“To lie is to state something that one knows to be false or that one does not honestly believe to be true with the intention that a person will take it for the truth”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie) In other words, lying is a purposeful misleading statement. This statement can be made verbally, through body language, or even implied through silence. Based on lying being well defined, some might say that lying is always wrong unless there is a good reason for it. In that case, I would argue that lying is not always wrong.
There are two different types of lies. The first types of lies are called true falsehoods. These types of lies are always wrong. The only purpose for telling this type of lie is for one's self interest or self-protection. No one else is taken into consideration. This type of lie causes pain and mistrust in relationships that matter. For example; a teenager says he is going to a specific friend’s house and his parents find out that he went to another friend’s house instead. This type of lie, at least over time, will cause the parents to not believe where he is going the next time even though he may be telling the truth. There is a wall in the relationship that forms that should not be there. Lies like this are not for the good of the majority, they cause relationships to become strained and over time these types of lies will cause a relationship to crumble and there may not be anyway to repair it. These lies bring life long consequences.
The second type of lie is considered a verbal falsehood. These are lies that are suitable to tell against enemies, to prevent something bad from happening to one’s self or a friend, and to make up a story for a point. Some people would say that lying is always wrong b...
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...oint one of Jesse's sons as king in the place of Saul. Samuel openly expresses his fear that Saul will kill him if he discovers what his mission is, and so the Lord directs Samuel to deceive the informants by concealing his true mission: And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord”. Samuel does this and spares his own life.
Lying is also justified in times of war in order to protect life against unjust aggressors. These lies could be in the form of spies, different forms of torture even though it is told that it would not be done.
A good way to decide if it is okay to lie or not in a particular situation would be to ask how I would feel if we were on the receiving end of the lie, or I was in the same situation what would I do? It's certainly not foolproof in every situation but it may be helpful generally speaking.
Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.
I do not believe that anyone should get their feelings hurt when just saying an innocent white lie could save them so much drama. Also protective lies are very important to me. If someone is dealing with a lot of stress or a deathly illness, there is no need to put more on them. However, when it comes to peace keeping lies, I believe that they should not be used. These lies are very hard not to use, and I find myself using them despite my hardest efforts. Trust-keeping lies are one of the worst lies because I feel forced to choose between my personal morals and a friendship. Although I try not to lie at all, I find that social lies and protective lies are the most acceptable. I find that peace-keeping lies and trust-keeping lies are unacceptable yet I still understand that sometimes they are
Webster’s Dictionary defines a lie as an intentionally false statement. However, defining a simple three-letter word is not as easy as it seems on the surface. Upon reading or hearing the word lie, people are instantly associated with a general feeling of negativity. Lying generally creates feelings of dishonesty, untrustworthiness, deceit, and betrayal. However, lying is one of the oldest human social practices. Erin Bryant explains in her essay “Real Lies, White Lies, and Gray Lies” that even though lying has a derogatory label, it is a very common social behavior used by a majority of people on a daily basis. It has been a subject of scrutiny through the millennia by philosophers such as St. Augustine, Aristotle, and Plato. Can lies also be seen as positive? Don’t lies contribute to maintaining the bedrock of most relationships? In his essay “Lies, Lies, Lies,” Paul Gray answers this question. “Most ‘little white lies’ belong here, well-intentioned deceptions designed to grease the gears of society. In this context people want to be fooled. No one expects and few would welcome, searing honesty at a dinner party”.
Everybody lies at least once in their life. It could be a stranger walking past you to a person that you are close to or fond of. And it could be a big, complex lie or a small, short lie. People can lie anywhere and everywhere. From a private secluded area to a public spacious environment. I admit that I lie many times in my life on multiple occasions. In the article “The Ways We Lie ” by Stephanie Ericsson, the author points out that lies are harmful. First, the author lists various types of lies that people use every day. Second, the author gives examples of each type of lie. Lastly, the author conveys the negative effects about lying to people. I strongly disagree with the author's statement; lying is not always detrimental to others because
The question is not if one lies or how one lies but rather how to determine when one is lying. This is done through establishing a baseline and then comparing an individual answers to the established baseline. Asking the individual a serious of questions that are implied and that you know will be answered truthfully forms a baseline. They baseline acts as a guideline to how the individual normally responds to questions whenever they are telling the truth. Whenever reactions differ from the baseline you can assume that an emotional change has happened, this differ in reaction is what is normally attributed to deception or lying. The six most common ways of establishing this baseline are through facial analysis, reaction time, statement content analysis, brain imaging, thermal imaging, and through a polygraph test.
Lying involves asserting a claim that one knows as false to the other with the intention to mislead the listener. There is generally a widely accepted constraint against lying. Constraint against lying should not be mistaken with a requirement to tell the truth since no such requirement exists. One has a negative duty against telling a lie whereas there is no positive duty requiring one to tell the truth.
In “The Ways We Lie,” by Stephanie Ericsson, she defines various types of lying and uses quotations at the beginning of each description as a rhetorical strategy. Throughout the reading she uses similar references or discussion points at the beginning and ending of each paragraph. Most believe lying is wrong, however, I believe lying is acceptable in some situations and not others when Stephanie Ericsson is asked, “how was your day.” In “The Ways We Lie,” she lies to protect her husband’s feelings, therefore, I think people lie because they are afraid of the consequences that come with telling the truth.
The article “Rejecting All Lies: Immanuel Kant by Sissela Bok also presents the same argument. Sissela Bok presents the ideas and viewpoints of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher. Kant believed that lying was bad and that “truthfulness is statements which cannot be avoided is the formal duty of an individual to everyone, however great may be the disadvantage.” He believed lying was always bad no matter the situation. Kant said that lying “vitiates the source of law,” or makes the source of law weaker. Our whole purpose of the government is to serve justice and if everyone is lying in court, it gets harder to serve justice. The purpose of the government would not be fulfilled if people lie. According to Kant, lying also “harms the liar himself, by destroying his human dignity and making him more worthless even than a small thing.” Kant says lying makes the liar lose his or her pride and honor. And I think it probably makes the liar feel bad and makes them feel guilty. In the article “Teens Do their Share of Lying” by Loretta Ragsdell, a quote from Sabrina, a college freshman, takes about how she lied...
Lying is justified when it can be used to protect and cares for others. For example Anne Frank survived as long as she did because those sheltering her lyed to the Naziz army. What I mean by this is that if they didn't lie they would have been dead. This shows that lying saved them that day. In addition, the french resistance during world war 1 couldn't have operated without deception. Another way to say this is, that they lied to keep the army safe. This is important because, if they had said the truth we wouldn't be here. So saving somebodys life by lying is worth it.
What are lies? A lie is defined as follows: To make a statement that one knows to be false, especially with the intent to deceive. There are several ways that lies are told for instance, there are white lies, lies of omission, bold faced lies, and lies of exaggeration. No matter what type of lie that one chooses to tell many people believe that lies do more harm than good.
We lie all the time, lying is not something new to our culture. We lie to our parents, we lie to our friends, we even lie to our significant other, but why do we do it? There is not one set reason on why we lie but they can vary from an insignificant reason to something more nefarious. A good operational definition of a lie is “A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.” (Freitas-Magalhães) We have been raised to know that lying is usually a bad thing, and it’s better to tell the truth, not to mention the circumstances get exponentially worse if you are caught lying. No one wants to be labeled as a liar, or untrustworthy. This may sound unorthodox but I personally think lying is perfectly fine; depending on the situation. If you have a prima-facie duty to be dishonest it’s perfectly acceptable. Ross says a prima facie duty or obligation is an actual duty. “One’s actual duty is what one ought to do all things considered.” (Carson) I’m not the only one who finds this too be true. Ross would also agree with me, He says “Lying is permissible or obligatory when the duty not to lie conflicts with a more important or equal important prima facie duty.” (Carson) As I was doing research on this topic I did read one extremely compelling argument on why we ought not to lie. Aristotle basically said a person who makes a defense for lying could never be trusted. (King.)
Lying is when you purposely tell someone something you believe or know is false. If you told someone something you thought was true, but then it ended up being a lie, you simply have just given false information. Lying is obviously not an ideal thing to do, but sometimes it may be necessary. Here are the four types of lies.
Using Kantian philosophy a lie is always immoral and wrong, no matter what the situation is. Kantian ethics establishes the idea that good will be based on the action itself rather than outcome or any inclination one may have to perform an act could be good will.
Growing up, we are always told to never lie because it is the worst thing you could ever do. “Lying will only lead to a horrible situation with less than mediocre results. While lying is not always good, it is not always bad either. Samuel Butler once said “Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.
I do not know of anyone who wants to be known as Pinocchio, the wooden boy who lies and in a result, makes his nose grow bigger. As an old proverb says, honesty is the best policy. I agree with being honest at all times. First, telling the truth to me, is always the right thing. When I catch someone in a lie, I just think to myself, what has come up of this world? A person’s truths and lies prove who that person is, and what that person is capable of. Second, people can earn a great deal of respect and trust from telling the truth. Now, people trust their “gut feeling”, but someone’s “gut feeling” should always be truthful. Respect is something that is earned, and at sometimes, given to people who do the things that they are supposed to do for themselves and for others. Last, most people were taught to tell the truth at a very young age. A truth is