I Agree with the authors definition of a White Lie. That a White Lie is told in place of the truth because it is more polite or more considerate towards the other person. Yes when you lie your are not telling the truth but your doing it for a greater good. The example the author uses in the case of the army men is perfect. You know for certain that the man is dead but to honor his or her family you keep the hope for them that that person may return because the dead solider earned that fighting.
By telling a white lie why yes you are lying you doing so for the greater good. I am not big on lying but in cases when it is better or simply makes thing less commplicated i think it is aproriate. And only in cases like this do i feel it is appropriate to do so.
Hello Michael,
ReplyDeleteLying is considered to be unethical and deceiving. However, there are certain times in our life we have to lie in order to avoid trouble. I totally agree with you and author regarding white lies. I do lie sometime but when I have to lie I think of consequences before lying and that is the reason why I show late reaction to the person who is into conflict with me. There are some people who are brutally honest and I am sure they are disliked by most of the people. Most of us prefer good liar than rude frank person. So, if we want to be liked by other tell white lies that does not hurt anyone.
The author did do a good job on the army part about explaining white lies and how sometimes it can be an okay thing but others it results in something worse. Like they say "I'd rather hear the truth, then a sugar coated lie" and it seems to be true. A lot of people i've noticed and come to realize, especially myself, that it doesn't matter if the person your lying too is going to be hurt by the truth, its better then even the smallest lie. As simple as oh, do I look okay today? And you saying, yeah when really i don't, whats the point why not just be like no, its the truth and then you become the type of person people will rely on and come to knowing from experience, he speaks the truth.
ReplyDeleteI thought the army story was good example too, although I disagree with you regarding the true intentions of the soldier.He didn't report the death of the other soldier,allowing the family from the death soldier receive money from the government. There was a good intention in this act, but the lie was giving false hope to the family and I do not believe that was fair.
ReplyDeleteI agree in many ways with what you had to say. In some cases though, you really have to think about the outcome for saying that lie. Will it be for the better good or will it or can it make the situation worse? The example he used with the soldier, yes he had a good intention with making sure the family was covered for a long time financialy but not having closure can be really hard in order to move on with life. I think it ultimately depends on the person so the person should really think things through before saying any lie.
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