to know if you have to tell the truth. For example, when you are friends with a couple and you know that the husband cheats on his wife, should you reveal it to his wife? It seems that sometimes there are some cases when it is morally acceptable to lie or to conceal the truth. It seems that you can lie sometimes to avoid causing pain to someone else without eing dishonest. Considering a husband cheating on his wife, he would not tell the truth because he would not want to end up his marriage and be alone; or he’s afraid of how she would react. Lying is the way he found to protect himself. This attitude is not morally correct: the morally accepted behavior would be not to protect oneself but to protect the other person. Here, the cheating husband protects his own interests; and he sees his wife as a means although he should see her as an end, that is as a full-fledged human being.

For the husband, a correct behavior would be to preserve the dignity of his wife and, with preserving the dignity of his wife; he would preserved his own dignity. Acting like that means courage; that the cheating husband does not have. The cheating

husband could argue that he lies to protect his wife because he does not want to hurt her. I could think that it is a better solution because there is a will to protect the other person, but it is not. It is possible that the cheated wife wants to know the truth and does not want to be protected this way; or she may want to know the trust and deal with it.

A morally accepted behavior is not to protect the other person in any cases, but to respect him. The way to do it is to tell the truth because you think that the other will be strong enough to accept the truth; and even though it may be particularly difficult for the other person to hear it. Thus it seems that we really need to think about the true reason which can lead us to lie. Even if we lie because we want to protect the other person; the most important thing is that the other person is allowed to make his decisions in full knowledge of the facts.

Telling the truth means behaving in a moral way. But always telling the truth does not mean having a moral behavior in every circumstance. Indeed, by telling the truth we could behave in a very dishonest way. By telling the truth you could manipulate or hurt. The most important thing is not to tell the truth, but the intention which leads or not to tell a truth. For example, during the World War II, in order to satisfy their envy, their jealousy or out of hatred, some people told some

truth and turned Jews in. On the other hand, some others lied with a lot of courage to save lives.

In that case, it is the liberty of those Jews that those people wanted to preserve which was the most important thing. Telling the truth or lying: it seems that the real question you have to ask yourself is whether telling the truth or lying satisfies your ego or contributes to the happiness of others. It seems that there is no recipe. Always telling the truth does not seem the good way for the person who would like to behave in a moral way; and it seems that it is better to act in a moral way in order to give people more freedom for their own acts.

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