The moral permissibility of lyingMissing works citedThe question of what constitutes morality is often asked by philosophers. One might wonder why morality is so important, or why many of us care about determining which actions are moral actions. Mill captured the driving force behind our questioning of morality. He calls this driving force "Conscience" and from this "mass of feelings which must be passed through in order to do that which violates our standard of right" we have derived our concept of morality (Mill 496). Some people may practice moral thinking more often than others, and some people may not think about morality at all. However, morality is nevertheless a possibility of human nature, and it is very important. We each have our standards of right and wrong, and through individuals' reasoning, these standards have helped govern and shape human interactions to what they are today. No other being, except “rational beings,” as Kant calls us, is capable of supporting this superior capacity for reason; It is therefore important for us to consider cases in which this capacity is threatened. Such a case lies. At first glance, it seems that lying should not be morally permissible, but the moral theories of Kant and Mill have answered both yes and no on this question. Furthermore, it is difficult to decide which moral theory offers the best approach to this question. In this article, we will first review the tenets of each moral theory, and then consider an example that will explore the strengths and weaknesses of each theory. Lying is simply an act of not telling the truth, and this definition of lying will be used in the next sections of this article. There are three groups of lies middle of paper......f the utilitarian calculus might indicate that there is something wrong with utilitarianism, since a morally correct action can sometimes go to l against our conscience, and Mill called conscience the foundation of morality. This is interesting, because it raises the question of whether we will ever have a moral theory that works in all cases. I believe that human nature is too complex for a coherent moral theory to be written on a few pages. Maybe a philosopher will do it one day. However, for now, questions of morality, such as whether lying is permissible, should be answered in Kant's moral theory. In cases where Kantianism cannot provide an answer, there is probably no other moral theory that can. Certain questions, in certain circumstances, must sometimes remain unanswered, whether for the greater good or happiness, or because of our respect for duty..