...When Lying is Justifiable Lying is an inevitable behavior, although we may all agree lying is not right, we fall into this behavior many times in our lives. Everyone lies; whether it is to protect, obscure, place blame, or manipulate. As children, most individuals were taught that lying was wrong. From hearing parents say common quotes like, “the truth shall set you free”, or from the many consequences received for lying, people were meant to be have honesty enforced their minds. There is no doubt truth actually is enforced in our minds, according to a study by expert of Developmental Science, Dr. Fu Genyue, Ph.D, “Children of all ages categorize lies as lies and truth as truth” (499). Research in the medical field shows that “deception is judged as justified in some contexts involving the prevention of harm” (Freeman 2274). Of course lying is not acceptable when speaking under oath or at confessions with a priest, but lying is definitely justifiable in certain situations were it can be used as a protection factor to protect the feelings, securities, and lives of others. We are all put into very awkward situations at some points of our lives where we may feel lying to spare one's feelings was the best option. One common situation is being asked, “Do I look fine in this outfit?”. If the person does look fine it is okay to say so, but it is when that person may not that we produce what is called a “white lie”. While many people may recognize the words “white lie”, there is...
Words: 352 - Pages: 2
...The Ethics of Earnings Management: The Case of Income Smoothing James Gaa University of Alberta May 2007 Information Asymmetry In Most Situations, People Do Not Have the Same Information Management Inevitably Has Information that Would be Useful to Investors – and other Stakeholders In Financial Reporting: Information Asymmetry Follows Immediately from the Separation of Ownership and Management May 2007 The Ethics of Earnings Management 2 1 Corporate Transparency (OECD) “The Corporate Governance Framework Should Ensure that Timely and Accurate Disclosure is made on All Material Matters regarding the Corporation, Including the Financial Situation, Performance, Ownership, and Governance of the Company.” OECD, ”Corporate Governance Principles: 2004” May 2007 The Ethics of Earnings Management 3 Corporate Secrecy (OECD) “Disclosure Requirements are Not Expected to Place Unreasonable Administrative or Cost Burdens on Enterprises. Nor are Companies Expected to Disclose Information that May Endanger their Competitive Position Unless Disclosure is Necessary to Fully Inform the Investment Decision and to Avoid Misleading the Investor” OECD, ”Corporate Governance Principles: 2004” May 2007 The Ethics of Earnings Management 4 2 Corporate Secrecy Corporations Have Secrets Some are Legitimate Corporations Should be Able to Keep them secret Trade Secrets Other Proprietary Information Some are Not Legitimate ...
Words: 4111 - Pages: 17
...Police deception questions essential legal and ethical questions with a variety of residents, especially considering the recent failures of justice. No matter how one looks at it, a lie is made to create deception. Many individuals, including police lie occasionally and persistently. There are times that police deceive innocent individuals, such as hostages, as well as placebo lies to comfort citizens. Lies are told to project fictional authority and to give the hope of getting evidence. Police have also told lies under oath in order to convict guilty individuals, protect innocence, and/or frame guilty individuals. There are times that lies can be justifiable, some are inexcusable. It’s rarely permissible to lie under oath (Ciske, 2009). However,...
Words: 399 - Pages: 2
...is incorrect in saying that ‘[o]nly those deceptive practices which can be openly debated and consented to in advance are justifiable.’ The statement that only deceit which has been openly, previously debated and consented to is justifiable relies on the cooperation,intelligence, and wisdom of citizens, many who lack the necessary qualities. The expectation that government deceit must be openly debated and consented to in order to be justified would only lead to weakened confidence in the veracity of government information and ineffective government practices. Open government acknowledgement to its practices of deceit would only serve to undermine the state. Citizens’ trust in the government would not increase from the admission and allowance of deceit, if anything, trust in the government would decrease. A shadow of doubt would be cast over every government motive, action, and statement. Lies are only effective if believed; prior knowledge of the government’s willingness to deceive would erode the trustworthiness of the state and...
Words: 506 - Pages: 3
...Observe, I do not mean to suggest that the _custom_ of lying has suffered any decay or interruption--no, for the Lie, as a Virtue, A Principle, is eternal; the Lie, as a recreation, a solace, a refuge in time of need, the fourth Grace, the tenth Muse, man's best and surest friend, is immortal, and cannot perish from the earth while this club remains. My complaint simply concerns the decay of the _art_ of lying. No high-minded man, no man of right feeling, can contemplate the lumbering and slovenly lying of the present day without grieving to see a noble art so prostituted. In this veteran presence I naturally enter upon this theme with diffidence; it is like an old maid trying to teach nursery matters to the mothers in Israel. It would not become to me to criticise you, gentlemen--who are nearly all my elders--and my superiors, in this thing--if I should here and there _seem_ to do it, I trust it will in most cases be more in a spirit of admiration than fault-finding; indeed if this finest of the fine arts had everywhere received the attention, the encouragement, and conscientious practice and development which this club has devoted to it, I should not need to utter this lament, or shred a single tear. I do not say this to flatter: I say it in a spirit of just and appreciative recognition. [It had been my intention, at this point, to mention names and to give illustrative specimens, but indications observable about me admonished me to beware of the particulars...
Words: 1435 - Pages: 6
...selfishly concerned only for himself. Filled with vice, his acts result in moral wrongness. He does not exercise virtues, because he still does not possess a virtuous character when he performs his corrupt actions, selling overpriced products to innocent people. As a result of his self-driven impulses, John would not be classified as virtuous or moral at...
Words: 1081 - Pages: 5
...difference in the way the United States and Europe conduct foreign policy, and why such a difference exists. Being neither European nor American, I this view original, but at the same time controversial on several points. The author starts his analysis by comparing how the United States and Europe handle international politics, and in particular the way they handle outside threats. The view of Robert Kagan about “Why on major strategic and international questions today, Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus”, is well justified in the first part of an article and I found it difficult to disagree with authors opinion. Modern Europe heavily relies on international law, international conventions, and international opinions, when it deals with internal or external problems. It also prefers to use commercial and economic powers over military one. These methods proved to be effective, but at the same time very time-consuming. In contrast to Europe, America prefers to solve disputes in quick and old fashion manner, heavily relying on military power, which usually meets a lot of resistance from European side, and widens a gap in transatlantic relations. However, the author argues that looking back to the history of the United States; this was not always the case. “America’s eighteenth- and early nineteenth- century statesmen sounded much like the European statesmen of today…”, Robert Kagan states. In the past the United States was week and nations like Britain were much...
Words: 977 - Pages: 4
...Homicide is the unlawful killing of one human being by another human being. There are three different crimes of homicides defined in the text. The first being Justifiable homicides that are permitted by law. The second is Excusable homicides, this type of homicide involves fault of a person killing another, but not enough fault the person is charged with criminal homicide. An example of this type of homicide is if a person driving a car is involved in an accident because of road conditions being icy. The person who lost control of the vehicle because of road conditions killed another person in the car they had hit. They caused an accident, but had no intentions of causing the accident or killing another person. The third is Criminal homicide, with criminal homicide the person who committed the act did so intentionally. Criminal homicide is when justifiable homicide and excusable homicide can be ruled out. Criminal homicide is a personal attack on another human being. (Schmalleger, 2010 Chapter 7 page 192) Assault is a personal attack on another person by either a physical act or verbal attack. Assault is an attempt or a threatened battery. Assault and Battery are often linked together, because many times assault leads to battery. There are two types of assault, attempted battery and threatened battery. Attempted battery is when the offender tried to commit battery to another human. Attempted battery the person in harm’s way may not be aware they were the target of battery. Threatened...
Words: 1083 - Pages: 5
...Jacob Byers Prof. Carver W131 29 Sept. 2013 A Question of Ethics: Egg Harvesting for Stem Cell Research Stem cell research brings to mind cloning, treatments for disease, and other positive things. What you don’t think about are the women affected through the harvesting of the embryotic eggs required to conduct this research. Dr. Diane Beeson’s article “Egg Harvesting for Stem Cell Research: Medical Risks and Ethical Problems” illustrates the issues of short and long-term effects of ovarian stimulation, risks to offspring, and the exploitation of women. She uses this information to develop an argument against the use of unauthorized and unstudied drugs and the misleading language used to exploit young women. She establishes credibility by using statistics and plays on a sensitive issue by bringing up risks to offspring to develop her argument. Medical treatments developed from stem cell research range from cancer treatments to replacing damaged brain cells. Though these seem to outweigh any of the negative side effects, those abnormalities caused from ovarian stimulation can directly affect the reproductive capabilities of many females. Dr. Beeson explains the most serious and immediate short-term effect is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). The symptoms of mild cases of OHSS range from nausea to abdominal distention, respiratory difficulty, and other abnormalities (Beeson and Lippman). More severe cases are ‘by no means rare’ according to the American Society...
Words: 931 - Pages: 4
...of income to play these trades. All of these transactions began to catch the attention of SEC, who were tipped off based on the volume of option contracts, which in some cases Mrs. Murdoch was the sole buyer of. This attention by the SEC soon led to a full blown investigation, which exposed the relationship between Murdoch and Gansman. This relationship when exposed led to charges and convictions for both Gansman and Murdoch; however it put more of a spotlight on Ashley Madison, and made some question the ethics of a company like Ashley Madison. However, when the founder and his wife discuss how they feel about it ethically, they see it as a legitimate business within the confines of the law. Although this remains an unresolved debate that rages on today on whether a business basing itself on “unethical behavior “is in fact ethical. Analysis of the case The case was unique in a way as it made us realize that unethical behavior in a business sense can be related back to unethical behavior in a social sense. For example, insider trading is considered to be more of legal crime/business crime than a social crime and when found out upon is punished by a legal system that can place serve punishments. On...
Words: 1964 - Pages: 8
...and slanderous talk. Such standards include also many that instruct people to live by virtues of compassion, honesty, and loyalty to ones friends and family. Ethics also mentions self-analyses and development of one's own ethical system. A person’s feelings, societal laws, and social norms can stray from what is morally correct. This means that it is compulsory to regularly scrutinize one's moral standards to certify that they are sound and justifiable. My personal code of ethics does not differ much from the behavior that’s accepted by society such as following and abiding by the law. Even though occasionally I break laws that I think are pointless or ineffective. I respect my elders and have never raped, murdered, or stolen something from someone else. I also try to live my life with compassion for others and to be as honest as possible....
Words: 486 - Pages: 2
...Cover sheet for essay Student name: _________________________________________________ Student number: _________________________________________________ Course name: _________________________________________________ Course number: __________________________________________________ Due date: _________________________________________________ Lecturer: _________________________________________________ Number of words required: _________________________________________________ Number of words written: _________________________________________________ DECLARATION: I declare that: ● No part of this assignment has been copied from any other person’s work except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. ● No part of this assignment has been written for me by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the lecturer concerned. ● I hold a copy of this assignment which I can produce if the original is lost or damaged. Signature: _________________________________ Date: ___________________ ● NB: A lecturer or tutor has, and may exercise, the right not to mark this assignment if the above declaration has not been signed. ● If the above declaration is found to be false, appropriate action will be taken. . Little White Lies – Honesty or Dishonesty? Or just an easy way to avoid the painful truth? Lukas Cavalcante Baier Zhejiang University of Science and Technology Abstract Everyone lies. But...
Words: 1694 - Pages: 7
...free medical exams. It follows Ms. Evers, a nurse who is aware of the Tuskegee Experiment and what harm it is doing to this individual, but feels the need to involve people of her community in the effort to find a cure. Kantian Deontology was present in the film when the patients that were being used for the experiment were misinformed about their medical status. Patients were being lied to about something that in the end affected their health and lives. Many of the patients died. You cannot lie to someone about medical issues, certain principles and rules must be followed even if the outcome is not what you expected. Another unethical issue that took place in the movie was that the medical service was not...
Words: 542 - Pages: 3
...gain. Kant insisted only good will was good without qualification, because good intention could breed bad results, and bad intention could result in goodness; therefore subjectively comparing good and bad were problematic when it came to universality. A related factor is the value on human dignity and autonomy; Kant emphasized that lying was always morally wrong, because it removed the intrinsic human value of free, rational choice. Respecting that value in oneself and others was the ethical option (Mazur, 1993). Kant’s categorical imperative stated: “I should never act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a...
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...she was involved in John Proctor’s affair. So when the court begins investigating witchcraft within Salem, Abigail has to save herself. She begins telling lie after lie and finds herself in so deep that she sees an opportunity to have John all to herself by getting his wife executed, which she tries, but doesn’t succeed. As the play comes...
Words: 630 - Pages: 3
