tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post6337577451352701377..comments2024-03-29T02:36:26.151-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: What does it mean to lie?Juliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-90840193821216862542011-08-08T17:46:40.711-07:002011-08-08T17:46:40.711-07:00Thanks for your comment, Amy! I'm glad your da...Thanks for your comment, Amy! I'm glad your daughters are so concerned about doing right. They sound like great people.<br /><br />OFloinn, thanks for contributing to this discussion! I'll check out the links. I particularly like your phrase, "an abuse of the power of communication."Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-10189347315664143622011-08-08T14:57:42.798-07:002011-08-08T14:57:42.798-07:00The classical natural law position was that a lie ...The classical natural law position was that a lie is an abuse of the power of communication, whose proper object is the truth. Specifically, it is to speak contrary to what is in your mind. It is never a lie to say something incorrect simply because it is incorrect. If you genuinely believe it to be true, you have not lied. <br /><br />But that it is always wrong to lie does not compel you to babble everything you know. If Helen's abusive boyfriend comes to your door and demands to know where Helen is, you can say "I don't know" even if she is hiding in your house. That is because you don't actually know specifically where she is in your house at that moment. (That is also why the Court Oath compels you to tell not only the truth, but the <b>whole</b> truth.) You could also deflect or be non-responsive. "What's it to you?" "How would I know?" etc. <br /><br />Interestingly, the injunction against lying is not an injunction against deceiving. <br /><br />There was an extended discussion of the topic of lying from a natural law perspective on a philosophy blog some months ago. <br /><br />Is it wrong to lie to HAL?<br />http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/11/is-it-wrong-to-lie-to-hal.html<br /><br />There is no Santa Clause<br />http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/11/there-is-no-santa-clause.html<br /><br />Murderer at the door<br />http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/11/murderer-at-door.html<br /><br />What counts as a lie?<br />http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-counts-as-lie.htmlTheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-34462906920723170532011-08-08T14:43:40.989-07:002011-08-08T14:43:40.989-07:00So funny that you have posted this - my youngest d...So funny that you have posted this - my youngest daughter brought this up just today. Periodically, she and one of her sisters get quite upset with themselves about lying -- usually it's when they have told a classmate that we were planning to be somewhere, and then it turns out that there's a change of plans, or maybe the girls misunderstood the plans altogether. I'm used to reminding them that there has to be some intent to mislead. Otherwise, we call it a mistake.<br /><br />Other than having to explain this to them, I don't recall thinking about it so carefully outside this one class I took in college!<br /><br />AmyKhanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705064700657411259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-35227928842425813682011-08-08T09:25:21.097-07:002011-08-08T09:25:21.097-07:00Thanks, Linda! That sounds like a very interesting...Thanks, Linda! That sounds like a very interesting discussion, and I appreciate you adding your questions to the mix.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-72044226588652281412011-08-08T09:23:12.553-07:002011-08-08T09:23:12.553-07:00Ooh, interesting! I took a rhetoric course in coll...Ooh, interesting! I took a rhetoric course in college that was all about truth and lying and we had lots of fascinating discussions about what it means to lie. For example, what if someone meant to make an inaccurate statement with malicious intent but was in error and spoke truth? Or what if someone spoke a falsehood with good intentions? Does it matter if it causes harm or not? Does it matter if the speaker intends for the listener to believe the falsehood or not? There are so many different aspects to the issue, and people will disagree on what counts as lying, but it certainly is a very interesting topic to think about. :)lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16524291742541007382noreply@blogger.com