Philosophers on lying
Philosophers on lying
Immanuel Kant, 18th century portrait ©
Immanuel Kant
Some philosophers, most famously the German Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), believed that that lying was always wrong.
He based this on his general principle that we should treat each human being as an end in itself, and never as a mere means.
Lying to someone is not treating them as an end in themselves, but merely as a means for the liar to get what they want.
Kant also taught 'Act so that the maxim of thy will can always at the same time hold good as a principle of universal legislation.' This roughly means that something is only good if it could become a universal law.
If there was a universal law that it was generally OK to tell lies then life would rapidly become very difficult as everyone would feel free to lie or tell the truth as they chose, it would be impossible to take any statement seriously without corroboration, and society would collapse.
St Augustine ©
St. Augustine
Every liar says the opposite of what he thinks in his heart, with purpose to deceive.St Augustine, The Enchiridon
Christian theologian St. Augustine (354-430) taught that lying was always wrong, but accepted that this would be very difficult to live up to and that in real life people needed a get-out clause.
St Augustine said that:
- God gave human beings speech so that they could make their thoughts known to each other; therefore using speech to deceive people is a sin, because it's using speech to do the opposite of what God intended
- The true sin of lying is contained in the desire to deceive
Augustine believed that some lies could be pardoned, and that there were in fact occasions when lying would be the right thing to do.
He grouped lies into 8 classes, depending on how difficult it was to pardon them. Here's his list, with the least forgivable lies at the top:
- Lies told in teaching religion
- Lies which hurt someone and help nobody
- Lies which hurt someone but benefit someone else
- Lies told for the pleasure of deceiving someone
- Lies told to please others in conversation
- Lies which hurt nobody and benefit someone
- Lies which hurt nobody and benefit someone by keeping open the possibility of their repentance
- Lies which hurt nobody and protect a person from physical 'defilement'
Thomas Aquinas in an altarpiece by Carlo Crivelli, 1476 ©
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas also thought that all lies were wrong, but that there was a hierarchy of lies and those at the bottom could be forgiven. His list was:
- Malicious lies: lies told to do harm
- Malicious lies are mortal sins
- 'Jocose lies': lies told in fun
- These are pardonable
- 'Officious' or helpful lies
- These are pardonable