The Ethics of Lying In Santa Clara’s article “Lying”, several actions, including lying, are always acceptable. Furthermore, “A lie, therefore, is not always immoral; in fact, when lying is necessary to maximize benefit or minimize harm, it may be immoral not to lie”. In Santa Clara’s article, lying can lead to benefits, but people must decide when lying becomes the best option for their situation. Despite the events portrayed in Mark Haddon's The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, as well as the real-world examples of kidnapped Shawn Hornbeck and the story of a fake 911 call, support the idea that lying has value, especially in difficult and life-threatening situations. Shakespeare's Much Ado…show more content… This scene also reveals the value in lying to others: Benedick disobeys the honor between him and Claudio, overall choosing to follow his love for Beatrice. In the end, both characters, who denied ever finding love, both get married, leaving the play in a joyful outcome. Both of these examples from Much Ado about Nothing reveal how lying to others doesn't always have to have a negative outcome, moreover, it can become very beneficial in many people's lives. However, Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time reveals a different idea that lying can lead to bad outcomes, making it not necessary to lie at all. In Haddon’s novel, 15 year old Christopher, who has autism, finds out that his dad has been lying to him, and Christopher's “dead” mom has actually been alive for many years. After discovering this through letters his mom had been writing to him, Christopher was devastated. His dad had been hiding the letters the whole time, and Christopher was speechless as his dad began to apologize. Christopher was also running an investigation into who killed his neighbor's dog, and moments after he found out the truth about his mom, Christopher's dad confessed that he was the one who killed the
