This Title is a Lie

It's a question people have wrestled over for millenia, and now we, Ms. Froehlich's Enriched English class, will settle it: Is lying ever ethically or morally justified?

As a general rule, I believe not. People sometimes say lying is moral if it prevents a greater harm, but I don't think this is a valid justification; it is usually hard to know what the consequences of one's actions will be. In Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio lie to trick Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice. So far, their scheme seems to be working, but it could easily have gone the other way; Benedick could have chosen to mock Beatrice for her supposed infatuation with him, or even simply have confronted her about it. Shakespeare seems to consider lying okay when done in the service of love, but if this were real life, Benedick probably would not have fallen in love, and the whole plan would have gone awry. Because we do not fully control the consequences of our actions, lying to prevent harm to others may as easily backfire as succeed.

The results of not lying may be as unknowable as those of lying, but honesty is preferable because it allows people to deal with circumstances more directly. If a person does not know the full truth about their situation, they cannot respond to it in the manner they would deem best for that situation. Because Benedick now thinks that Beatrice loves him so much as to die, he decides that he must love her in return. This love is not based on any of his own true feelings, merely the duty he feels as a result of Leonato, Don Pedro, and Claudio's lies. Shakespeare would probably say that it is good that Benedick is starting to love, no matter what the cause. But I think that true love cannot result simply because Benedick thinks it is his duty– if true love does eventually form, then it probably would have done so without any deception, just a bit later in time.

I will admit that lying may sometimes have a seemingly better result, but I don't think this is a reason to make lying in itself ethical. I'm sure people will continue to lie and try to justify it, however.