Question

essay on can lying be justified

Answer 1

We all know liars.  The vast majority of us become liars from time to time.  Sometimes, the lying seems very necessary, for we lie to spare someone else hurt feelings, or we lie to help someone else out of a jam, or we lie because the lie is so minor that it's not going to affect anyone negatively, but will affect us positively, so it seems to be quite justified.  And who's to say it's not justified?  Sometimes we even lie because someone else is demanding information from us, and we know that that person doesn't deserve to know the information, or will use it in harmful ways once he or she gets it.  So we tell that person something other than the truth.  But "What is truth?" Pilate asks Jesus, and in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, the question is taken even further:  "But what is truth?  Is truth unchanging law?  We both have truths--are mine the same as yours?"

There are people in this world who lie to harm.  There are others who lie habitually, seemingly unable or unwilling to tell the truth.  Most people do their best to tell the truth and find it difficult to lie, but end up doing so when circumstances seem to demand it--when they need to save face or "protect" themselves from punishment.  The first type of person is best dealt with under the topic of "meanness," while the second type is best left to the psychoanalyst or psychologist.  It's the third type of lying that belongs here, for that's the type that keeps us from enjoying our days for all that they're worth--an aberration in our behavior that pulls us down, makes us feel horrible, causes fear that wasn't there before, and has the potential to harm relationships that mean a great deal to us.