Hi Everyone,
I expect a strong response to this blog (and the last one) this weekend.
Is there such a thing as a "white" lie? What does Bok think? What do you believe? Let's think about it in two different situations.
First, when are the lies we tell ourselves harmful to ourselves? Are these rationales we concoct for ourselves beneficial or are they to our detriment? Think about the particular area of schoolwork and whether you give it all you could?
Second, after reading the essay on Ethics of War, discuss how as a country whether or not you believe we are lying to ourselves about the war and the consequences of our actions in Iraq?
These are tough ethical questions. Try to persuade others to accept your perspective.
Have a good weekend.
Tim
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9 comments:
I feel that a white lie is more like a story told than a hard nose lie. There are lies to keep us out of trouble, lies to keeps others from being hurt and lies to help others . It sometimes makes sense to lie to a friend to maybe keep them out of trouble or lie tell a white lie to someone to keep them from getting hurt but when are these lies harmful. As Bok says, whites lies are harmless but it is what they lead to that becaomes harmful. White lies can lead to lying constantly and can become more of an ethical issue and put an end to a harmless white lie. And by telling white lies, are we fooling ourselves into beleiving something we know couldn't be true.
Take the essay on war ethics. Some can say we are lying to ourselves about the reasons for going to war. It is possible that there was a deeper reason for going to war than terrorism. But at the time of 9-11 who didn't want to go to war and with adreniline running high it seemed like the next step to take. But are we the American people lying to ourselves about the reasons why we are overseas. In a sense we are over there to fight terrorism but in reality are we fighting this war for revenge and to prove that we are a country that will not fall with getting back up. Are we just trying to pose a message?
I believe that there is such a thing as a white lie. Bok thinks that white lies "do no harm in the eyes of many people". I believe that little white lies are usually harmless, but it also depends on the situation. If a friend were insecure about her weight, and she was a little overweight, you wouldn't tell her that. However, if your friends were obese, then you would probably want to let her know for her health's sake. Other little white lies such as calling in sick for work or pretending that you have family plans to cancel a date are harmless for me because their purpose is to not hurt the other person's feelings. It's what those little white lies build up to that can be harmful.
The lies that we tell ourselves can be harmful to us when we know what we should really be doing, but instead, we create these excuses to get out of our situations. These rationales are definitely harmful because we're lying to ourselves, convinving ourselves to forget about our responsibilities, or in worse cases, forget who we are as a person. Some white lies are more harmful than they seem to be.
My Sociology class is a class I could be doing better in, but I procrastinate and do everything last minute, resulting in an average grade rather than a good one. Last week we had presentation on different social problems existing in our community. Being a student with two jobs, I barely had time to research on the topic. I would make excuses such as "I had no time" or "I had work" to my groupmates, leaving them with all the work. On the day of the presentation, I was lost for words when it came to my part. I realized that I was completely unprepared compared to the rest of my group when I found myself reading off a piece if paper the whole time. I realized that it's not that I didn't have time, I just didn't want to do it and by making up excuses, it made me believe myself that it was impossible to get the project done.
Based on the readin on Ethics of War, I think that we are lying to ourselves about the war in Iraq and all of its consequences. I agree with Destrell's comment on the essay. I also believe that there may be a deeper reason for going into war. We tell ourselves that the war is neccessary in order to fight terrorism, but is that all we're fighting about? I also agree with Destrell's opinion that maybe this is just for revenge, and that America isn't just any country that falls and doesn't get back on its feet right away. If it is for revenge, is it really worth it, considering 100,000 Iraqi civilians may have dies because of this war?
I think that there is such thing as a white lie. I believe that white lies are white lies as long as there is reason and in this case i think that the answer to whether or not is ok or not to say white lies DEPENDS. I think that there are many occasions when white lies are ok and these are when someones feelings are in between and that is because one does not always have the right to make some one feel bad about one's self. On the other hand i believe that a lot of times one has the responsability to tell someone the truth including telling yourself the truth, when this responsability is not met then it is not a white lie but just a lie because there is no justification for hiding something from some one or yourself.
I dont think that white lies are harmful to ourselves, but ourselves in general. It is our responsability to not lie to ourselves or even believe somebody else when they are trying to lie to us, because no matter what they say we should know ourselves much better than they do and we should know who we really are.
I feel that there is such thing as a white lie. Whether it is to help someone out or stay out of trouble i feel white lies are reasonable if the situation allows it. A lie can be different from a white lie because i see a white lie as a non harmful lie.As for when we lie to ourselves, we are consicous of what is going on and to make us feel better we lie.In this case its just a lie because you are harming yourself and then it turns into doing so a lot.
I believe that there are such things as "white lies." Bok also in her essay on "white lies" says that they do exist and most of them are harmless. But if the lies told becomes habitual then there is a problem because it eventually leads a person to tell big lies which are harmful to the society and also to himself. I agree with Bok's defination for white lie and the effects that they bring out. I believe that white lies are unethichal and it is not necessary to say these false things all the time. For example, if a very intimate friend of mine would ask me if the dress that she bought is pretty and at the back of my mind I am thinking it's too gaudy, I would actually give her a diplomatic answer by which she can understand that I didn't like it. By this, she will stop to buy such things. By this I meant to say is there are harmless and polite ways to make people understand instead of just telling them bunch of lies.
I think that the lies we tell to ourselves are always harmful. They have never been beneficial to me. I can very well convince myself to delay a particular work that I was supposed to do. This always happens when it comes to my schoolwork. I concoct some rationales like "I am tiered" or "It is not necessary to do the assignment today and it can be done tomorrow." In this way, a lot of times I escape from my responsibilities and thus keep all my work pending. These creations of lies in my mind often compels me to take all my work for granted. At that point of time I do not feel the seriousness of the lies and it's deep harmful effect on my daily routine.
I believe that we are lying to ourselves about the Iraq war and it's consequences. A question of issue will be that "Is it ethical to enter into a country overseas?" This war might not be about terrorism but some other reason, may be to seek revenge. It is obviously not ethical to torture and absue the prisoners and killing unarmed civilians. This already violates the International Law according to Kofi Annan but it seems like none of our political leaders are paying attention to it. We also sometimes do not think over such matters where there is a hidden guilt and just put it off by telling ourselves that "it's good that our country is fighting against terrorism so that the world can rest in peace."
I believe that there are such things as white lies. But I think they are used as a way to help someone rather than hurt them, at least that is the intention. Although Bok says that white lies can lead to other more harmful lies and can create a pattern of white lies, the definition of a white lie is something that isn't harmful. So the white lie by itself is not what is harming someone.
In my opinion, the war is being well documented in the news. I don't think anyone is sugar coating it. At least the news in California is depicting it from both sides instead of just our military side. War is war, there is no such thing as an ethical war. Even though unethical things happen in war like the shooting of unarmed civilians, there is no one to blame because one could just say it was self defense about what someone THOUGHT the civilian had as a weapon. I think in the beginning of the war, the American people lied to themselves, thinking that we had to go to war to avenge the people that lost their lives in the 9-11 attack. But as time went on people gained more information about what was really going on. Although some places in the United States are still full of ignorant people, I think the majority of people understand what we've gotten ourselves into.
I feel that "white" lies are real. They are used everyday by pretty much everyone in the world. Some people think that there wrong and hurt like Bok, but I do not think so. I believe that they are apart of peoples everyday life. Everyone lies it is apart of human nature, it is how big and how much the lie hurts someone that matters. If someone says " i never lie" they are lying to themselves. But this doesn't really hurt anyone and if it does it is yourself. This doesn't really hurt you though it is something you think about for a few seconds and then move on with our life. When you set goals for yourself and don't complete it is sort of lying to yourself. This could hurt you a lot, but again it is just something you look past and keep living. When you lie to yourself most of the time you look past it and keep living. When to lie to someone else it could get much bigger and you have to keep lying which is not a "white" lie anymore. As for the war I think people do lie to themselves. They know that people are dying over there and we still say that everything will be okay sooner or later. When it really isn't because people are still dying, but we look past it unless it affects us directly. It is not we are lying to ourselves it is that the government hides things and what they do tell us we take in as a way to convince ourselves that everything is good.
I believe that there is such a thing as a white lie. These are lies to keep us out of trouble, to keep others from being hurt and are sometimes beneficial to others. It sometimes makes sense to lie to a friend to maybe keep them out of trouble or help them to give them a boost of coonfidence. I believe it is ok to tell these White lies to someone to keep them from getting hurt but when these lies become harmful, one should know he has crossed the boundary.
As Bok says, whites lies are harmless but it is what they lead to that can become harmful. White lies can lead to lying constantly and can make one question their morals. Ethical or not? I believe that if the lie is benefitting someone else then it is in the moral safe zone.Lying constantly is not ethical though and especially when it hurts someone.
As for the war in Iraq, I believe we are lying to ourselves about the consequences of our actions. Nobody really wants to know how many deaths are happening every day. We just want to hear about the great impact we have had and how our coutry is suceeding.I know that we are fighting terrorism but I believe the U.S also wants to prove to other nations that we will stand our ground until we have triumphed over all harm.
I believe that there is such a thing as a white lie. These are lies to keep us out of trouble, to keep others from being hurt and are sometimes beneficial to others. It sometimes makes sense to lie to a friend to maybe keep them out of trouble or help them to give them a boost of coonfidence. I believe it is ok to tell these White lies to someone to keep them from getting hurt but when these lies become harmful, one should know he has crossed the boundary.
As Bok says, whites lies are harmless but it is what they lead to that can become harmful. White lies can lead to lying constantly and can make one question their morals. Ethical or not? I believe that if the lie is benefitting someone else then it is in the moral safe zone.Lying constantly is not ethical though and especially when it hurts someone.
As for the war in Iraq, I believe we are lying to ourselves about the consequences of our actions. Nobody really wants to know how many deaths are happening every day. We just want to hear about the great impact we have had and how our coutry is suceeding.I know that we are fighting terrorism but I believe the U.S also wants to prove to other nations that we will stand our ground until we have triumphed over all harm.
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