James E. Faust once said, “Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” Lying is commonly used in our society, and can bring people do a disagreement regarding whether or not it is justified. Some feel that it is crucial in life today, while others strongly believe that it should never be used. Faust’s statement is true because in the articles, “Rejecting All Lies: Immanuel Kant,” by Sissela Bok, “Teens Do their Share of Lying,” by Loretta Ragsdell, and “It’s the Truth: Americans Conflicted About Lying,” by NBCNEWS.com, there is evidence on why lying should be prohibited because it harms people, how lying hurts people’s daily lives, whether it be personal or professional, and how lying
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“A lie, even if it does no wrong any particular individual, always harms mankind individually, ‘for it vitiates the source of law. ‘Even worse, it harms the liar himself, by destroying his human dignity and making him more worthless even than a small thing’ (Bok, para. 3). One can see by this why lying should be restricted, since it “harms mankind.” This is important because it shows how lying can mentally injure a person. “For someone holding such a position, to be called a liar was a mortal insult-perhaps cause even for legal action or duel; to be proved a liar could lead to self-exile out of shame” (Bok, para. 2). One can see by this that Kant believed that having the title of a liar is an extreme insult. In addition, this proves why lying should be prohibited, because being called a liar can bring shame for not speaking the truth. In conclusion, one reason why lying should be stopped is that it harms people's lives, shown by Immanuel Kant, an 18th century German …show more content…
“For Harold Smith, it was worth the risk when he lied to his adult daughter about his health when undergoing treatment for a kidney tumor. ‘Why get her all traumatized?’ says Smith, 64, of Pioneer, Calif. ‘I tried to protect her. It slowed down the anxiety. Later, I told her what really happened”’ (NBCNEWS.com, para. 13). Smith’s choice to not tell his daughter about his health can be justified because it was to protect her and make sure she was not worried about it. Although this may be true, lying should still be prohibited because it can harm someone’s credibility, as stated by Randy Cohen. “Still, every lie has its cost, Cohen says, and that’s just another factor you need to consider. One key cost is credibility: Once a person finds out you lied, you lose currency in their eyes” (NBCNEWS.com, para. 12). This proves that lying can totally change a person’s view of another person because lying can make someone seem totally untrustworthy. This is important because losing credibility can be a big deal and as stated before, this could harm your personal and professional lifestyle or career. To sum up, people could say that lying is justified to protect someone, as shown in the article, “It’s the Truth: Americans Conflicted About Lying,” but lying can damage someone’s reliability, as stated by Randy
“A lie, even if it does no wrong any particular individual, always harms mankind individually, ‘for it vitiates the source of law. ‘Even worse, it harms the liar himself, by destroying his human dignity and making him more worthless even than a small thing’ (Bok, para. 3). One can see by this why lying should be restricted, since it “harms mankind.” This is important because it shows how lying can mentally injure a person. “For someone holding such a position, to be called a liar was a mortal insult-perhaps cause even for legal action or duel; to be proved a liar could lead to self-exile out of shame” (Bok, para. 2). One can see by this that Kant believed that having the title of a liar is an extreme insult. In addition, this proves why lying should be prohibited, because being called a liar can bring shame for not speaking the truth. In conclusion, one reason why lying should be stopped is that it harms people's lives, shown by Immanuel Kant, an 18th century German …show more content…
“For Harold Smith, it was worth the risk when he lied to his adult daughter about his health when undergoing treatment for a kidney tumor. ‘Why get her all traumatized?’ says Smith, 64, of Pioneer, Calif. ‘I tried to protect her. It slowed down the anxiety. Later, I told her what really happened”’ (NBCNEWS.com, para. 13). Smith’s choice to not tell his daughter about his health can be justified because it was to protect her and make sure she was not worried about it. Although this may be true, lying should still be prohibited because it can harm someone’s credibility, as stated by Randy Cohen. “Still, every lie has its cost, Cohen says, and that’s just another factor you need to consider. One key cost is credibility: Once a person finds out you lied, you lose currency in their eyes” (NBCNEWS.com, para. 12). This proves that lying can totally change a person’s view of another person because lying can make someone seem totally untrustworthy. This is important because losing credibility can be a big deal and as stated before, this could harm your personal and professional lifestyle or career. To sum up, people could say that lying is justified to protect someone, as shown in the article, “It’s the Truth: Americans Conflicted About Lying,” but lying can damage someone’s reliability, as stated by Randy