Comments on: When lying is good https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/ Reluctant ramblings of a computer geek Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:05:39 +0000 hourly 1 By: Mike W. https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-210 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:05:39 +0000 https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-210 Can he not say “The job I do requires secrecy and it is very important”? I don’t that it violates the law of honesty. I just think that Card has bought into the idea (just like everyone out there who considers himself a “realist”) that Greco-Roman ideals are more practical and therefore more valuable than gospel values that can be sacrificed at whim for expediency.

]]> By: Reluctant https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-209 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:03:03 +0000 https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-209 Oh… and don’t necessarily blame OSC here. It’s not like his characters always do and think the way he feels is right. After all, in one of his books, the “hero” has a homosexual experience and I’m confident that OSC doesn’t agree with that. I honestly don’t know his feelings in this situation.

]]> By: Reluctant https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-208 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 02:59:06 +0000 https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-208 I mostly agree with you Mike. But there are many who would argue that sometimes a lie is “needed.” You can’t always rephrase a potential lie to make it sound better. It worked in the ugly daughter scenario, but what about the government agent?

If he is required by his employment to not tell his family what he does, how can he get around that? I know there is always the choice of changing jobs, but someone has to do this secret “national security” stuff. So someone has to lie to their loved ones.

]]> By: Mike W. https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-207 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:57:20 +0000 https://www.ramblingengineer.com/2007/12/05/when-lying-is-good/#comment-207 There is always an alternative to telling a lie. One can tell a daughter that the world sees as unattractive that she is truly beautiful. That’s in no way a lie.

The problem with using lies to accomplish a “good end” is that once one choses a certain means, the consequences automatically follow. Philosophy and pragmatism teach that often times the end justifies the means. In reality, the means determines the end. It’s like a sowing tares and expecting to harvest wheat.

If we sow lies and hope to harvest a loving, sincere and deep relationship we are profoundly deceiving ourselves. The world does it all the time and I’m sure to OSC it’s okay because he is a pragmatist. To me it’s just a profound logical disconnect to sow one thing and expect an opposite result.

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