Kant and the Supposed Right to Lie

by Jens Timmermann

In his 1797 essay 'On a Supposed Right to Lie from Love of Humanity', Kant argues that when only a confident lie might save a friend, one must, if asked, reply truthfully and thus betray his hiding-place to the person who wants to kill him. This is the first monograph to explore Kant's essay in detail. Jens Timmermann examines the background of the piece (Kant was provoked by Benjamin Constant and his translator, Carl Friedrich Cramer); the history...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1108834213
• ISBN13: 9781108834216
• Release Date: January 2025
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 224 Pages