After the discussion in class Thursday i realized that maybe my perceptions of "lying" were not true reality. Perhaps lying for the good of others is not an acceptable wrong but simply acceptable. If the lie is told with good intentions and will benefit the other person more than the truth, it seems to be a cogent solution. While I am still on the fence about Socrates' proposal of the "noble lie," I am beginning to see his perspective and understand how lying could be justified.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Noble Lie
While building this just city, Socrates introduced us to the idea of "lying for the public good." At first I disagreed and actually felt a bit of disappointment in this proposal because it seemed to counteract everything this city supposedly stood for. My entire life I have viewed lying as something with a negative connotation... even in the "do I look fat in this outfit..." example. The only difference is that while I still considered lying in those situations to be wrong, it was an acceptable wrong. It was the "nice" thing to do, and in an unorthodox sense, that made up for the lie.
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I think what's so tough for us to grasp is the dichotomy between the word "noble" and the word "lie." One has a positive connotation while the other has a negative. We understand noble to mean respectable, honorable, virtuous (all words, coincidentally, that have been questioned this semester) and we think of lie as something dirty, dishonest, associated with evil. Putting the two together seems impossible. But after discussing it in class, I realized it does have its benefits (and how great they are) that I can really get on board with this whole "noble lie." In fact, there are times when I would have rather been lied to because the truth is harder to face. When it's really not necessary to tell someone the truth and the truth is only going to hurt them, lying to them with only good intentions in mind is indeed noble and the dichotomy thus dissolves away.
ReplyDeleteThe Noble Lie is something I completely disagree with.. I don't care the situation you must never lie. It will cause mistrust with whoever or whatever you will/are dealing with. It is something that will continue to follow you forever, unlike what others say.
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