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DISadvantages of lying
The bad effects of lying
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Lying is used in a multitude of situations; from something as simple as telling your parents that yes your room was clean when in reality it was still a total disaster, to something of a more serious matter such as accusing someone of something they didn’t do to save your own skin, but the real question is whether or not lying should or should not be acceptable. A lie is defined as “a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood” Although some would say that lying is acceptable in certain situation, in actuality lying shouldn’t be acceptable because it can worsen the current situation, cause more problems to arise and cause harm to oneself and others.
(Finish rest of 2) Lying can cause a multitude
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.
Lying is bad but the fear that can come from it is worse. Fear can rule a person which drives them to extreme and irrational acts that can shape society in a negative way. We as people are so accustomed to how we should act that during times of fear and crisis our vision is blurred and sometimes our decision making abilities are impaired. We often look past at how much fear can affect us and our society. Starting from Salem 1692 and going to the McCarthy era fear ruled the people and even now in present time America we are constantly living in fear.
Lying is an issue that has been debated on for a long time. Some people believe that lying is sometimes ok in certain circumstances. Some people believe lying is always acceptable. In contrast, some believe lying is always bad. Keeping all other’s opinions in mind, I believe that lying is a deficient way of solving problems and is a bad thing. I claim that only certain situations allow the usage of lies and that otherwise, lying is bad. Dishonesty is bad because it makes it harder to serve justice, harms the liar individually, and messes up records. Furthermore, it should only be said to protect someone from grave danger.
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, lying means to tell an account of an untrue event or give false information.
The question of what constitutes morality is often asked by philosophers. One might wonder why morality is so important, or why many of us trouble ourselves over determining which actions are moral actions. Mill has given an account of the driving force behind our questionings of morality. He calls this driving force “Conscience,” and from this “mass of feeling which must be broken through in order to do what violates our standard of right,” we have derived our concept of morality (Mill 496). Some people may practice moral thought more often than others, and some people may give no thought to morality at all. However, morality is nevertheless a possibility of human nature, and a very important one. We each have our standards of right and wrong, and through the reasoning of individuals, these standards have helped to govern and shape human interactions to what it is today. No other beings except “rational beings,” as Kant calls us, are able to support this higher capability of reason; therefore, it is important for us to consider cases in which this capability is threatened. Such a case is lying. At first, it seems that lying should not be morally permissible, but the moral theories of Kant and Mill have answered both yes and no on this issue. Furthermore, it is difficult to decide which moral theory provides a better approach to this issue. In this paper, we will first walk through the principles of each moral theory, and then we will consider an example that will explore the strengths and weaknesses of each theory.
When is it okay to tell a lie? Some may say you should lie to spare the feelings of a friend, or to keep yourself out of trouble. However, in a way, lies will always come back around in the end. Therefore the truth is always better than lying because there may be less consequences. This is a lesson that can be observed from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. The play takes place on an expensive plantation home owned by a wealthy family in Mississippi in the 1950’s. Williams based the whole basis of the play around lies, and even the absence of the truth. The truth was rarely discussed to satisfy the views of society and to keep the Pollitt family together.
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.
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
Some people think lying is okay, others think it’s not. However, those who think all lying is not okay are being hypocritical. Everyone has lied at least once in their life. Lies in general are a part of daily life. Many people lie for various reasons.One of the most common reasons is to protect someone. There are also lies used to cause harm and lies in the interest of the liar. All in all, many people agree that lying is sometimes acceptable when protecting someone from emotional, physical, and mental harm.
Lying is intentionally misleading a single person or group of people with a deceptive statement or action. “The moral question of whether you are lying or not is not settle by established by establishing the truth or falsity of what you say. In order to settle this question, we must know whether you intend your statement to mislead.(Chapter 1 pg. 6) When it comes down to trying to decide whether you should justify or reject a lie there are several steps you should take. You need to be able to defend your arguments for your lie in a public setting against an audience or your peers, or what Bok considers “reasonable persons”. You cannot just be able to justify your lie to yourself because then it is automatically invalid. As humans we tend to
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 all around us; it never stops, every few minutes another lie is being said. It can either benefit everyone, or it can turn out for the worse. Lying is easily influenced among adolescents, as children, parents have always taught their kids that lying is a horrible habit and should not be encouraged, As the children grow up, they learn from everyone around them, and can’t help but start to lie, making lying no longer a bad habit because they witness the lies that are coming out of everyone’s mouth. There are two main types of lies, there’s the occasional white lie that doesn’t seem as bad. Also, there’s the severe lie that hurts the person that was lied to.
Humanity was endowed with a gift. The gift of free will. With that free will came the ability to lie to our fellow human beings. The ability bubbled up another emotional concept called fear. Not apprehending the truth can lead to many people fearing what it might be.
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 ...
Is “lying” really acceptable and needed? According to statistics and articles, there are many circumstances in which lying is perfectly reasonable. Lying can very often be acceptable because it may be best for society, keep one out of trouble, and can help maintain a strong friendship.