American Conflicted About Lying: Article Analysis

Studies show that lying is sometimes acceptable in certain situations to prevent any harm that can be brought on an individual. Lying to protect an individual secures the situation by sugar coating a lie that is being performed. Misleading someone can cause harm such as trust issues and that reflects badly on the person who is lying. Lying must be taken into consideration when it could protect one another. For Example, in the article “It’s the Truth: Americans Conflicted About Lying” by Randy Cohen says, ¨In the AP-Ipsos poll, 65 percent of those questioned said it was sometimes OK to lie to avoid hurting someone's feelings.” Lying to protect a loved one is important because their feelings are more meaningful rather than breaking their trust. To avoid hurting someone’s feelings, people lie because the truth is “too hard to hear” when in reality, most people would much rather hear the truth instead of hearing the lies that are pouring out of someone’s mouth. In addition, in Paul Grays article about lies he says, “Four in 10 said it was OK sometimes to …show more content…
In Sissela Bok's article “Rejecting All Lies: Immanuel Kant”, ”A lie, even if it does not do wrong any particular individually, for it vitiates the source of law”(4). Lying to a close friend or a significant other is occasionally improper because lying was more meaningful than showing love for a relationship which causes distress. Furthermore, Sissela Bok also says, “It harms the liar himself, by destroying his human dignity and making him more worthless even than a small thing”(4). Lying is sometimes unacceptable because it can damage the one who is lying and leave them feeling dishonest and untrustworthy. In simpler terms, lying is to protect loved ones from several issues that may occur during the process to avoid causing a clash which can ruin either one