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Immanuel Kant's Radical Honesty

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Can anyone say they’ve never lied before? No, everyone has told a lie at least once in their life, but does that make it okay? Well, the german philosopher, Immanuel Kant, strongly feels that lying destroys the liar’s human dignity and that under no circumstances is lying excused. Brad Blanton, the author of “Radical Honesty,” agrees that we shouldn't lie. He believes that lying puts an unnecessary stress on our lives, but he disagrees with Kant’s remark that lying is never justified. Blanton believes that if it’s a life threatening situation the lie can be excused. On the other hand writer Randy Cohen believes that although lying makes you lose credibility it is sometimes a moral duty. Bella DePaulo also believes that lying is sometimes necessary …show more content…

According to Brad Blanton, “..lying is stressful and hurts relationships.” I agree, being lied to is an incredibly hurtful thing for several reasons, it makes us feel manipulated and unworthy of being told the truth, and they also deprive us of control over our future because we can no longer make an informed decision on the matter at hand. Writer, Randy Cohen, also agrees that lying hurts relationships. He says, “Once a person finds out you lied, you lose currency in their eyes.” Lying is one of the worst things you can do to a loved one because their faith is shattered and the next time around, they find it harder to trust you. Lying harms the other person greatly and if we truly want to keep a healthy relationship with them we should alway be honest because they deserve the whole truth and nothing but the …show more content…

Lies put unnecessary stress on our lives and ruin our relationships. Why risk our happiness when it’s so easy just to be honest and share our true opinion with people. Telling the truth allows us to show people who we really are because when we are honest, we have nothing to hide. Although it may seem unrealistic to tell the truth 100% of the time, you have to realize that lies only leads to more lies and when it becomes easy for us to be dishonest in small situations, it becomes even easier to be dishonest in bigger ones. If we make it a daily habit to practice honesty in all that we do, we find it much easier to become honest people more

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Ericsson’s essay says this, “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people's feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets, we justify lying to the big-guy institutions.” Even though lying is not a big deal for some people in today’s society, it is still a “cultural cancer”. Also, it is a big deal to some other

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For example, in the article, “Brad Blanton: Honestly, just tell the truth”, by Barbara Ballinger, Blanton states that “we shouldn’t manipulate the truth except for the rare times…”. I believe that the only lies that should be told are lies to protect individuals who are in need. You shouldn’t manipulate the truth, either you tell the truth or lie when yourself or others are in danger. Additionally, in Ballinger's article, Blanton also states “ if you’re hiding Anne Frank in your attic because her life is in danger, then you should lie.

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The effect of the lies we tell can lead to a confrontation. We try desperately to avoid this, however, when the lies keep building up, and no one is communicating sooner or later someone is going to confront the matter. The argument might be ten times worse now than if someone had tried to fix it at the beginning. Second, we spare people's feelings. For example, Ericsson used a story about a man who died in Vietnam but the sergeant told his family he was missing.

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Lies, fibs, whatever they’re called, they’re considered wrong. But what if a lie was the only way to protect a loved one? Here’s an example: Person A has lied to their spouse, but it’s for their own good. Person A’s spouse always complains of the way that they look, saying they are fat and ugly. Being the amazing partner Person A is, they always lie and tell them how beautiful they are, so that their partner can feel better about themself.

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In “The Way We Lie”, author Stephanie Ericsson gives her readers a list of ten lie we sometime use it for a purpose and sometime we did not realize we did it. She starts out her story with four lie she used in the same morning as she is starting out her day. She explains these lie are intentionally use to minimize the complications and make the day goes much smoother. However, she questions whether these lie can actually make an impact on the person who carry out and the person who receive the lie.

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This quote says that lying happens frequently; no one can resist it. It also says lying is deadly, which is also shown in the Bible within the story of Adam and Eve, when the serpent lies to Eve, convincing her to consume the sacred fruit. In modern society, lying is a common practice. A person may lie protect themselves, or to gain something wanted. This may be due to religious diversity or the decay of respect in society.

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Since the beginning of time, it has been commonly agreed on that lying is wrong. Think about the beginning of the Bible, the serpent lied to Eve about the tree of good and evil and through this lie mankind now must live with sin. The Bible itself begins with talking about lying at the literal beginning of time. Parents, teachers, friends and religious organizations state that lying is wrong and a sin. Is lying always bad?

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In the Ted Talk “How to Spot a Liar” By Pamela Meyer, She spoke about the tells of a liar and why people lie. Meyers had two truths, Truth #1 lying is a cooperative act. The lie has no power until the receiver believes the lie. Everyone who has been lied to has agreed to be lied too, for example when a lady asks her husband if she looks fat in a certain clothing item. Both he

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Many people wonder is it wrong to lie or are there some situation where lying is the best option? In the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, Mark Haddon shifts Christopher’s outlook on honesty and changed his outlook dramatically. Many people, including Christopher, believe in the statement “honesty is the best policy.” However while Christopher becomes more independent, he realizes that in some situations being dishonest might be the best answer. When his father lies to Christopher, Christopher follows his father’s actions and starts to comprehend when he must lie.

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Many people have told lies and been told lies ,however the biggest lie of all is lying to oneself. Everyone has been told to share the truth because even though the truth will hurt others now, a carried out lie will hurt them a lot more in the future. It 's better to do right than to live in lies such as don 't hide all your faults they won 't just go away, you need to learn from your mistakes. In Les Miserables and The Kite Runner a man 's reputation is not as important as his family. As in giving up yourself for another and to be happy, like leaving your homeland where you are known and in charge to become a working man and make your family happy.

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Rhetorical Analysis Most people tend to believe that lying is a way of life, that without it the whole world could crumble and fall. While some tend to believe that any form of lying is a sin and there should be consequences. One author, Stephanie Ericsson, wrote “The Ways We Lie” published in 1993 she talks about how we all lie, it has become an everyday chore to make life easier. She begins by trying to strengthen the bond between the reader and writer showing how they are one of the same. She does this by referencing past experiences, adding informed opinions, and using quotes from other well acknowledged authors, her argument is strong throughout the whole article that lying isn’t just evil, it can be used for good when used the right way.

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Stephanie Ericsson begins her explorative essay, “The Ways We Lie,” with a personal anecdote of all the lies she fabricated in one day. She told her bank that a deposit was in the mail when it was not, told a client that the traffic had been bad when she was late for other reasons, told her partner that her day was fine when it was really exhausting, and told her friend she was too busy for lunch when she just was not hungry, all in the course of a day. She shifts from talking about herself to talking about everyone, claiming that all people lie, exaggerate, minimize, keep secrets, and tell other lies. But, like herself, most still consider themselves honest people. She describes a week in which she tried to never tell a lie; it was debilitating, she claims.

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Stephanie Ericsson justifies the habits of lying in “The Ways We Lie” using firsthand experiences and solid metaphors. Essentially, Take into consideration before you lie, because it could be at someone else's

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On the other hand, I believe that lying is a necessity in certain circumstances. For example, we tend to lie to others in little things like their appearance or when they give us a bad present, we lied to not hurt their feelings and to not be rude to them. I think that those small polite lies are okay to say in order to make people feel good about themselves and to keep their affection. I agree with Mark Twain when he said, “lie for other’s advantage, and not our own; to lie healingly, charitably, humanely, not cruelly, hurtfully, and

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To me lying is sometimes ok in life or death situations. Lying is necessary in life or death or protecting someone feelings situations.

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