The scenario:

Immanuel Kant German philospher said that lying was, without exception, always wrong and that we have a moral duty to tell the truth. When posed with a dilemma in which we might be tempted to lie, he said we are still obligated to do the right thing, even if we think doing the wrong thing would produce better results.

The traditional example is of a serial murderer showing up at your front door and demanding to know the location of your family so he can kill them. You know full well that you just sent them out the back door, and most people could probably convince themselves that because they do not know the technically "exact" location, saying "I don't know" would not be telling a lie.

Additionally, you reason that because he is a murderer, you have no real obligation to help him kill your family by telling the truth; so, you lie to him and say, "I don't know."

Unable to complete his plans, he leaves and is headed back to the sidewalk-just as your family is coming around the house. And, he kills them all. Had you told the murderer that the family went out the back door, that would have bought them the time they needed to escape as he ran through the house.

According to Kant, you are now responsible for their deaths because you did the wrong thing. Had you done the right thing, even if your family died, it would not have been your fault. Your lie made you morally responsible for their deaths.

Respond

Unless being honest would land you in jail, please truthfully discuss the following questions:

1. Describe under what circumstances, if any, is it permissible to lie. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think it might be preferable to lie? What do your answers indicate about the justification of the nearly universal principle that one ought not to lie?

2. A hungry cannibal chieftain looks you over and declares that you will indeed make a fine dinner. Using some of the ideas from our readings, what can you say to the cannibal chieftain to convince him that cooking you would be morally wrong? (Convincing him that you won't taste good is not enough to keep you out of the cooking pot.)