Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Yesterday my housemate, Echo was talking to me about one of her lectures that she attended... It's on "UTILITARIANISM"... It is an ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill that all action should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people... Then there is this real life story told by her lecturer... A young man was told by his dad's doctor that his dad wass diagnosed with a terminal disease and there are currently no treatment available... The doctor leave it up to the family to decide whether the dad should be made known the news or not... Given the understanding he had towards his dad, he is pretty sure that his dad will not be able to take it... Hence, he decided not to let his dad know about it... One day, the son had a chance to drop some hints to his dad... He asked his dad," If the report is out, would you want to know the results?"... His dad said no... And at the point of time, the son knew that he had made the right decision... At the very least, his dad lived happily throughout the last phase of his life...

Is this utilitarianism??? Do we really have to lie sometime to make others happy??? And is this the reason white lie can be told without guilt??? Just because it is a lie for good cause... I am so confused... Who on earth come up with white lie??? But what if one day the lie is being found out, that does not make the person any happier??? Or we should still think of the intention the liar had in the first place that he/she is meant to make you happier by lying to you??? Simply because it is a WHITE LIE!!!