Lying ..... with integrity?

Is it ever right to lie? That is the question that we looked at in yesterdays lecture.

Some people have very strong views that you should never lie no matter how small the lie is. Some of the people in the class even believed that you should not lie to children about Santa and the tooth fairy.

I think that some lies are not as bad as others, for instance telling a child that Santa brings their presents every Christmas, just allows for a bit of magic to be brought into their lives whilst they are still young enough to enjoy it. This lie does not hurt them in any way, instead it gives them some excitement.

White lies to prevent a person's feelings are also in my eyes alright, if you can conceal the truth and keep them from feeling bad about themselves then that is an advantage to telling the lie.

I don't believe that you should tell lies to your partner whilst you are in a relationship. You will inevitably have to cover the lie with more lies and will dig yourself deeper. In these cases it is always better to tell the truth. If someone had done something wrong and then lied about it to me, I would be even more hurt that they had lied instead of just telling me the truth.

http://www.spectacle.org/0500/lies.html Here is a link to a website that contains an ethical debate about lying.