Lying is an issue many people in society are faced with. As society as a whole we are a mixture of Kantians, virtuous, and utilitarian’s. All three ethic philosophies have a different way to interpret whether or not any type of lying is okay. The scenario in this case is whether or not to tell a friend a small white lie to save their feelings. It seems that the solution to our problems is determining what the right thing to do is.

One perspective, with deontology is philosopher Immanuel Kant, who said that lying was always morally wrong. He said all people are born with an "intrinsic worth,” also called human dignity. This dignity derives from the fact that humans are capable of freely making their own decisions and guiding their conscience …show more content…
Rather than judging what people should or should not do, virtue ethicists focus on the development of character of what people should be doing. Virtues are the standard rights of morality. Love, for example, is a virtue we may choose to strive in the pursuit of fulfilling our human happiness. Virtue ethics makes it difficult to determine the morality of an individual. In essence, virtue ethics finds lying immoral. Telling a small white lie to a friend in order to save their feelings is morally wrong and instead develops a deceiving characteristic for that …show more content…
Utilitarian’s base their reasoning on actions, which includes lying, it has to be considered morally acceptable when resulting the consequences. The consequences need to maximize happiness or minimize suffering. One must correctly estimate the overall consequences of one's actions before making a final decision to lie or not. Some lies are specifically intend to benefit someone else, which is considered to be morally acceptable by utilitarian’s. A doctor telling her cancer patient that there is a fifty percent probability that he/she will recover. All tests confirm the patient has only six months left to live. The doctor knows from years of experience that, if he/she told this patient the truth, he/she would probably fall into depression or possibly commit suicide. If this patients has a mindset with a possible hope of recovery. He/she will most likely cherish the time left. Utilitarianism would support the doctor's decision because the greater good is served by that lie. For a different scenario telling a small white lie to a friend is morally okay, only if the consequences minimizes suffering and maximizes happiness. Having to balance out the good against the bad can be hard to