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Essays on lying and the different types
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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.
Prosocial Deception:
This type of lie is probably the nicest type of lie, in my opinion. This lie is told to achieve some good by telling a lie that will enhance or help the person that is being lied to or lied about. An example of this could be when you “like” someone’s picture or status on Facebook even if you don’t really like it. Some people just click “like” to make the person feel comfortable about posting it or
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This is a part of impression management. I also used self-enhancement deception just last week at my job interview. I didn’t tell the manager anything negative about myself, I only said things that would make me look like the perfect employee. Afterwards, I felt pretty good about how the interview went and in the end, I got the job!
Selfish Deception:
Ever told a lie that protected yourself but maybe hurt others? You probably told a selfish deception lie. An example of this could be when you call in sick to work when you actually just are too tired, lazy or have other plans. This forces all of your co workers to work extra hard to make up for you not being present.
I remember one time, back in high school, I had basketball practice right after school, but I decided to tell my coach I was sick. The night before I had stayed up way too late doing homework and just really needed to go home, relax and catch up on sleep. The next day, I found out the team had to run extra laps because three girls, including myself, had called in “sick to practice. I felt so bad that they all had to run extra, they were probably tired too, but went to practice anyways.
Antisocial
In The Ways We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson expresses the inevitability of lying and the way it is casually incorporated into our everyday lives. She personally brings light to all the forms of lying and some that are often not recognized as a lie. Ericsson questions the reasons and validity behind lies by highlighting the effects and consequences.
Are everyday rituals, such as, facades reflected as to being a lie? Simply preparing for a meeting or interview does not come off as lying, although another type of façade such as when someone asks, “Are you okay,” after a death of someone close to you, in reality it is a form of a lie, because you are not being honest. In Stephanie Erricsson’s article “The Ways We Lie,” she discusses many different types of lying, that most wouldn’t even consider. Ericsson claimed, “But façades can be destructive because they are used to seduce others into an illusion” (409). Depending how a façade is used, the outcome can be beneficial or damaging. There are facades that are used to cover up one’s true feelings, in order to protect an individual and then there is a type in which one puts on a mask to cover up how awful of a person they are. Charity, a former friend, deceived me with the qualities of everything she was not, my mom is a great example of when it comes to hiding when she is saddened. In this article “The Ways We Lie,” Stephanie Ericsson has a great point of view on the destructiveness of facades, although, it can very well be used in a good way just as much as in a bad way, in fact, like my protective mother, using facades for mine and my sisters own good and then a conniving friend using facades in
Should we stop lying and she would stop letting people lie to us? In “The Ways We Lie”, Stephanie Ericsson describes lying as “a cultural cancer that… reorders reality until moral garbage becomes as invisible to us as water is to a fish” (Ericsson 186). Ericsson believes that we have accepted lies to the point where do not recognize it anymore. Ericsson has a point, lying should not be tolerated but it should be the unnecessary lies that should not be tolerated. There are lies that are justifiable based on the intent of the person lying. All lies are harmful in their own ways from small lies, like white lies, to big lies, like out-and-out lies.
In “The Truth about Lying” Judith Viorst explains the four different kinds of lying. She categorizes lies as social lies, peace-keeping lies, protective lies, and trust-keeping lies. Social lies are lies that are “acceptable and necessary”, they are the little white lies most people use all the time. Peace keeping lies are told when the liar is trying to protect themselves from getting in trouble or causing any conflict. The protective lies are far more serious, are often told because of fear that the truth would be “too damaging” for the person being lied to. Lastly, there are the trust keeping lies, which are lies in which the liar is lying for a friend in order to keep a promise. Viorst finds that most of these lies, while some are more acceptable than others, are necessary and she can understand them.
After reading chapter three Alternatives to Self-Disclosure I have concluded a benevolent lie is when someone manipulates the truth to benefit the situation, but not with the intentions of harming anyone in the process. This type of lie is better known as the harmless little white lie that is intended to protect those we tell them too. Learning about this topic pointed out how often it happens without notice, for example my little girl just lost her front teeth and asked me if she will look pretty for her school pictures. My reply was “You’re going to be the most beautiful girl in the world!” Don’t get me wrong, she is beautiful to me no matter what, but not to the world. I just want her to have self-confident in her smile. The most common
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, lying means to tell an account of an untrue event or give false information.
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.
When initially asked about the morality of lying, it is easy for one to condemn it for being wrong or even corrupt. However, those asked are generally guilty of the crime on a daily basis. Lying is, unfortunately, a normal aspect of everyday life. In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” author Stephanie Ericsson makes note of the most common types of lies along with their consequences. By ordering the categories from least to most severe, she expresses the idea that lies enshroud our daily lives to the extent that we can no longer between fact and fiction. To fully bring this argument into perspective, Ericsson utilizes metaphor, rhetorical questions, and allusion.
Philosopher Immanuel Kant has a completely different perspective on the moral righteousness of lying. Kant believes it is unethical and sinful to lie no matter what situation presents itself. “Kant finds it especially offensive, contrasting the ‘dim, moles’ eyes fixed on experience’ with the ‘eyes belonging to a being that was made to stand erect and look at the heavens’. Kant believes in the ideology of promise keeping and if you break your promise, it is considered
People tend to lie in everyday conversations to look and feel more likable. What if the truth could set you free, help make friends, or even be a part of a life long friendship? The argument usually brought up is, "Is it always best to tell the truth no matter the consequences?" I've been in certain situations were lies have caught up with me. That is to say, there isn't one way out of a lie, and you usually have to admit the truth one way or another. Some people think that lying isn't a big deal as long as they are small (white lies), but with enough of them you will be caught in the middle with no way out. You will be trapped in your lies, and don't ever think more lies will fix it! Lying isn't a good habit, and could trap you from a world of justice and incorruptible friends.
At the same time, however, even though people have the tendency to be dishonest, not all lies are legally prosecutable. When asked to judge another person’s appearance, for example, some tend to lie in favor of that person, just to make the person feel better. When trying to avoid doing chores, some tend to lie about being too occupied with homework. Those are what I considered to be lies in the names of politeness and laziness; lies that cause no harm to others.
Lying is being deceitful. It is construed in more cases than not, as the opposite of being truthful. Yet, there’s more to it than that. A person can lie without actually saying anything false. There’s such a thing as ‘lying by omission’ and little ‘white lies’ to keep people baffled as to what dishonesty is. In reality, mendaciousness is a sickness that haunts its nurturers without letting go. Then, after a while, a person can get so good at this ‘skill’ that they even begin to lie to themselves.
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.
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.
According to Glass (2013), lying can be major piece of human relationship. In some cases, it permits us to blend in and survive in association with people in the world (p.19). Glass (2013) mentioned that there are seven reasons why a person lie. First of all, people lie to avoid hurting other’s feelings. In Dawson (2006) example, “Julie may have just saved her friendship by telling a lie” (p.43). Julie lied to Pat about her ugly dress just to avoid offending her. Secondly, people will lie for ulterior motives. For instance, one will lie to keep his/her job, or one will make a sale to get the client impressed and want to buy from him/her. Third, people will lie for self-protection. For example, when a person is a witness of a crime, he would lie, not to protect the criminal, but rather to not be considered as a snitch. And nowadays, being a snitch or being on the side of the law means risk to you and to your loved ones. Fourth reason is lying to present a positive image of himself and avoid rejection. Most of the single people who are searching for a mate go on a dating site. However, in this site, not all information are valid. People tend to lie about their weight, their height, their job, and their age just to present a better picture of themselves to someone else. In a few words, they are making an effort not to be rejected from first look. The fifth reason to lie is to avoid any