ABSTRACT
Philosophically, the important point is simply that there are various ways of doing harm, so that if there is a constraint against doing harm, then there is a constraint against doing harm in each of the particular ways. One factor relevant for determining the moral status of an act, at least from the standpoint of commonsense morality, is whether the act in question involves keeping or breaking a promise. Accordingly, one might be a moderate deontologist with regard to the constraint against lying. One might hold, for example, that although one cannot normally tell lies, even for good causes, it is perfectly permissible to tell a lie if this is the only way to prevent a war or some other catastrophe. There is one further class of special obligations that warrants particular attention: duties to oneself.
