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Re: Little white lies
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Re: Little white lies
Lie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1. Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to communicate the thoughts of the speaker. 2. When one lies, one undermines trust in society. The most potent words that Kant ever spoke were on the subject of lying an are embodied at item 2 above. What Kant means by this is that they way that we judge an action to be moral is to universalise it: If I want to know if telling a lie on a particular occasion is justifiable, I must try to imagine what would happen if everyone was to lie. Kant thinks that any rational being would agree that a world in which there is no lying is preferable to one in which lying was common; in a society in which lying was common no one could trust the word of anyone else. |
Re: Little white lies
Margaret, Whatever Kant Says, it is down to ones own natural inclination.
You are to be applauded that you don't tell fibs, lies, untruths. But sometimes it is necessary to bend the rules of life a little and to tell a lie to be kinder than telling the whole truth.......you can lie by omission as well as by comission. |
Re: Little white lies
Let's quote Wiki!!!!!!
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If a friend asks 'do you think I am dying?' would be a dilemma for me, which I have not yet had experience of. I hope that I could avoid answering if that answer is 'yes', but I would probably search for a way to tell the truth gently |
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I recall two lies in the last 18 years and the last one was 7 years ago which was my only way to avoid being subjected to violence. The one 18 years ago - I lied to protect a friend - then castigated him for putting me in that position. |
Re: Little white lies
I'd have done the same Margaret.
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I feel the need to explain my 'abnormal' policy concerning lying.
I had the misfortune to spend 8 years of my life from 1972 to 1980 living with a man who had a personality disorder known as narcissusism. One of of the manifestations of this was he lied about anything and everything. When his 'best friend' told me truth of those 8 years of lies, I was aware of the destruction and havoc which had been caused. I resolved then to always tell the truth, or say nothing at all. |
Re: Little white lies
Margaret, I was in that unenviable position.
I assisted Prof Ormerod carry out a brochoscopy on my dear Dad.......it was plain from the results that my father had inoperable, untreatable(apart from palliative care) lung cancer. Should I then have given this information to my father?....or should I(knowing how he feared this diagnosis) tell him a white lie?? During my Nursing career I have often been in situations where this has been the scenario. I have to say that sometimes I tempered the truth out of compassion. If that makes me a bad person.......well, I guess I will have to live with it.......but I can say with my hand on my heart I do not regret these actions. I would not knowingly lie to gain financially/materially, or for that matter to absolve me or cover up something that I had done wrong. |
Re: Little white lies
When my father was dying of multiple myeloma he had Altzheimers as well so did not have enough brain power left to ask, so I was spared the dilemma.
When my mother was dying of stomach cancer she did not ask because she knew instinctively, but she didn't tell me -wish she had - but then - I didn't ask |
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It is a very difficult situation to be in.
My father used to ask if I thought he looked better when I visited him.....I used to try and deflect the question by asking him how he felt.....he would say he felt better, so I told him he looked better. That would make him smile. Those smiles were more precious than pearls........and they stay in my memory.......rewards for the white lies, I guess. |
Re: Little white lies
i'm loving this thread, its caused me no end of amusement
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Re: Little white lies
The world runs on lies: this is called "politics" (WMDs anyone):eek: ... and many folks worship them: this is called "religion". But politics runs on prejudice, and religion on faith. When you think about it, telling the "whole truth, and nothing but the truth" is darn near impossible, because the information you are acting on might, in itself, be inaccurate or false. Lying to the coppers is ok, because they get paid mega bucks to find out the truth, independent of what you say; and they assume you are lying anyway so you might as well give them what they expect.
Don't think white lies are all that bad ... if they do little harm, and make this difficult life go a little easier. Just don't lie to your lawyer, your shrink, your doctor, or your priest. If it were not for lies, the truth wouldn't exist.:rolleyes: However, I try to get through this life without resorting to howlers; but if a female friend of mine asked if a certain article of clothing made her ass look big, I would be democratic. Nothing wrong with helping someone feel a little better about herself. Much better than "Ohmygod ... is that your ass, or is it two pigs fighting in a gunny sack":eek::eek::D |
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Re: Little white lies
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