Imagine this, you're out shopping with a friend and they try on a really ugly dress, they then ask if you like it. What do you do? You know you don't like it. Do you tell the truth or lie? Everyone lies, from young kids to adults. It’s everywhere. Immanuel Kant described a lie as “An intentional untruthful declaration to another person.”
In my opinion, everyone lies, usually because they have to, or just to do it. For example, in the article Brad Blanton, by Barbara Ballinger, Blanton states, “All our lives we've been taught to lie, we live our lives by what we think we should do.” We all have grown up listening to others lie thinking it's okay, since others do it, it automatically clicks and sticks to us. Everyone lies no matter how hard
we try not to it just happens, it’s like we can't stop it from happening. Secondly, in the article Teens do their Share, by Loretta Ragsdale, Ragsdale states, “Lying is a trait children develop as toddlers and master with the onset of puberty.” Even Though you may not want to lie, something tells us all that we have too, no matter situation you’re in. Most of us usually lie because we want to, we sometimes even feel like we have too. In conclusion, everyone lies sometimes for fun, or just to do it. I believe each and everyone of us have been taught to lie, or have been surrounded by ones who lie. Therefore, we think it’s okay. I believe, sometimes the truth can really hurt someone's feelings. For example, in the article U.S political campaign, by Paul Gray, Gray states “Most white lies belong here, well intentions designed to grease the gears of society…people want to be fooled.” Most people would rather hear you lying to them, then telling them the truth. For instance, you could be telling them they look good when they really don’t. Sometimes people won’t like you for telling them the truth, because they know it’s true and it hurts. They would prefer you lie. Also in the article Americans conflicted about lying, by NBCNEWS.COM, Teresa Velin states “She didn’t feel like getting for a movie date, so she told her friend she was busy.” A lot of people lie just to do it, they may not want to do something, so they lie to get themselves out of it. Lying is always easier than telling the truth. Even when you're just playing, or protecting someone from harm. Without a doubt, lying is a daily thing we’ve all done and still do it today. It’s just something we do in our everyday lives. Lying is acceptable in every case. Some people may argue that lying is never acceptable and you should never do it. For example, in article three, Blanton states, “Delivering the truth is easier, takes less time, and less stressful.” This argument is wrong, because all people hate the truth and it hurts more than lies. In conclusion, lying is reasonable in all cases, it’s up to the person to choose what they think is right or wrong. Lying is okay because everyone has grown up doing it, because they want to or have to, and on top of that, the truth can really hurt someone's feelings. This is important because most of the time lying isn't that bad as some people make it. Most of the time, it’s used for good reasons like peacemaking. Clearly, you can agree with me that lying for the most part is ok. White lies protect people from the real truth which nobody wants to hear. In words of Bella DePaulo, “We can’t always pick honesty without compromising some other value…”
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.
Although it is considered wrong to tell lies, it seems that literature has offered us situations where telling lies isn’t necessarily bad. Of course, lying often has a tragic outcome, but not always for the person or people who told the lie or lies. Oftentimes, these unfortunate outcomes are directed at the person about whom the lie was told. Furthermore, these stories have explained that dishonesty can result in success for both the liar and the target. Maybe we have been teaching the wrong values to our children.
The society that we live in today is built around lies. Banks lying to customers in order to feed the capitalist mindset, politicians lying to citizens in order to gain power, and charities taking donations with open arms however are stingy when giving back to the cause. The common reason why these organizations lie is to hide what they truly are. People also deceive others in order to hide who they truly are. From a young age, lying becomes engraved into one’s mind, we are taught to walk, talk, and lie.
The people who claim that they do not lie are probably lying when they say it. Whether it is to deceive authority or just to play a joke on a friend, it is part of human nature to lie. In the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby takes on a character of wealth and luxury. Gatsby wants to win back his love interest from five years ago, so he secretly becomes wealthy through owning an illegal drug business, using his abundance of money to impress her. In contrast, in Tobias Wolff’s “The Liar,” he tells a story of teenage James as he lies about his life to appear more fascinating. He lies not because he wants to, but because it comes naturally to him. Both stories convey people struggling to find the purpose of their
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
In “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson, the author uses her knowledge to talk about the different ways of lies and how those lies affect the liar, as well as the people who had been told lies. According to the author’s essay, there are 10 types of lies that people encounter every single day: the White Lie, Facades, Ignoring the Plain Facts, Deflecting, Omission, Stereotypes and Cliches, Groupthink, Out-and-Out Lies, Dismissal, and Delusion. Throughout the essay, it is connoted that people are lying in various ways even though they are not intended to. I had been taught that lying is a bad habit. According to Ericsson, there are many types of lie and I did three of them in my life: the White Lie, Omission, and Out-and-Out Lies; however, I can defend my lies for good purposes.
Firstly, by looking at the first patient, whether she gets a kidney from her father or a “cadaver kidney” , there will be no difference because she needs a kidney nonetheless. The second patient however, cannot agree to give his kidney away because one of the main reasons is that he’s scared and lacks “the courage to make this donation”9. So right at this point, it can be seen that it would be better if the father didn’t give his kidney away because it wouldn’t cause him any happiness, whereas the daughter has two options to gIn everyday life, whether on a personal base or on a professional base, difficult scenarios, or also known as moral dilemmas, are present. Depending on whom the person is or what their belief and value systems are, the issue can be ‘resolved’. In this particular case, questions arise about whether it is morally right to lie to family members when something can be done, ignoring the fact of its after effects. The case will be explained in details later on including the patient’s state, but to answer this ethical question, two theorists will be presented for the con and pro side. For the con side, the deontologist Immanuel Kant will be presented with his theory that lying is prohibited under all circumstances, as for the pro side, John Stuart Mill will be presented for the utilitarian theory stating that whichever decision brings out the most happiness is the right decision. After discussing the case, my personal view of what is right will be stated with my own reasons, which is that lying is the right decision to be taken.
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.)
For example, if you want to eat fast food but your parents don’t let you, you can tell them you're going to your friends house, but really you are going to eat fast food. That is not that bad of a lie. But lying to hurt someone's feelings is worst. We should also speak most likely the truth because you are not lying, and the people can change up. It matters because you don’t want someone to get hurt and harm themselves. If you hurt someone’s feelings badly, there's a chance that they will choose to go away or keep living there life. So, lie less and speak the truth more. I want to leave you guys thinking about that to lies less and to speak the truth more. Lie less because speaking the truth is the better option to make. Also, think about the person that you are lying to because if you told them a secret, they will choose to do the things you did to them. Lying to protect a loved one is very acceptable because you are saving someone’s life if they are in danger of doing something. Those are reasons when to lie ( in certain situations) and when not to lie ( in certain situations). Lying is sometimes acceptable when making others think positive about themselves, protecting people, and/or causing to harm
People lie to avoid getting in trouble or hit. They can protect themselves and others when lying, this is why lying is so
Liars have rumors spread around about how they lie all the time. Nobody wants to talk to them because they won't know if they are lying to them or not. They aren't trusted as much as people who don't lie. Liars never get very far in life and always have a reputation of lying. It's much better to tell the truth and have friends who trust them, rather than lying and having rumors spread around making no one like them.
Can you remember the last time someone lied to you? Or how about the last time you lied to someone else? Did you ever stop and ask yourself why? There are so many different reasons that a person might lie. Maybe a lie about something to keep oneself out of trouble, or even a lie to impress other people. But either way there are always going to be serious consequences or effects of lying.
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.
Friedrich Nietzsche, nineteenth-century German philosopher said, “We need lies in order to live.” Really, we face some cases every day that we do not have to tell the truth. Correspondingly, in these cases we are used to tell lies. People begin to tell lies in childhood, and they gradually find it as the best way to solve problems. As most people accept that lying is beneficial and it has some advantages, they lie frequently to solve problems. In spite of advantages of telling a lie, there are several disadvantages too.