To Lie, or Not to Lie, That is the Question
Brittany-Spring Cooper, Mohamed Gaber, Briana Simpson, Nicole Sriskanda
PHI 102 Sec 36, Professor LaForge | John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Introduction
●  What is lying?
Lying is the act of making a
false statement to another
individual, with the intention
that the individual will believe
that the statement is true.
●  Everyone lies but is it an action
that is justifiable, even for a
governing body?
FindingsKant
Immanuel
JohnCharts
Stuart Mill
●  Universal Law
○  Act according to a maxim that can
be universally applied.
●  Utilitarianism
○  Acts are good provided that the
consequences are good as well.
●  Categorical Imperative
○  What ought to be done must be
based on reason alone and not
the desired outcome.
●  Greater Happiness Principle
○  An action is good so long as it
produces happiness for the greater
number with the absence of pain.
●  One’s Duty
○  Our duty not to tell a lie is more
important than any other
conflicting duty.
●  Lying
○  A lie is moral or immoral based on
the consequences the lie produces.
Conclusion
●  Overall, the government
should not lie to its citizens, but
as we have shown there are
certain situations when it is
acceptable.
●  There are certain
consequences to lying if it is
done with bad intentions.
Philosophers
Kant
Mill
Our Position
Lying…
●  Takes away a person’s
autonomy
●  Puts lives in danger
●  Goes against the Social
Contract Theory
●  Overall, causes the least
amount of happiness
Consequences
●  Watergate Scandal- Nixon was
threatened to be impeached.
●  Citizens may revolt if government
lies to them.
●  If it were acceptable for a
government to lie, then everyone
would be able to lie and as a result
nothing would ever get done in
society because you would never be
able to trust anyone.
Possible Exceptions
●  Patriot Act- surveillance of citizens
for protection against possible
threats.
●  It is acceptable for a government to
lie if it is for the protection of its
citizens.
●  A government can withhold
information from its citizens without
it being considered lying.
Acknowledgements
●  Denniston, Lyle. (2014) Constitution check: is lying ever
protected by the first amendment. Constitution Daily, The
National Constitution
●  Mazur, T.C. (2014) Lying. Santa Clara University: The
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics University. http://
www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v6n1/
lying.html
●  Orwell, George. (1989).1984 New York: Penguin.
●  Sylvester, Ted. (2014) Government’s truthfulness explored
in maine speech and u.s. had rallied against
soviet
use of deception. Bangor Daily News. Web Newspaper
Article.