question 4

Case: Is a Lie Always a Lie? Joanne B. Ciulla You are an administratice assistant. For the past tico years you hace worked for Ben Hill. Ben is a very creatice, energetic person who tends to take on more work than he can do. Working with him is fun but, it's usually frantic. Things are frequently late and you always seem to be on a tight deadline. The phones ring constantly in Bens office. Often Ben tells his secretary to say that he is not in or that he will be out of towen until the end of the toeek. Sometimes when people hear that Ben is not in, they call you. This puts you in the awkward pasition of not only having to back top the tie that the secretany was instructed to tell, but sometimes to make up new lies as to where Ben is and what he is doing. There are also times when Ben tells his manager that your group is working on a project that the group hain't exen heard of. let alone started. Usually. Ben will eventually get his team working on the project. Today Ben is away with his family on cacation. You get a call from Ben's boss. He says, "Would you stop by my office today. I need to talk to you about the Franklin project - Ben fold me your team has been making tremendous progress on it. "You have no idea what the Franklin project is, so you lie and tell Ben's manager that you are tied up in meetings all day. You agree to stop by first thing fomorrow. Your first instinct is to contact Ben. But he is on a camping trip with his family, and he makes a point of not checking his messages tehen he is communing with nature. You are positice that no one in your office is tcorking on a Franklin project because you coordinate all of the projects for Ben. Sooner or later Ben's luck will run out. One small tie seems to require ten more lies. Yet the thing about Ben is that he has a way of turning his lies into truths. Ben reminds you of the French writer Andre Malroux. Malraux belieced that the way to lead an exciting life was to tell big lies and then lice your life so as to make them come true. But this is not the time for philosophizing. What are you going to tell Ben's boss? Questions 1. What are your duties to Ben, the company, and yourself in this situation? 2. What is worse, saying that you have done something and not do it, or saying that you have done something and then do it the next day? 3. We all know that it is wrong to lie, but when it doesn't harm anyone, why is lying wrong? 4. What would Kant, Aristotle, and Williams say about Ben's behavior? Is there a downside to being morally lucky? From Joantie. B. Ciulla