Analyzing Jennifer Jackson's Article 'Telling The Truth'

1111 Words5 Pages

Telling the Truth Abstract: In this article, the author, Jennifer Jackson, raises questions about how obliged the people in medical profession are to practice honesty. Roger Higgs, in his article, says that a doctor is justifiable in lying only during a crisis when life is running away or during a petty situation which does not impact anyone. Otherwise doctors are also obliged to tell the truth, but how it is told in a painful situation is also important to learn.
Also, as per Higgs, the method taken by doctor to deceive the patient- absolute lying, partial lying, avoiding or misleading etc makes no difference. The purpose behind these different kinds of deception is all the same and hence shall be seen as lying. This may hold true if …show more content…

In 1980, an abstract clause was added, which mentioned “honest dealings” to be carried by doctors. This clause however did not mention the extent of these dealings. Doctors were free to interpret this in their own way and continue with their intentional …show more content…

Doctor can deceive me to into following a healthier lifestyle, which is a deliberate deception. Involuntary deception is not to mislead people and happens accidentally. Voluntary deception can further be intentional or non-intentional. If Doctor’s sole objective is to mislead B, then it becomes intentional. However, if patient is worried by the look on doctor’s face, even though doctor’s objective is not to mislead, then it becomes unintentional deception. In contrast, Lying is not a sub-set of intentional deception because, when A lies, B may not be mis-led, unlike in case of deception. Hence, A may lie but B is not deceived. The point is that, all liars want to actually deceive by saying false things, but all intentional deceivers may not be actually lying. It is not necessary to communicate or tell false things to deceive someone. As an example, doctor may take advantage of the patient’s worrisome nature and ask him to follow a healthy lifestyle. Here, the Doctor is deceiving the patient without telling any lie. PART-II: Truth as General