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The Importance of Not Lying
The Importance of Not Lying
Advantage of not lying
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White lies are the most common type of used lies, but there are also lies to protect others and lies to cause harm which are used less often. Teens and adults lie when they feel like it and need to in a situation that is presented to them. Experts like Immanuel Kant explain that all lies are unjustified, whereas Randy Cohen and Bella Depaulo express their professional opinion that lying is usually justified. Lying is sometimes justified due to lying to protect others, maintaining a healthy relationship, and in a life or death situation.
To begin with, Lying to protect others is important when one doesn’t want people you care about to get their feelings hurt. Granted, it is known that if a friend asks if “they look fat” and there is no way they can change, then you may have to lie to avoid hurting that
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Another piece of evidence is, When Depaulo says “In our real lives, we can't always pick honesty without compromising some other value that might be as important - like maintaining a healthy relationship” (Article 1, paragraph 18). This evidence highlights that, although you know telling the truth is better sometimes you can't do so without there being a conflict. This means, that if you ever feel you are doing wrong, then you can compromise and like 16 - Year old Margo said, “The key to lying is not to tell a whole lie, or whole truth” (Article 4, paragraph 3). In conclusion, Lying is acceptable when you are doing so for a good reason like maintaining a healthy relationship.Lastly, If anyone at all or yourself is in a life or death situation then lie to get out of it then it's surely justified! Basically, this is a situation where you don't have many options, someone's life is on the line! For instance, Kant believes “Any threat to life can excuse a lie” (Article 2, paragraph 1). This statement
First Ericsson discuss white lies, she describes white lies as when a person “assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth” (Ericsson 181). A person decides that it is better to tell the lie rather than to tell the truth because of how they perceive the outcome will be. Ericsson believes that people should not use white lies because they’re “[deciding] what is best for someone else” (Ericsson 181). When people use white lies they’re assuming that what they are doing is good for the other person, even if they do not know for sure that the other person will benefit from not knowing. On the other hand in the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon, the main character, Christopher does not believe in lying but he uses white lies. Christopher says, “A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth” (Haddon 48). In this situation, Christopher’s
With different views on when it is OK to lie, the people continue to debate. But personally, I respect Kant’s views on the idea that lying is bad. Lying weakens the purpose to serve justice, destroys the liars’s dignity, and messes up the records. But I think that rare situations justify lies. I believe lies to save someone's life or just to protect someone from a big danger is the only type of lie that is justified. Those situations are the only times I think it is OK to lie. It might seem that lying to get yourself out of trouble is a situation that makes the lie justified. But I think that is a selfish reason for your own good and that people are thinking less about the society and more about their own good. Lying to get out of trouble is one of those many lies that are not justified.
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
It is okay to lie to someone, if the intention of the lie is to protect that person.
Actions are either classified as right or wrong with no allowance for a gray area. Furthermore, the strict guidelines tend to conflict with commonly accepted actions. For example, lying is always considered morally wrong--even a “white lie.” Therefore, one must not lie even if it does more good. In our society although individuals accept lying as being morally wrong, “white lies” have become an exception.
The idea of whether there is a good lie and whether a lie can be justified has a different answer depending on the situation. This idea can be explored through the texts of Old School and The Odyssey. In Old School, the protagonist deceives his elite school and Ernest Hemingway by plagiarizing a story that wasn’t his and submitting it to a story contest. Odysseus from The Odyssey also deceives his family and the suitors by pretending to be a beggar. However, the motives of each character are different and that plays an important role on whether their lies are justified.
First of all, sometimes we lie to prevent hurt feelings. I am sure we all have told a little white lie to protect others feelings. Let’s say that my friend asked me if I liked the outfit that she was wearing, and if I do not like it I am going to say I do to prevent her feelings from getting hurt, I am sure most of us do this. It is
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.
White lies are defined as diplomatic or well-intentioned deception. There are many different types of white lies that are told, such as, lies of flattery for example; if someone gives another person a gift and the gift was not what the person wanted, this person would reply “thank you so much! I just love it!” This type of white lie is told because telling someone that their gift was undesirable would make the teller look like an inconsiderate being.
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”.
...usually a point where a consensus is drawn and an action is deemed unmoral. Lying is not always a bad thing when done under the right circumstances.
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.
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
Secondly, it is okay to be untruthful if you are trying to protect people. In certain situations, it is safer, and more practical for you to tell a lie rather than putting a loved one in jeopardy. To illustrate you may be in a situation where you are in a serious or dangerous situation, and you do not what anyone else involved, to keep them safe. For example, if you are getting held up for ransom, would you tell the truth to a loved one and get them involved, or lie and keep them safe? The obvious answer is to keep them safe at all costs, even if it means lying. Also, you do not want to put someone in harm’s way, so it would be ...
Self-protection is the main factor of telling lies. According to some, people tell lies to shield themselves from danger, punishment, or from an activity they