The lie comes back
The benevolent lie destroys, in the end, what it claims to protect.
Objects to
- A lie seldom stays secret: one day, the other learns that they were lied to "for their own good".
- From then on, each of your reassuring words becomes suspect: they no longer know when you are sparing them and when you are sincere.
- A trust damaged this way is not mended with a word; the lie that meant to spare a pain sows a more lasting one.
Therefore In deceiving to protect, one trades a present pain for a mistrust that, unlike it, does not heal.
Possible resolutions of the objection
Challenges