The Ethics of Lying

Is lying ever morally permissible? While lying can be seen as a threat to civil society, there seem to be several instances in which lying seems the most intuitively moral option. Besides, if a sufficiently broad definition of lying is adopted, it seems utterly impossible to escape lies, either because of instances of self-deception or because of the social construction of our persona. Let’s look more closely into those matters. What lying is, first of all, is controversial. Recent discussion of the topic has identified four standard conditions for lying, but none of them seems to actually work. Keeping in mind the difficulties in providing an exact definition of lying, let’s start facing the foremost moral question regarding it: Should lying always be despised? A Threat to Civil Society? Lying has been seen as a threat to civil society by authors such as Kant. A society that tolerates lies – the argument goes – is a society in which trust is undermined and, with it, the sense of collectivity. In the United States, where lying is regarded as a major ethical and legal fault, the trust in government may well be greater than in Italy, where lying is far more tolerated. Machiavelli, among others, used to reflect on the importance of trust centuries ago. Yet, he also concluded that deceiving is, in some cases, the best option. How can that be? White Lies A first, less controversial sort of cases in which lying is tolerated includes so-called white lies. In some circumstances, it seems better to tell a small lie than having someone worrying unnecessarily, or becoming sad, or losing momentum. While actions of this sort seem hard to endorse from the standpoint of Kantian ethics, they provide one of the most clear-cut arguments in favor of Consequentialism. Lying for a Good Cause Famed objections to the Kantian absolute moral ban of lying, however, come also from the consideration of more dramatic scenarios. Here is one type of scenario. If by telling a lie to some Nazi soldiers during World War II, you could have saved someone’s life, without any other additional harm being inflicted, it seems that you ought to have lied. Or, consider the situation in which someone outraged, out of control, asks you where she can find an acquaintance of yours so that she can kill that acquaintance; you know where the acquaintance is and lying will help your friend calm down: should you tell the truth? Once you start thinking about it, there are plenty of circumstances where lying seems to be morally excusable. And, indeed, it is typically morally excused. Now, of course, there is a problem with this: who is to say whether the scenario excuses you from lying? Self-Deception There are plenty of circumstances in which humans seem to convince themselves of being excused from taking a certain course of action when, to the eyes of their peers, they actually are not. A good part of those scenarios may involve that phenomenon called self-deception. Lance Armstrong may have just provided one of the starkest cases of self-deception we can offer. Yet, who is to say that you are self-deceiving yourself? By wanting to judge the morality of lying, we may have led ourselves into one of the most difficult skeptical lands to traverse. Society as a Lie Not only lying may be seen as the outcome of self-deception, perhaps an involuntary outcome. Once we broaden our definition for what a lie may be, we come to see that lies are deep-seated in our society. Clothing, makeup, plastic surgeries, ceremonials: plenty of aspects of our culture are ways of masking how certain things would appear. Carnival is perhaps the festivity that best deals with this fundamental aspect of human existence. Before you condemn all lying, hence, think again.​ Source The Entry on the Definition of Lying and Deception at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy​.

Essay about Persuasion in 12 Angry Men - 984 Words

In his article, â€Å"The Necessary Art of Persuasion†, Jay Conger stated that persuasion is NOT about selling or convincing; rather, it is a learning and negotiating process. Good persuaders use and listen to ongoing and active discussions (or debates) to learn about their audience and include different opinions into a shared conclusion. In the movie â€Å"12 Angry Men†, juror number 8 (Henry Fonda) was not sure if evidence presented against a young defendant in court left reasonable doubt for a guilty conviction. The other jurors believed the presented facts and the defendant’s background warrants a guilty conviction. The movie showed how juror number 8 persuasively got the other jurors to review each fact logically, which led to an unanimous†¦show more content†¦It is critical to identify the tangible benefits and values that really matters to people being persuade. Effective persuaders consider what is important to an audience and lays his or he r position to match common ground with the audience. This is a give-and-take process. Effective persuaders also use testimonies, past and current research, etc and readjust their argument to make them appealing to their audience. Persuaders must know an audience well enough to know what will capture their immediate and continued attention. Juror number 8 was in a situation where there is no common ground between him and the other jurors. All are from diverse backgrounds and uncomfortably brought together to deliberate the facts in an open-and-shut murder trial. Juror number 8, wanting to â€Å"just talk†, kept reconsidering and adjusting his position with the other juror’s positions about the defendant until a common was reach in the deliberation. Again, this is a give-and-take process and is effective if properly done right. The third essential step is presenting evidence to an audience. Conger stated that evidence alone will not convince an audience to support a position or an idea. Evidence can appear too abstract and not entirely informative. Persuaders, Conger noted, use stories, metaphors, analogies, examples, etc and use vivid language skillfully to paint a compelling big picture of their point of view. This approach is far more effective than stating facts inShow MoreRelatedEssay about 12 Angry Men Persuasion Techniques1420 Words   |  6 Pagesand deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used to help support the argument. Juror 8: †¢ asked the jurors to discuss this for just an hour; won’t â€Å"send a boy off to die without talking about it first† †¢ made each small point of his persuasion very easy to accept and as logical as possible so none of the rest could easily object to it Juror 4: †¢ a stockbroker who refuses to budge until he is presented with sound reasons for changing his mind Ethos: Appeal based on the reputationRead MoreAnalysis Of 12 Angry Men And Groupthink1519 Words   |  7 Pages12 Angry Men and Groupthink The movie â€Å"12 Angry Men,† is one that begins with a judge talking about the circumstances that surround a murder trial where a judge sends the jury off to deliberate on their verdict. Throughout the movie the twelve men struggle between deciding if the defendant if guilty or not guilty for the crime of murdering his own father. If found guilty, the young boy will be sentenced to death. The twelve men spend their time in a hot room debating if this boy is truly guiltyRead More12 Angry Men Response812 Words   |  4 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The setting of 12 Angry Men is a jury deliberation room where the jurors are and required to decide the guilt or innocence of an 18 year old that is accused of committing first-degree murder by stabbing his father with a switchblade knife. Witnesses were presented to give evidence of hearing a quarrel; hearing a  threat to kill, and have seeing the boy run away. Another  witness  swore to  having seenà ‚  the boy stabbing his father from a window across from where the murder occurred. ElevenRead More12 Angry Men Movie Analysis782 Words   |  4 PagesTwelve Angry Men Analysis BA 321 Reaching a unanimous vote, beyond a reasonable doubt, was a difficult task for the jurors represented in the film, 12 Angry Men. All but one were convinced the boy on trial was guilty of first degree murder based on eye witness testimony and circumstantial evidence. Uncomfortably hot and sweaty, one intent on getting to a ball game, eleven of the twelve jurors had no intention to stop and think about the life contingent on their verdict. The entireRead MoreHow Did Henry Fonda Turn The Jury?1114 Words   |  5 PagesHow did Henry Fonda Turn the Jury? The movie, ’12 Angry Men’ showcases the trial of a young boy, who is accused of stabbing his father and causing him death. Throughout the play, the jury is able to follow through the actions of 12 men, who compose the jury. All of these men come from different backgrounds and the most astounding feature of the movie is in the manner that the experiences and personalities of these members of the jury influences their initial perception of the case. The personal biasRead MoreGroup Decision-Making, Leadership, Influence and Power: Illustrations from the Film â€Å"12 Angry Men†1703 Words   |  7 PagesThe film â€Å"12 Angry Men (1957)† present a diverse group of twelve American jurors brought together to decide the guilt or innocence of a teenaged defendant in a seemingly open-and-shut murder trial case. The film illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making, group developmental stages, leadership personality and models, social infl uence tactics and outcomes, and the bases of social power. The following advantages of group decision-making were demonstrated in this approximatelyRead MoreIn the 12 angry men I recognized several different social- psychological principles. This movie is900 Words   |  4 PagesIn the 12 angry men I recognized several different social- psychological principles. This movie is filled with different concepts, views, and ways of thinking. Each principle has some way of fitting into the movie. I have watched this movie before this assignment but watching it for the assignment made me look at the different principles involved. There are numerous different concepts that could be used however, I just chose a few. I am going to list some that I noticed while watching the film.Read MoreMovie Analysis : 12 Angry Men1639 Words   |  7 Pagesgroup.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the importance of cooperative communities while providing different aspects of leadership. Movie Summary The movie 12 Angry Men is a depiction of a jury deliberation in the 1950’s involving the trial of a teenager that is accused of murdering his father. These twelve men were brought together by a random selection process to make a unanimous decision. In the beginning, all jurors believed the boy to be guilty without a doubt, except for oneRead MoreThe Film 12 Angry Men903 Words   |  4 PagesThe film 12 Angry Men, explores the issues of conformity, prejudice, and collaborative problem solving among twelve very distinctive men, each with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. These disparities add to the intensity of jury deliberations surrounding an eighteen-year old Hispanic male, accused of killing his father. The story demonstrates how sociological biases impact the way with which people perceive information. When facts become secondary to perception, challenges arise. The filmRead More Twelve Angry Men Plot Essay618 Words   |  3 Pages Plot: â€Å"Twelv e Angry Men† is an interesting and exciting jury-room confrontation in which an quot;open and shut casequot; becomes strenuous as twelve strangers scuffle for answers. The trial involves a nineteen-year-old boy, who is suspect of killing his father in a late-night altercation with an extraordinary knife. His fate now lies in the hands of 12 jurors, each with his own determination to solve the case and reveal the truth. As the session takes its course, evidence becomes scrutinised,

Managing Oneself Free Essays

Managing Oneself By: Peter Drucker Tami Cusick Loma Linda University EMMC 453 The article â€Å"Managing Oneself† is mainly about that in order to be successful you have to know and understand yourself. I agreed with Drucker that if you have ambition and smarts and work your way up in your profession that it doesn’t matter where you started. There are many upper level managers that started as a field employee within AMR. We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Oneself or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is clear that they were ambitious and chose to continue on in this profession and just look at where it has taken them. Some important themes are mentioned in this article. First is knowing your strengths. With this it is important to know that we have choices and knowing our strengths will help us know where we belong. I especially enjoyed the portion where the author talks about doing a feedback analysis. I would have never thought that this simple process may explain a number of things about myself that I would never have expected before. Then there is the concentration on the strengths that is really important. You need to focus on your strengths which can then produce results. Something else key is use your manners. Simple please’s and thank you’s can go a long way. Even when your day is crappy and you are mad at the world, your manners may save you from an unpleasant conversation from your boss because you were rude or inappropriate with a co-worker. Another thing to remember is that in order to perform you have to know how you learn. Learning styles are an important factor in the learning process. Understanding your learning style can make a enormous difference in the knowledge that you gain in the simplest tasks. Most importantly, as the author points out, is don’t change yourself, work hard at improving yourself and try not to work on things you cannot perform at your best. In order to be effective within an organization, you must be compatible with the values of the business. For example, at AMR our mission is patient focused, care giver inspired and customer centered. This is certainly true for me. I am always focused on the patients and there needs at the time of our encounter. I like to inspire other care givers and our patients are our customers. If you focus on your patient then you are actively being customer centered. Something else to remember is that understanding the strengths of the people you work with will ultimately help you become more effective. When co-workers know and use each other’s strengths to work together and develop a better outcome. How to cite Managing Oneself, Papers