Lying and Christian Ethics (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781107061095)

Lying and Christian Ethics defends the controversial "absolute view" of lying, which maintains that an assertion contrary to the speaker's mind is always wrong, regardless of the speaker's intentions. Whereas most people believe that a lie told for a good cause, such as protecting Jews from discovery by Nazis, is morally acceptable, Christopher Tollefsen argues that Christians should support the absolute view. He looks back to the writings of Augustine and Aquinas to illustrate that lying violates the basic human goods of integrity and sociality and severely compromises the values of religion and truth. He critiques the comparatively permissive views espoused by Cassian, Bonhoeffer, and Niebuhr and argues that lies often jeopardize the good causes for which they are told. Beyond framing a moral absolute against lying, this book explores the questions of to whom we owe the truth and when, and what steps we may take when we should not give it.

Author: Christopher O. Tollefsen
ISBN-10: 1107061091
ISBN-13: 9781107061095
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/28/2014
Pages: 220
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.70d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2015 pg. 1676