First, Danielle does not know that Tasha is going to be humiliated by reading her writing in public, so she can only anticipate that lying will result in Tasha feeling good, about herself and Danielle feeling good for complimenting her friends, so everyone is “happy.” Aristotle said “lying is mean and culpable” and truthful statements are always “preferable to lies in the absence of special considerations.” Not wanting to hurt your friends feelings could be seen as a special consideration. Furthermore, motive is important – is the lie aiming for the good and for happiness? Aristotle sets out that anything done with the goal of the highest good is an ethical action. So from an Aristotelian perspective, Danielle has examined the situation and has good intentions, so she should lie to Tasha.
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle is writing about how to live best, not how to be objectively perfect. Truthfulness is best, unless lying accomplishes happiness and being honest cannot. Even though she told a lie, Danielle would still be a virtuous person, because she is mostly honest and concerned about honesty, but she is not “too honest,” which would cause pain and not happiness. Lying requires explanation and reason, and truthfulness is better than lying. If she can get the same “happy” result by telling the truth, then Danielle should tell the truth. In this situation, there really is no alternative: if she tells Tasha she is a bad writer they are both unhappy. The goal of the lie is ultimately happiness, for both Danielle and Tasha, so the lie is justified. If Danielle was to tell Tasha the truth, it would cause pain for both.
According to Lawhead, “The genius of Aristotle’s ethics is his recognition that universal and objective principles are always the same but prescribe different actions for different people and within different circumstances” (518). So, according to Aristotle, truth is good and lying is bad, except when the circumstances dictate otherwise. In this case, the truth is too much truth and would not lead to happiness. Even though she would be lying, Danielle would be acting deliberately and on the basis of knowledge – her friend Tasha wants to be a good writer.
Furthermore, she would be performing the action not for some reward,
but for happiness, which is virtuous. Accorsing to Aristotle, the moral virtues are judged on a “mean,” so courage, generosity, truthfulness, justice are all good, but can also be bad, if taken to extremes. For example, according to Aristotle, when you talk about yourself you can go too far and boast, which is bad (vice). You can tell just the right amount of factual information, which is self-honesty and is good (virtue). If you do not tell the truth about yourself at all, then it’s a deficit and self-deprecating (the opposite of boastfulness) and again, that is bad (vice). Again, for honesty, you do not need to tell all the truth, all the time.
Danielle is lying in moderation, an important consideration to Aristotle. She is not just lying all the time out of habit or for a greedy end, but only after careful deliberation and for a good result that will bring happiness. She is also clearly thinking about why she needs to lie (for Tasha’s happiness). For these reasons, the lie is justified. Honesty is not central to Aristotle’s version of ethics. Moderation, happiness and finding the good is. Even later, after she finds out that Tasha is humiliated, the reasons for the lie were the same so again, the lie was – at the time – a justified decision.
Finally, I would tell Danielle that Aristotle was not very particular on what “special considerations” are, or what kinds of lies he would find acceptable. However, by looking at his philosophy of the mean, you get a good idea that he was something of a moral relativist, and tolerant of people who were genuinely trying to be good people. His idea seemed to be if you were worried about lying – if it was a big deal to you – then it was probably fine, you are a decent person and only lying to find “happiness”. Danielles plan/strategy/action (her lie), aims at an end (happiness for Tasha), which is striving for the supreme good in life, so it is justified
Work Cited
Lawhead, William F. The Voyage of Discovery: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002. Print.
