full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Sarah Stroud: Ethical dilemma Would you lie?
Unscramble the Blue Letters
By contrast, utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill would say lying is wrong only when it leads to less happiness overall. Now, to be fair, most lies do seem likely to create unhappiness. Someone who accepts a lie beeleivs something which is false, and trying to conduct your life on the basis of false information doesn’t usually go well. However, in some circumstances, perhaps including your staiiuton, lying might produce more happiness overall. In those cases, utilitarians say it’s not mrlaoly wrong to lie. In fact, it might even be your moral duty to do so.
But if absolutism seems too extreme, you might feel this stance is too lax. In other words, perhaps the uatailtirin position uresnteatds the moral significance of lying. Most ppolee generally feel some reergt about lying, even when they believe it’s the right thing to do. This suggests there’s something inherently objectionable about lying— even when it leads to more happiness. In this case, lying to Carey would be an instance of Paternalism. Paternalism is interfering with another person’s choices for that person's bnefiet. This might be fine if that person is a literal child. But it seems disrespectful to treat a peer paternalistically. Lying to ceray would mean taking away their otntpuopriy to hndlae the situation as they see fit, based on their own beliefs and values. Trying to protect Carey from what you consider to be a bad choice would show a lack of respect for their auotomny. By extension, it might also be disrespectful towards Emerson, since you would be deliberately trying to give him a fslae impression of Carey’s putlucianty.
Open Cloze
By contrast, utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill would say lying is wrong only when it leads to less happiness overall. Now, to be fair, most lies do seem likely to create unhappiness. Someone who accepts a lie ________ something which is false, and trying to conduct your life on the basis of false information doesn’t usually go well. However, in some circumstances, perhaps including your _________, lying might produce more happiness overall. In those cases, utilitarians say it’s not _______ wrong to lie. In fact, it might even be your moral duty to do so.
But if absolutism seems too extreme, you might feel this stance is too lax. In other words, perhaps the ___________ position ___________ the moral significance of lying. Most ______ generally feel some ______ about lying, even when they believe it’s the right thing to do. This suggests there’s something inherently objectionable about lying— even when it leads to more happiness. In this case, lying to Carey would be an instance of Paternalism. Paternalism is interfering with another person’s choices for that person's _______. This might be fine if that person is a literal child. But it seems disrespectful to treat a peer paternalistically. Lying to _____ would mean taking away their ___________ to ______ the situation as they see fit, based on their own beliefs and values. Trying to protect Carey from what you consider to be a bad choice would show a lack of respect for their ________. By extension, it might also be disrespectful towards Emerson, since you would be deliberately trying to give him a _____ impression of Carey’s ___________.
Solution
- regret
- autonomy
- people
- utilitarian
- punctuality
- carey
- opportunity
- situation
- benefit
- understates
- false
- handle
- believes
- morally
Original Text
By contrast, utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill would say lying is wrong only when it leads to less happiness overall. Now, to be fair, most lies do seem likely to create unhappiness. Someone who accepts a lie believes something which is false, and trying to conduct your life on the basis of false information doesn’t usually go well. However, in some circumstances, perhaps including your situation, lying might produce more happiness overall. In those cases, utilitarians say it’s not morally wrong to lie. In fact, it might even be your moral duty to do so.
But if absolutism seems too extreme, you might feel this stance is too lax. In other words, perhaps the utilitarian position understates the moral significance of lying. Most people generally feel some regret about lying, even when they believe it’s the right thing to do. This suggests there’s something inherently objectionable about lying— even when it leads to more happiness. In this case, lying to Carey would be an instance of Paternalism. Paternalism is interfering with another person’s choices for that person's benefit. This might be fine if that person is a literal child. But it seems disrespectful to treat a peer paternalistically. Lying to Carey would mean taking away their opportunity to handle the situation as they see fit, based on their own beliefs and values. Trying to protect Carey from what you consider to be a bad choice would show a lack of respect for their autonomy. By extension, it might also be disrespectful towards Emerson, since you would be deliberately trying to give him a false impression of Carey’s punctuality.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| morally wrong |
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Important Words
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- paternalism
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