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Ethical dilemma: Would you lie? - Sarah Stroud

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TEDEd Animation

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Your plan to set up your friend Carey with your acquaintance Emerson is finally coming together. You’ve made them a dinner reservation, but suddenly realize that there's a problem: Carey is always late. You really want this relationship to work— what if you told Carey dinner was at 6 instead of 6:30, so they arrived on time? Is it okay to lie? Sarah Stroud explores this classic ethical dilemma.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

This BBC Ethical Guide offers a good overview of the ethics of lying. 

This New York Times article discusses cases where doctors feel they need to lie or withhold information from their parents, even if only temporarily. 

This post by Philosophy Now is a high-level analysis of paternalism -- the idea of intervening in another's choices for that person’s benefit -- as it relates to the law. 

Another Ted-Ed video in this Ethical Dilemmas series explores a classic ethical dilemma in which your spouse is arrested for murder. Strong evidence suggests their guilt, but they protest their innocence. As your spouse, should you believe them?

The following cases were provided to students taking part in the National High School Ethics Bowl program, produced by the Parr Center for Ethics at UNC-Chapel Hill. The cases explore various real-world scenarios and their moral and ethical implications, adding some questions for reflection. You might want to read these and discuss them with your friends, peers or classmates.

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Sarah Stroud
  • Director Avi Ofer
  • Narrator Pen-Pen Chen
  • Music Jarrett Farkas
  • Sound Designer and Mixer Weston Fonger
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Producer Anna Bechtol
  • Associate Producer Sazia Afrin
  • Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
  • Editorial Producer Dan Kwartler

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