White Lie

Introduction

White lie is a false statement uttered with benevolent intention. It may be aimed at trying to make more palatable the truth trying to cause as little damage as possible. It is often used simply to avoid unnecessary friction, disability or attitudes that may be offensive to someone. In politics, the noble lie is associated with the falsehood of the rulers aimed at preserving social harmony. Plato and referred to this kind of lie in the Republic (Pratt, Pp. 154). Acceptance of the supernatural actions of Santa Claus is one of the most widely used white lies, aimed at children with the primary goal of achieving happiness (Camosy, Pp. 212). This paper discusses white lies in a holistic context.

Discussion

Most people consider themselves to be honest and straightforward, but in fact none of us are immune to life-saving lies. When humans speak, they at times do lie, for the reason that communication is essential in nearly any social or economic interaction, comprehending why and when humans decide to lie is imperative. As suggested by a budding body of evidence that the choice of lying is sensitive to reasons. Human beings care about the impairments that the lie might cause along with their personal gains from lying (Gneezy, Pp. 384-394). White lies are part of numerous lawyers, diplomats, politicians, business people, economic interactions and student in experimental laboratories who utilize private information do not at all times do so truthfully (DePaulo & Kashy, Pp. 63-79).

For instance, consider a manager is giving feedback to an employee on his/her performance. Would/should the manager give honest feedback to an employee who had been performing poorly, even when such an honest feedback could possibly decrease future performance and confidence of that employee? Therefore, since the feedback on the performance of that employees possess the capability of affecting the employee's confidence, and eventually, the performance of that employee in future tasks (Postlewaite & Compte, Pp. 1536-1557). Within such strategic performance feedback situations, the incentives alignment pooled with lying aversion, fallouts in supervisor giving the employee fake praise for building up his/her confidence level. Additionally, these fake praises are potentially welfare improving.

As argued by the utilitarian approach that a person should lie in situation like the one mentioned above. When taking into consideration whether to lie or not, a utilitarian will argue, individuals need to weigh happiness against unhappiness and benefits against harms. The lying act itself bears no dire effects. As Martin Luther once said that, “What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church… a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie? Such lies would not be against God; He would accept them” (Bok, Pp. 47).

Kant in his categorical imperative summarized his moral theory. A maxim is universal moral, which is, if the rule which authorizes us to perform certain actions may be universal, that is, all governed by this rule. For Kant, the duty not to lie ...