Is Lying Wrong

In his Sermons, John Wesley writes on the morality of lying, “...Officious lies, as well as all others, are an abomination to the God of Truth[sic]. Therefore there is no absurdity, however strange it may sound, in that saying of the ancient Father “I would not tell a willful lie to save the souls of the whole World”(Bok 32). Absolutists such as John Wesley, St. Augustine, and Immanuel Kant stand by the belief that there can be no moral justification for a lie, regardless of the circumstances. While these philosophers maintained the immutable immoral aspect of all lies, they also found ways to distinguish between different forms of lying, so that some forms of lying were considered to be more pardonable than others. Such rigid concepts of

Many may question whether Lying is a good or bad thing. While many believe that lying is used to protect someone, you might be actually do more harm than good. Everybody can lie but it can have a variety of outcomes. Allowing yourself to lie doesn't help anybody. Lying is unjustified because it would cause harm to someone than good and telling the truth can be beneficial and easier.

The case of ethical dilemma concerns a fifty-year old woman who was admitted in the hospital complaining of vomiting, indigestion and weight loss signs and symptoms. After conducting barium X-Ray and gastroscopy it was found out by doctors that the patient was suffering from malignant kind of gastric carcinoma and hence further diagnosis and treatment will have to be conducted in relation to the disease the patient was suffering from. Doctors suggested a palliative surgery for reducing stenosis but felt it before time to disclose this information to the patient which was cemented after proper consultation with the patient’s husband who said that her wife would overreact in a situation like this as she had a phobia regarding tumors and cancer diseases.

I agree with the fact that lying is NOT okay. BUT, its also okay in certain situations. Most adults lie to their children about multiple things such as: believing there is a Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. Some adults Some children think what they are being told is true

Lying has a negative connotation in society. Once word goes around about an individual being a liar, the brutality of ostracizing commences, as if the world doesn’t possess enough pressures already. Yet, everyone lies, and lying can have positive benefits. We lie to protect our loved ones, to protect ourselves from harmful individuals or situations, and to avoid information going into the wrong hands. However, there are lies, such as rumors, that are used to destroy others identities, social life, self-concept, and those who habitually need to lie to feel more reassured of themselves as individuals. Lying’s powerful capabilities are bittersweet to say the least, but within justified moderation, they can pull that three-week-old unidentifiable murky colored gum off from the bottom of your shoe.

Simplistic assertions about telling the truth may not be helpful to patients or physicians in times of trouble. The principle of respect for autonomy, suggests that patients should not be misled or left uniformed. Patients, can be empowered to safeguard their interests when told the truth. He truth calls for tact and decency. Put oneself in the patient’s position. Maximal physiological function or in this case , mere survival. The obligation to disclose relevant, reasonably expected truths is not absolute but prima facie. Under a pluralist moral framework, which acknowledges a pluralityof moral values, there may be other considerations that trump the duty to tell the truth. If telling the truth is likely to endanger the life of a frail patient, for example, then my obligation of non-maleficence may trump my duty to tell the

The first scenario I will like to write about is from the video Advance Care and Planning, the case of Mary, Helen and Steven. According to the notes from PowerPoint slides on “Ethics and Aging,” death is viewed with a negative connotation, even considering it taboo, and some feel speaking about death might trigger a tragic life event (Wong, 5). This might be the reason why Steven, 32, might not have an Advance Care Plan nor a Power of Attorney for Personal Care as indicated by the video. As one of the members of the hospital ethics committee, I would talk to the Helen and Mary first about Steven, and figure out through them what Steven would consider to be a good quality of life. I would then try to convince both women that the quality of

Since time immemorial, human beings have been lying and according to a study by Bella M. de Paulo et al. on the average every person lies once to twice a day. There are of course all kind of motivations behind a lie, for example people lie to give themselves an advantage or to avoid getting in trouble, when they did wrong. No matter what the intention of lying is, we can all admit that we do it, some more frequently than others, some do it habitually and some of us only as a last resort.

In any medical setting, it is essential to respect the patients’ autonomy. Any competent patient has the right to make decisions regarding his or her health. However, the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence also need to be considered. Respecting the patients’ autonomy does not entail a one-size-fits-all approach to truth-telling. Unfettered truthfulness or “truth-dumping” may not be in the patient’s best interest. Moreover, some cultures do not subscribe to the individualistic principle of patient autonomy and family members are significantly involved in the patient’s decision-making.

Your post was both, thought-provoking and true to the essence of a classic ethical dilemma. I can relate to your scenario as I have seen and experienced cases in which the family decides to hide the truth from the patient. While I have yet to fully comprehend why anybody would want to lie to a loved one in their final days; oftentimes, the reasons cited include their desire to protect the patient from the truth as well as to avoid distressing situations that may impact the patient's psychological well-being. My default stance in this type of scenarios is to act in the best interest of the patient by allowing him or her to make the best informed decision possible and this is directly related to the amount of information the patient

1. We have the responsibility to tell the truth because it creates trust between human beings. I think professionals in the field today might have second thoughts about telling the whole truth to a patient in fear that the news might cause them more distress than it would help them. They might be acting with the best of intentions. But, I think that it violates the ethical code A.9.a. Quality of Care “to be given every opportunity possible to engage in informed decision making regarding their end-of-life care.” If professionals do not share all of the information with the client then the client is unable to make a well informed decision about his own decision making. I think the risk for me would be if I withheld a vital piece of information from my client and he made a life altering decision, like to have treatment or not. He might decide not to take a lifesaving course of action and could pass on. It might not only be an ethical issue, but, how would I feel if I felt I was reasonable for another human beings death? I bet the feeling would be guilt!

In end-of-life scenarios, where the patient may not be able to communicate their wishes, decisions must be made either by the healthcare professional(s) or family member(s). However, who gets to decide or where the line should be drawn are not always clear. Consequently, not all decisions may be ethically permissible. To illustrate, I will discuss a scenario in which physicians and family are not in agreement. Upon proving a brief summary and explaining the ethical dilemma, I will provide moral reasons for two ethically permissible choices from which, by referencing the principle of autonomy and Utilitarianism, will determine which course of action ought to be carried out.

From a young age we all learn that lying is wrong and that we should always tell the truth. Yet we have all told a lie at one point in our lives. I certainty have, but not the type of lies that would ever hurt someone besides myself. Couple years ago at my first job I got involved in an ethical dilemma and witnessed what can happen when someone lies or practice fraudulent activities at the work place. For starters, I worked as a front desk receptionist/ office manager, and one of my responsibilities was to act as the bookkeeper for one of the office physicians. However, I was not the only one having access to the physician’s books and money, her personal assistant was also involved in the process of collecting and recording accounts receivables.

Michael H., a 68-year-old man, was admitted for exploratory surgery of his abdomen. He is frail, and his attending physician describes him as “emotionally labile.” Marcy R. is a social worker at BFL General Hospital, who is assigned to the unit that Michael H has been admitted. After Michael’s surgery, Marcy R. was approached by Michael H.’s daughter, Ellen B. in which Ellen has told Marcy that her father’s physician had just informed her that the lab report from the exploratory surgery shows that her father has terminal cancer. Ellen said that she and the family are in shock and they have decided that they not want the hospital staff to tell her father about the terminal nature of his cancer once he recovers from anesthesia. In this essay, I will discuss the ethical dilemma of “to tell Michael or not to tell him he has terminal cancer. He has the right to confidentiality by not withholding information from him when he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, informed consent, and self-determination.

Truthfulness spreads into almost everywhere such as relationships, education, especially medicine because it is a very significant property. Since the beginning, there is an argument in medicine whether doctors should always tell the truth to seriously ill or dying patients or not. There are many various ideas, which may change by situation or people, in this issue. For example, according to Sisella Bok there are three main arguments on this issue, which are that truthfulness is impossible; patients do not want bad news; and truthful information harms them (227) in her article “Lying to the Sick and Dying”. However, while she refers to these arguments she debunks them because she thinks that doctors should not tell lies to their patients.