Truth-Telling
In one episode of Seinfeld George tells Jerry "it's not a lie if you believe it." This raises an interesting philosophical question: What constitutes telling a lie? Is a lie simply the communication of factually incorrect information? Many would say yes. Or, is a lie defined by the intent to deceive? This is a central issue not only in business ethics but also in public policy discussions of all kinds. Did President Bush lie to get us into the war in Iraq? Are environmentalists lying about global warming? Is it lying to plagiarize a term paper? Is it lying to puff up your resume? All of these questions hinge on the definition of a lie.
Furthermore, we should also investigate whether simply failing to disclose the truth constitutes lying. For example, suppose on my resume I put the following: MA in Philosophy (classes completed). What does this mean? Suppose I don't really have the degree (I do by the way!) and simply want to communicate that I have completed the classes only without receiving the degree. Is this at all misleading? Perhaps an employer will infer from what I have written that I do have the MA and if I do nothing to correct this might I be accused of lying?
This issue of truth-telling also relates to advertising. How many commercials or ads have you seen with fine print? On television commercials, there is hardly enough time to read the large print much less the fine print. On radio ads, the "fine print" is always read much faster and at a lower volume than the regular ad copy. So, does this constitute lying in some sense? After all, while the information is being presented there is no reasonable way of actually getting it.
Kant wants to maintain, in his Lectures on Ethics, that "not every untruth is a lie." To do so, he distinguishes a false statement from a lie. The difference hinges on our intent. This seems reasonable if we remember that for Kant an action's moral worth is determined by its intent. Remember the concept of goodwill in a lecture on Deontology? For Kant, an untrue statement is only a lie "if I have expressly given the other to understand that I am willing to acquaint him with my thought." On the other hand, if I intend to deceive, then I am telling a lie. Of course, this raises the question concerning how we determine what someone's intent is, but it does make an important point. Merely communicating something false is not the same as telling a lie.
Kant raises another interesting issue with his example of someone who knows I have money asking me if I have any. Suppose this person is intent on mugging me. The mugger cannot possibly expect me to tell the truth and so in this case my lie is justifiable. So, even for Kant, there are cases where lying is justified even though this is against the categorical imperative which we discussed in the deontology lecture. But, the more problematic issue here concerns the expectation of lying. It seems that the precedent Kant is setting here is that in cases where the truth is not expected, then lying can be justified. Perhaps the lie cannot be justified in all cases but still, the potential is there.
So, how does this relate to the examples we began with? Well, doesn't everyone expect that job applicants will puff up their resumes? Doesn't everyone expect that advertisers will use fine print and other gimmicks in their ads? If so, then these cases of lying may be justified. As we'll see in the business bluffing article by Albert Carr this is exactly what some conclude.
Still, for Kant, the lie cannot be a good thing even if it can, in certain cases, be justified. Kant recognizes that lying sets a dangerous precedent. In essence, lying in one case makes lying in general that much more acceptable which overall is a bad thing. After all, "a lie is a lie, and it is in itself intrinsically base whether it be told with good or bad intent." Not only does Kant maintain that a lie is "evil," but that "a liar is a coward." But, perhaps the best argument against lying is the famous quote which says: "The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed." How does this argue against lying? It was written by Adolf Hitler.
As we saw in the relativism powerpoint, the injunction against lying is nearly universal in different cultures' moral codes. A Hindu saying maintains that "a sacrifice is obliterated by a lie." Similarly, an ancient Egyptian boast says "I have not spoken falsehood." As James Rachels maintained in the article on relativism in our reading, truth-telling has to be a universal moral principle in any complex society. Cooperation and progress would not be possible unless the presumption were that most people told the truth most of the time.
But, even so, lying is a common problem not only in the business world but also in everyday life. And as Pontius Pilate famously asked, "What is truth?" It seems like an easy question on the surface but often very difficult to get at especially in complex areas of debate that often surround business ethical issues. Samuel Butler offered an interesting answer to Pilate's rhetorical question: "Truth does not consist in never lying but in knowing when to lie and when not to do so." And, as we'll see in the Carr article what can make matters more complicated is when some scholars advocate lying in certain business situations based in part on this sentiment of Butler's. It is to the question of business bluffing that we now turn.
Furthermore, we should also investigate whether simply failing to disclose the truth constitutes lying. For example, suppose on my resume I put the following: MA in Philosophy (classes completed). What does this mean? Suppose I don't really have the degree (I do by the way!) and simply want to communicate that I have completed the classes only without receiving the degree. Is this at all misleading? Perhaps an employer will infer from what I have written that I do have the MA and if I do nothing to correct this might I be accused of lying?
This issue of truth-telling also relates to advertising. How many commercials or ads have you seen with fine print? On television commercials, there is hardly enough time to read the large print much less the fine print. On radio ads, the "fine print" is always read much faster and at a lower volume than the regular ad copy. So, does this constitute lying in some sense? After all, while the information is being presented there is no reasonable way of actually getting it.
Kant wants to maintain, in his Lectures on Ethics, that "not every untruth is a lie." To do so, he distinguishes a false statement from a lie. The difference hinges on our intent. This seems reasonable if we remember that for Kant an action's moral worth is determined by its intent. Remember the concept of goodwill in a lecture on Deontology? For Kant, an untrue statement is only a lie "if I have expressly given the other to understand that I am willing to acquaint him with my thought." On the other hand, if I intend to deceive, then I am telling a lie. Of course, this raises the question concerning how we determine what someone's intent is, but it does make an important point. Merely communicating something false is not the same as telling a lie.
Kant raises another interesting issue with his example of someone who knows I have money asking me if I have any. Suppose this person is intent on mugging me. The mugger cannot possibly expect me to tell the truth and so in this case my lie is justifiable. So, even for Kant, there are cases where lying is justified even though this is against the categorical imperative which we discussed in the deontology lecture. But, the more problematic issue here concerns the expectation of lying. It seems that the precedent Kant is setting here is that in cases where the truth is not expected, then lying can be justified. Perhaps the lie cannot be justified in all cases but still, the potential is there.
So, how does this relate to the examples we began with? Well, doesn't everyone expect that job applicants will puff up their resumes? Doesn't everyone expect that advertisers will use fine print and other gimmicks in their ads? If so, then these cases of lying may be justified. As we'll see in the business bluffing article by Albert Carr this is exactly what some conclude.
Still, for Kant, the lie cannot be a good thing even if it can, in certain cases, be justified. Kant recognizes that lying sets a dangerous precedent. In essence, lying in one case makes lying in general that much more acceptable which overall is a bad thing. After all, "a lie is a lie, and it is in itself intrinsically base whether it be told with good or bad intent." Not only does Kant maintain that a lie is "evil," but that "a liar is a coward." But, perhaps the best argument against lying is the famous quote which says: "The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed." How does this argue against lying? It was written by Adolf Hitler.
As we saw in the relativism powerpoint, the injunction against lying is nearly universal in different cultures' moral codes. A Hindu saying maintains that "a sacrifice is obliterated by a lie." Similarly, an ancient Egyptian boast says "I have not spoken falsehood." As James Rachels maintained in the article on relativism in our reading, truth-telling has to be a universal moral principle in any complex society. Cooperation and progress would not be possible unless the presumption were that most people told the truth most of the time.
But, even so, lying is a common problem not only in the business world but also in everyday life. And as Pontius Pilate famously asked, "What is truth?" It seems like an easy question on the surface but often very difficult to get at especially in complex areas of debate that often surround business ethical issues. Samuel Butler offered an interesting answer to Pilate's rhetorical question: "Truth does not consist in never lying but in knowing when to lie and when not to do so." And, as we'll see in the Carr article what can make matters more complicated is when some scholars advocate lying in certain business situations based in part on this sentiment of Butler's. It is to the question of business bluffing that we now turn.