I will delve into the moral issues that people have when they think about deceit. My personal definition of deceit is when someone manipulates another person into believing what they are saying is the truth even if it may not be. In this paper I will argue that there are different degrees of deceit that don’t always break someone’s trust. The evidence I provide will show that our definition of deceit in our Western culture is impaired. It will show people who believe that deceit is morally wrong and it can only bring about distrust may need to re-evaluate their definition of deceit.
There are several different types of deception such as a the myth’s we grow up believing in, a little white lie, trickery, pranks, manipulation, and lying. Each one has been classified as a degree of deceit, but we must take into account all of the reasons behind each one. Some of the deceptions are meant to keep our imagination and dreams alive; others are meant to save someone’s feelings; and a majority of them are lies that are meant to save ourselves or manipulate someone into doing us a favor.
People are always cautious when it comes to the fine line between deception and the truth. Throughout our lives we are told not to deceive anyone otherwise we would eventually lose them due to our deviousness. However, the same could be said about telling someone the truth. How often can we find someone who has honestly never deceived or lied to someone in their life even if it was unintentional? Why is it wrong to deceive someone? What if they are better off hearing a lie from your lips instead of the cold, hard, and brutal truth? Or what if they are in danger of harming themselves and you need to tell someone, but don’t inform the person in danger that ...
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...ad. Just as Hitler used his natural charisma to manipulate the masses of German to not only submit but to openly follow his ambitions to annihilate the entire Jewish population. Manipulation is the most hurtful type of deceit because the people we have manipulated feel used and abused by our apathy. Even if we do not realize we are manipulating someone we should take care to attempt to limit our manipulative tendencies.
Deception in itself is not a bad thing. As you can see deception is not as black and white as we would like to believe. It can be an amazing thing by promoting a child’s imagination or lightening the mood with a well-played trick. Or it could be destroy someone’s trust and end whatever relationship you had with them. In the end it is our intentions that can make deception good or bad whether we wish to encourage someone or unknowingly destroy them.
Deception-the act of deceiving; state of being deceived; artifice practiced; fraud; double-dealing; to mislead the mind of; to impose on; to delude; fraud; guile; cunning (Webster Dictionary). Deception is universal and serves many purposes. Deception can be used to hurt or protect, depending on the motives of the deceptor. In Orson Scott Card's novel, Ender's Game, deception plays many roles. The main use of deception is the adults versus the children. Early on in the novel it is indicated that Ender already realizes adults lie when the subject of the monitor being removed is discussed. The adults are also deceptive when they remove the monitor and allow Ender to think he was not accepted into the program when in fact they just wanted to see how he would behave without the monitor.
Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.
Although it is considered wrong to tell lies, it seems that literature has offered us situations where telling lies isn’t necessarily bad. Of course, lying often has a tragic outcome, but not always for the person or people who told the lie or lies. Oftentimes, these unfortunate outcomes are directed at the person about whom the lie was told. Furthermore, these stories have explained that dishonesty can result in success for both the liar and the target. Maybe we have been teaching the wrong values to our children.
As John Ruskin once said, “The essence of lying is in deception, not in words.” This essence is debated in “The Ways We Lie”, written by Stephanie Ericsson, and “Doubts about Doublespeak”, written by William Lutz. In “The Ways We Lie”, Ericsson talks about the different ways people lie on a day to day basis. By comparison, in “Doubts about Doublespeak”, Lutz discusses the different forms of doublespeak that many individuals frequently use. Lutz considers doublespeak as a language that distorts the meaning of words in order to deceive another person, and only “pretends to communicate” (83). Although both authors agree that lying is about the use of deceptive language, Ericsson describes this use of language as occasionally being necessary,
In many cultures, deception does not directly imply evil, but a useful tool that can solve problems quickly. For kind purposes, parents use deception to advise, teach and help their children to have a better lives. While for others, deception is for selfish reasons. Throughout the Joy Luck Club, many complain about being victims of deception, but they too are deceiving others. It is a skill passed down from generation to generation.
In “The Ways We Lie”, Ericsson describes the different types of lies: white lie, facades, ignoring
Lying is simply an act of not telling the truth, and this definition of lying will be used in future sections of this paper. There are three groups of lies t...
Deception influences people’s decisions and outlook on life. Internal deceptions occur when someone tricks themselves into thinking something that is not true. External deceptions occur when a person or character tricks another person or character. Internal and external deceptions occurs in day to day life as well as in literature. Deception plays a significant role in Great Expectations because it both internally and externally affects characters.
When initially asked about the morality of lying, it is easy for one to condemn it for being wrong or even corrupt. However, those asked are generally guilty of the crime on a daily basis. Lying is, unfortunately, a normal aspect of everyday life. In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” author Stephanie Ericsson makes note of the most common types of lies along with their consequences. By ordering the categories from least to most severe, she expresses the idea that lies enshroud our daily lives to the extent that we can no longer between fact and fiction. To fully bring this argument into perspective, Ericsson utilizes metaphor, rhetorical questions, and allusion.
Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie, analyzes and reflects on how lying has simply become the norm in our society. We all lie, there is not one person in the world that does not lie. Most people lie because they are afraid of telling the truth, however what they do not know is telling a lie can lead them in the wrong direction because many things can happen when lying to a person. The person can find out when everything unravels that person will not have trust in you and you would be known as a liar. To every action there is a consequence, so why not deal with just one consequence when telling the
Deception is defined as a crafty procedure or practice meant to deceive or defraud. People tend to view this as a sinister action. No matter how sinister it can be, it can also be utilized to gain information and knowledge. How a person uses deception varies among different people. Generally, the more clever people tend to utilize deception very efficiently. Odysseus masters deception in the Odyssey by disguising himself. Odysseus isn't alone for Athena also uses disguises. With that being said, disguises allow Odysseus to succeed in killing the suitors.
What are lies? A lie is defined as follows: To make a statement that one knows to be false, especially with the intent to deceive. There are several ways that lies are told for instance, there are white lies, lies of omission, bold faced lies, and lies of exaggeration. No matter what type of lie that one chooses to tell many people believe that lies do more harm than good.
We lie all the time, lying is not something new to our culture. We lie to our parents, we lie to our friends, we even lie to our significant other, but why do we do it? There is not one set reason on why we lie but they can vary from an insignificant reason to something more nefarious. A good operational definition of a lie is “A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.” (Freitas-Magalhães) We have been raised to know that lying is usually a bad thing, and it’s better to tell the truth, not to mention the circumstances get exponentially worse if you are caught lying. No one wants to be labeled as a liar, or untrustworthy. This may sound unorthodox but I personally think lying is perfectly fine; depending on the situation. If you have a prima-facie duty to be dishonest it’s perfectly acceptable. Ross says a prima facie duty or obligation is an actual duty. “One’s actual duty is what one ought to do all things considered.” (Carson) I’m not the only one who finds this too be true. Ross would also agree with me, He says “Lying is permissible or obligatory when the duty not to lie conflicts with a more important or equal important prima facie duty.” (Carson) As I was doing research on this topic I did read one extremely compelling argument on why we ought not to lie. Aristotle basically said a person who makes a defense for lying could never be trusted. (King.)
This type of lie is probably the nicest type of lie, in my opinion. This lie is told to achieve some good by telling a lie that will enhance or help the person that is being lied to or lied about. An example of this could be when you “like” someone’s picture or status on Facebook even if you don’t really like it. Some people just click “like” to make the person feel comfortable about posting it or
Secondly, it is okay to be untruthful if you are trying to protect people. In certain situations, it is safer, and more practical for you to tell a lie rather than putting a loved one in jeopardy. To illustrate you may be in a situation where you are in a serious or dangerous situation, and you do not what anyone else involved, to keep them safe. For example, if you are getting held up for ransom, would you tell the truth to a loved one and get them involved, or lie and keep them safe? The obvious answer is to keep them safe at all costs, even if it means lying. Also, you do not want to put someone in harm’s way, so it would be ...