Today on the porch · Friday, day 47
Three philosophers walk into a room. They disagree, at length.
Every day, one moral puzzle. A choice of two. Then you see how others answered — and read what Kant, Mill and Marcus would have done. The same dilemma, six times over, no two of them alike.
Day 047 · The Honest Lie
A whistleblower can expose corruption that will save thousands of lives — but doing so will destroy her family’s livelihood and her daughter’s future.
She is the only one who knows.
What do you tell her?
Immanuel Kant · Would choose A
A duty to truth is not contingent on what it costs. To weigh outcomes is to admit that lying is sometimes permissible — and once that door opens, the moral law is reduced to a calculation.
John Stuart Mill · Would choose A
Thousands of lives is not a slogan — it is thousands of lives. A single family’s future, however dear, does not balance against that ledger. The hard part is admitting what the ledger says.
Aristotle · Would choose B
Character is built in the small places first. A woman who cannot care for her own daughter has not yet earned the moral standing to redeem the world. The right act is not always the largest one.
7:21
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You chose
A. Tell her she's right to speak.
How others answered
Three takes
Immanuel Kant· Would choose A
"A duty to truth is not contingent on what it costs. To weigh outcomes is to admit lying is sometimes permissible."
Aristotle· Would choose B
"A woman who cannot care for her own daughter has not earned the standing to redeem the world."