How You Justified 10 Lies (or Didn’t)
This then leads to the further question of whether, if she wants to be lied to, we ought to act in accordance with her wishes or not.
.. If we were certain she wanted the truth, and that she would not be haunted for years by re-enactments in her mind of the death, we ought not to lie. But if it were certain she wanted her own hopes for an instant death to be confirmed, it is permissible to do so.
.. Some lies are wrong because they have bad consequences; some lies are wrong because they betray trust; some are wrong because they are the outcome of vicious traits such as cowardice or selfishness; some are wrong because they deny the autonomy of rational agents. This makes the development of ethical theories more complicated than one would wish.