Everyone lies as Stephanie Ericsson said in “The Ways We Lie”. How are we to judge what lies are justified compared to what lies are not? I believe we need to search within ourselves to determine what we conceive to be an unacceptable lie.
For myself I believe certain lies are justified. For example, imagine you are preparing to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday. She has told you several times how exciting she thought surprise parties are and this year you are going to host a surprise birthday party for her. Unfortunately she believes everyone has forgotten her birthday. She asks you if you are planning a party for her. She is your best friend and you do not want to deceive her but you also do not want to ruin the surprise.
As George Bernard Shaw so eloquently said, “we must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children, honesty is the best policy.” In our current society lies are told in business, family life, and even by the government. There is a very thin line between deceit and honesty. Often the truth depends on the individual’s perception of what they find the truth to be. Therefore if a person tells a “white lie” every now and then I do not believe we can label that person as permanently dishonest.
I agree completely with everything you said. A lot of people just think of lying as lying but when you said we decide what lies are justified. And you had a perfect example. I think sometimes like what the author was saying about being late to work and stuff like that, I mean you can lie a little bit but if you lying to get out of a consequence like getting fired then thats your fault you know? I think an appropriate "white lie" is one exactly how you explained. I look at it like is what I'm about to say because of my choices or because i'm thinking of somebody else, I hope that made sense.
ReplyDeleteIt is very true that we determine the degree of lie we are telling. It is up to us to figure out the consequences of the lie that we confront and it is up to us to figure out what we call a truth is really a truth. Lying to people is not ethical but it is true that not only business even in our daily life lying has become a major part.
ReplyDeleteSujan.
I completely agree with you and I love the example of the lie that you came up with. It's true that not all lies are bad ones, it just depends on the consquences.
ReplyDeleteSara,
ReplyDeleteeven though we do not want to deceive people we care about, i think it is okay as long as we are not necessarily hurting anybody at the end. In the example you provided, a white lie can be used, it's not as harmful, but it is still lying. My husband has a hard time "lying" to me in order to surprise me. I get pretty suspicious and he can be easily read.
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot that you had to say. I always wondered what life would be like if everyone was honest and never lied. And then here comes the Invention of Lying. That movie was so crazy in so many ways but it really made me think about how people would react by the comments said. I think lying can be good depending in the situation you may be in. I just hope in the end it does not come back to bite you in the butt.