The_Ethics_Of_The_Truth

The Ethics Of The Truth “When in doubt tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.” As Mark Twain suggests in this quote, it is a good rule of thumb to live by. People have spend hundreds of years attempting to justify lies. Whether to lie, equivocate, be silent, or tell the truth in any given situation is a hard decision. People have spend hundreds of years attempting to justify lies. From Thomas Aquinas to Bill Clinton debates on lying have been ongoing without much of a consensus. Philosopher’s and common people alike have been divided on the subject of lying for many, many years. St. Thomas Aquinas defined lying as a statement at variance with the mind. (Slater) This definition is better than most of the definitions we find from more recent times. The Webster’s New World Dictionary defines lying as the following: to make a statement or statements that one knows to be false, especially with the intent to deceive. This definition isn’t completely correct, as it is possible to lie without making a false statement and without the intention of deceiving. Aristotle in his Ethics maintained that lie, lying, lies, one, told, patients, truth, good, children, tell, right, people, been, terminally, public, percent, ill, believe, reporters, lied, doctors, world, without, under, patient, medicine, know, insurance, deceiving, bok, because, years, times, themselves, survey