Lying, something we have all done and something that we will all continue to do. It is questionable whether lying is bad or justifiable.
From a young age many of us are lied to. Across many cultures fictional characters are created such as Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and the Tooth fairy. These lies do not cause harm therefore are these lies bad?
Even though many parents lie to children, emphasis is put onto children not to lie themselves. With fictional stories including the boy who cried wolf and films such as Pinocchio lying is portrayed negatively. Due to this, it presents why lying could be seen as bad behaviour, as this is our mind set from a young age.
Is the ability to lie a good quality? To some extent, I believe being able to lie and lie well is a good quality to have. Work related, lying could be portrayed positively. For example lying may give a person the ability to please others. If you were for example a lawyer or a member of the Government the ability to lie is extremely important. The film 'Liar Liar' is a prime example of this. In it, Jim Carey plays the role of a lawyer who lies consistently at work, to his colleagues and his family. By the character lying he hurts many people including his son. However, when his ability to lie was taken away, emotions flare and feelings are hurt. This insinuates the idea that lying may not always be bad.
It is questionable whether there are sub group categories to lies. Being acceptable or non acceptable. Personally I believe the worst kinds of lies are simply those that hurt another person. By this i mean, parents creating happiness for children through Santa Claus, or the Government hiding information from citizens to protects them or a person lying to their friend to save their feelings from being hurt are all examples of lies which should be acceptable. In comparison unacceptable lies, are lies that have motives to hurt a person, or lies to cover wrong doing. For example lying is condemned bad due to lying about drug use, prostitution or infidelity.
Between genders I believe lies do not differ drastically. Lies are used to give a person power or increase their status, however I believe women are more likely to lie to make a person feel better.
Would the world be a better place if everyone always told the truth? If everyone were to tell the truth I believe the world would definitely not be a better place for relationships, friendships, businesses and society. In comparison I do believe in correlation to the law and the justice system, the inability to lie would be very useful.
Overall I believe people more predominantly object less to lying when they are the ones doing it. Personally I believe if the lie does not hurt someone it should not be seen as bad. However, as people's opinions differ it would be hard to say what lies are okay. The fact still remains that regardless of what the lie is, lying will always occur.
The given link below from the BBC presents an in depth overview of lying, its consequences and types of lying. It also presents philosophers of lying and their beliefs.
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