Lies Debate Guide
From PhiloWiki
Living With Lies: When, Why, and With vs. Without?
We all lie, and some people lie more than others. It’s certain that anyone who says that they have never lied is lying. If we all do it, is it wrong? If it is wrong, then is it always wrong? Is it more expected in some people than in others? What would a world without lying really look like? Our discussion is about lying with intent, no matter what the intent is (good or evil). We will avoid discussing: 1) lying for fun, 2) lying without knowing it, and 3) lying as an illness that requires professional, psychological intervention.
From “Lying” by Tim Mazur ([1]) and contributed by our group member, Ana:
- People often poorly estimate the consequences of their actions or specifically undervalue or ignore the harmful consequences to society (e.g., mistrust) that their lies cause...
- Clearly, lying is an issue worth examining, as many people believe it is a bigger problem today than it has ever been. A recent Time magazine cover story concluded, "Lies flourish in social uncertainty, when people no longer understand, or agree on, the rules governing their behavior toward one another." Maybe social uncertainty abounds because we are a mixture of Kantians, virtuists, and utilitarians who share no common ground. More likely, the problem is that too few persons adequately consider any ethical perspective when facing a situation that tempts a lie. Either way, it seems that the solution to our dissatisfaction begins with acknowledging the value of ethical reasoning and ends with a commitment to follow through with what we determine is the right thing to do.
"None of us could live with a habitual truth teller; but, thank Goodness, none of us has to."
- Mark Twain
Our discussion will focus on lying – not Truth, which truly requires its own many meetings.
Contents |
Questions to Consider
1. We all lie. However, some people lie more than others. Why?
2. Discuss the decision-making process that leads to lying as the best recourse. What factors enter into it? (For example, is it usually a snap decision or a well thought out one? Is it for you or for others?)
3. Is lying always wrong?
4. If your answer to question 2 is “No,” then when is lying not wrong?
5. Do you expect people to lie? If so, then who?
6. Do you expect some people to lie more than others? If so, then who? Why?
7. Do you expect some people to be more honest than others? If so, then who? Why?
8. If you think you’re lying and it turns out that you told the truth, is it still a lie?
9. Is it right to defend the lies of others?
10. If you aren’t sure about what you’re saying (but have doubts), and it turns out to be a lie, is it still considered a lie?
11. Which is more ethical: telling a white lie or saying nothing?
12. Would it be better to live in a world where nobody lied (e.g. if we were incapable of lying or deception)?
13. Why is lying a bigger problem today than it has ever been? (See the indented paragraph above for more information.)
Definitions
• A lie is type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement with the intention to deceive, maintain a secret or reputation, or to avoid punishment. • To lie is to state something one knows is false with the intention that it be taken for the truth by another. A liar is a person who is lying, who has lied, or who lies repeatedly. • Lying typically refers to deceptions in oral or written communication. even a true statement is a a lie if the person making that statement is doing so to deceive. It is the intent that is considered.
Other forms of deception (e.g. disguises or forgeries) are generally not considered lies, even though the underlying intent may be the same.
Psychology of Lying
The capacity to lie is noted early and nearly universally in human development. Evolutionary psychology is concerned with the theory of mind, which people employ to simulate another's reaction to their story and determine if a lie will be believable. The most commonly cited milestone, what is known as Machiavellian intelligence, is at the age of about four and a half years, when children begin to be able to lie convincingly. Before this, they seem simply unable to comprehend that anyone doesn't see the same view of events that they do -- and seem to assume that there is only one point of view: their own -- that must be integrated into any given story.
Young children learn from experience that stating an untruth can avoid punishment for misdeeds, before they develop the theory of mind necessary to understand why it works. In this stage of development, children will sometimes tell fantastic and unbelievable lies because they lack the conceptual framework to judge whether a statement is believable or even to understand the concept of believability. When children first learn how lying works, they lack the moral understanding of when to refrain from doing it. It takes years of watching people lie and the results of lies to develop a proper understanding. Propensity to lie varies greatly between children, some doing so habitually and others being habitually honest. Habits in this regard are likely to change into early adulthood.
Some view children as on the whole more prone to lie than adults. Others argue that the amount of lying stays the same, but adults lie about different things. Certainly adult lying tends to be more sophisticated. A lot of this judgment depends on whether one counts tactful untruths, social insincerity, political rhetoric, and other standard adult behaviors as lying.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive!" - Sir Walter Scott
Philosophers’ Perspectives on Lying
Friedrich Nietzsche (“Human, All Too Human”) suggested that people who don’t lie may do so only because it’s so difficult to maintain a lie. This is consistent with his general philosophy that divides or ranks people according to strength and ability -- some people tell the truth only out of weakness.
As an atheist, Sartre believed that individuals need to create their own moral codes. Sartre believed that individuals should act authentically and make choices based on the understanding that we are all responsible for creating ourselves.
Kafka: “One tells as few lies as possible only by telling as few lies as possible, and not by having the least possible opportunity to do so.”
Saint Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant condemned all lying. According to all three, there are no circumstances in which one may lie. One must be murdered, suffer torture, or endure any other hardship, rather than lie, even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments against lying, all compatible with each other.
Among their more important arguments are: • Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to communicate the thoughts of the speaker. • When one lies, one undermines trust in society.
Augustine of Hippo divided lies into eight kinds, listed in order of severity:
1. Lies in religious teaching. 2. Lies that harm others and help no one. 3. Lies that harm others and help someone. 4. Lies told for the pleasure of lying. 5. Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse." 6. Lies that harm no one and that help someone. 7. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's life. 8. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's "purity."
Augustine believed that "jocose lies" are not, in fact, lies.
Thomas Aquinas divided lies into three kinds:
1. The useful (venial sin) 2. The humorous (venial sin) 3. The malicious (mortal sin)
Venial sin = An offense that is judged to be minor or committed without deliberate intent and thus does not estrange the soul. Mortal sin = A sin that is so heinous it deprives the soul of sanctifying grace and causes damnation, such as murder or blasphemy.
Utilitarian philosophers have argued that lying is not prohibited in certain circumstances, such as when telling a lie might prevent a clearly greater harm e.g. save an innocent life. Utilitarians base moral judgment on experience, rather than dogma.
Jeremy Bentham, a Utilitarian, thought that an action was good if it increased pleasure, bad if it increased pain. An action or law would by good if it produced "The greatest happiness for the greatest number". He developed a "happiness calculus" in order to calculate for any action or law what the consequences in terms of pleasure or pain would be. Using these principals he designed a prison called the panopticon where punishment would be measured out according to the amount of pain caused by the offender.
J S Mill refined Bentham's theory by suggesting that there were higher and lower pleasures, and that the higher pleasures were preferable. As he puts it: "Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied". By lower pleasures Mill meant pleasures of the flesh, and by higher pleasures, pleasures of the intellect. One consequence of Mill's modification was that it was no longer possible to use Bentham's "happiness calculus."
Some philosophers have also argued that paternalistic lying (lying for the supposed good of those lied to) is justified, even if it violates their autonomy. An example is lying to someone terminally ill by being unduly optimistic about his prognosis, on the grounds that the shock might effectively shorten his life further.
Types of Lies We Will Discuss
Emergency lie: An emergency lie is employed when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would come of it. An example of such an emergency lie would be a neighbour lying to an enraged husband about the whereabouts of his unfaithful wife, because said husband might reasonably be expected to inflict physical violence should he encounter his wife in person. Although the moral integrity of the wife may certainly be put into question, the threat of violence is considered to be the more pressing issue, which could justify the lie in this case.
Exaggeration: Exaggeration is when the most fundamental aspect(s) of a statement is true, but the degree to which it is true is not correct.
Lying by omission: Lying by omission is when an important fact is omitted, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. This includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.
Misleading: Misleading is when a person tells a statement that isn't an outright lie, but still has the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth.
Perjury: Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful.
White lie: A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered and offers some benefit to the liar or the hearer, or both. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and can not be clearly separated from regular lies with any authority. As such the term may have differing meanings in different cultures. Lies which are harmless but told for no reason are generally not called white lies.
In western countries, a white lie is typically taken to mean an untruth with an alleged justification such as to avoid upsetting a person, to encourage a person or just for harmless convenience. An example of a white lie is a nurse who reassures a disfigured patient that he looks healthy, or an aged husband who assures his wife that she looks just as good as when he married her. This kind of white lie is, in many instances, known to be an untruth by all involved parties, but overlooked out of diplomatic tact or politeness. For example, when two people collide in a crowded hallway and one falls down, he might tell the other that he's not hurt, even if he's hurt a little bit.
Types of Lies To Avoid Discussing (Silly Lies)
Bluffing: An act of deception that is not usually seen as immoral because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards than he really does, or an athlete who indicates he will move left and then actually dodges right, are not considered to be lying. In these situations, deception is accepted as a tactic and even expected.
Lie-to-children: A euphemism that describes a lie told to make an adult subject, such as sex, acceptable to children. The most common example is "The stork brought you."
Jocose lies: Meant in jest and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Sarcasm can be one example of this. A more elaborate example can be seen in storytelling traditions which are present in some places, where the humour comes from the storyteller's insistence that he or she is telling the absolute truth despite all evidence to the contrary (ie. tall tale). There has been debate in the past about whether these are "real lies", with different philosophers holding different views (see below).
