Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Stephanie Ericson on the ways we lie
Morality and lying
Stephanie Ericson on the ways we lie
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Stephanie Ericson on the ways we lie
Other feel as if lying is perfectly okay to do whenever and wherever. Moreover, In article 1 paragraph 10 it explains, “Not only is lying justified, it is a moral duty.” This displays that some people say that lying is a lifestyle and there is nothing wrong about it since everyone does it. Even if all people lie, it does not make it okay to do, since the majority of people try to avoid them. For evidence, in article 2 paragraph 1 it states, “Truthfulness in statements which cannot be avoided is the formal duty of an individual to everyone, however great may be the disadvantage.” This demonstrates how people do not put enough effort into avoiding the horrible habit of lying. Also, lies may help on the spot on any situation but will come back
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.
Judith Viorst is an American journalist. Her essay “The Truth about Lying”, printed in Buscemi and Smith’s 75 Readings: An Anthology. In this essay, Viorst examines social, protective, peace-keeping and trust-keeping lies but doesn’t include lies of influence.
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
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...
Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie, analyzes and reflects on how lying has simply become the norm in our society. We all lie, there is not one person in the world that does not lie. Most people lie because they are afraid of telling the truth, however what they do not know is telling a lie can lead them in the wrong direction because many things can happen when lying to a person. The person can find out when everything unravels that person will not have trust in you and you would be known as a liar. To every action there is a consequence, so why not deal with just one consequence when telling the
Stephanie Ericsson is a seasoned writer who draws from deeply personal experiences to find inspiration for her writing. She has battled with substance abuse for years, and had to deal with the sudden death of her husband while pregnant with their only child. Several pieces of her work have been published by Harpercollins and “The Ways We Lie” was originally published in the Utne Reader, a magazine that offers readers thoughtful writing from many perspectives.
“No matter how you hope, no matter how you try, you can’t make truth out of a lie” (Berenstain 1). Various children programs or books, like The Berenstain Bears, try to discourage children from lying. They attempt to do this by informing them of the consequences lying brings. Every day, countless people find themselves being deceived, whether by their coworkers, friends, or family. While some lies may appear harmless, most do more harm than good. Lying takes on several different modes for which it infests itself into the daily grind. A few of these configurations are white lies, facades, delusion or doublespeak. More than half of the population have become desensitized to deceit, because today lying is prevalent, and doublespeak is predominant
We all know that stereotyping has ill effects. It is a known fact. Stephanie Ericsson’s “The Ways We Lie” considers this a most insidious lie and describes it as grouping individuals with certain characteristics as collectively having the same personality/traits/future/etc. because “our need for vast amounts of information in nanoseconds has made the stereotype vital to modern communication” (164). This is true. But it is also true that we have known for years what stereotyping can do to a person. Why do we still do it? Why are we so adamant on upholding our oft-disproven generalizations?
As Stephanie Ericsson says in her essay “The Ways We Lie”, there are many different forms of deception. That said, some lies are worse than others. Stereotyping, for instance, actively harms the lives of millions of people, making them out to be other. Groupthink makes otherwise intelligent people into fools who blindly follow the crowd. And delusions, while perhaps not morally wrong, is dangerous to whoever believes in them. Lies like those are the worst kinds a person can use.
The article, “Is Lying Bad for Us,” accurately describes the intentions of a “liar.” The author says, “Though liars do not tell the truth, they care about it, while the bullshitter does not even care about the truth and seeks merely to impress” (Gunderman). This statement proves that lying should not be viewed as out of the ordinary, or unacceptable, and that liars should not be viewed as bad people. Lying can be shown as a way of protecting or caring
We all lie in one way or another. Whether it is a simple white lie about how someone really looks or blaming someone else for something we really did, we all have lied. In Stephanie Ericsson’s essay, “The Ways We Lie”, she explains the ways people lie in order to get what they want, to stay out of trouble, or just to hide from the cold hard truth. Ericsson explains how is it nearly impossible to go without telling a lie and how lies affect others. After evaluating Ericsson’s essay on the many ways we lie, I can say I am most guilty of the telling whites and lying by omission.
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.
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”.
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.)
“It is better to tell the truth now, than to lie and face the consequences later”. This aphorism originated in biblical times, more specifically in the Bible in the book of 1st Peter. For example, when Peter says in verse 3:10, “for, whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech”.