What Is A Lie?

Deception includes the range of means whereby people may be mislead. The most evident of these is lying. But it also includes withholding information which the person might find of immediate significance, as well as misleading the person into some alternative belief, or reinforcing such a belief. Then there are the more marginal forms of deception, such as evasion, euphemism and exaggeration; and the often unconscious forms of deception (without intention to mislead), such as the subtle changes of subject, the disguises, the gestures leading astray, and silence and inaction.

A common temptation is to define a lie as a statement that isn’ t true. But things are more complicated than this. Telling stories or jokes is not lying, even when falsehoods are involved, at least when the audience knows them for what they are. The same holds for exaggerations that are readily seen to be such.

The importance of someone' s intentions has been long recognised by philosophers. St. Augustine argued that “a person is to be judged as lying or not lying according to the intention in his own mind, not according to the truth or falsity of the statement.”

What is a lie?

not-truth

Lie is to intentionally make a false statement to mislead someone. Lie would be about our intentions, not about how we classify our senteces.

Truth is only an observation of certain person. There is no such thing as an absolute truth, thuis there is no such thing as an absolute lie either.

Lie is, then, telling someone something different from what YOU believe is true, not necesseraly what IS true, as such thing is subjective.

Lying is not necesseraly there to decieve in a sinsiter way - people lie to protect themselves, to protect others, as well as to use.

yup...lying is untruth

Pretty much you've answer your own question storm. In it's simplest form a lie is nothing more than a deception trying to mislead another person. You can't have a liar without lies.

Originally posted by Storm
...St. Augustine argued that “a person is to be judged as lying or not lying according to the intention in his own mind, not according to the truth or falsity of the statement.”...

That is basically the definition of a lie. Therefore, the truth could be a lie if the speaker tells a truth that misleads with the intent to lie.

Originally posted by WindDancer
Pretty much you've answer your own question storm. In it's simplest form a lie is nothing more than a deception trying to mislead another person. You can't have a liar without lies.

This.

Work that one out.

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Lying is not necesseraly there to decieve in a sinsiter way - people lie to protect themselves, to protect others, as well as to use.

Originally posted by Clovie
not-truth

A lie~ The opposite of truth. It's as simple and as complicated as that!

OK then, what's difference between a white lie and a lie?

Is one better for the other....

And during WWII when Jews were hiding in some houses that were Christian....and were interrogated....The Christians lied that there were no Jews in the house, when infact there were....Can a lie be a good thing?

Originally posted by debbiejo
The Christians lied that there were no Jews in the house, when infact there were....Can a lie be a good thing?

No, they should have told the Germans!

So they could kill them!

Of course it can, you nut. Talk about rhetorical question.

If you go by scripture, then it's ANY non truth....Therefore evil, and breaking one of the big 10.....but as was pointed out it is subjective.....as Lil B stated...

So, out of curiosity are there good lies?

Originally posted by debbiejo
If you go by scripture, then it's ANY non truth

I don't.

Originally posted by debbiejo

So, out of curiosity are there good lies?

Yes.

This was a very perceptive post.

There can be good and bad lies. Like when you are hiding a present for someone, that would be an example of a good lie. If you tell someone you love them and are really in love with someone else, now that would be a bad lie. Both are forms of deception, but it just depends on the way you use it.

Well at the end of the day a lie is what you make of it..........but I believe the point to be is if you make a point to go out of your way to decieve someone for your own gain (money, politics, information) then you are creating a lie............the levels of this are huge so of course this isn't absolute.

Originally posted by Spelljammer
Bush is lieing for your own good..

Well the good thing is, I dont live in the Bush land - so he is lying to YOU, not to me.

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Well the good thing is, I dont live in the Bush land - so he is lying to YOU, not to me.

The Bush is so big he affects world policy so in effect he could.......

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Truth is only an observation of certain person. There is no such thing as an absolute truth, thuis there is no such thing as an absolute lie either.

Lie is, then, telling someone something different from what YOU believe is true, not necesseraly what IS true, as such thing is subjective.

Lying is not necesseraly there to decieve in a sinsiter way - people lie to protect themselves, to protect others, as well as to use.

I disagree, I very much believe there is an absolute truth...the problem is we can never be sure to know it.....a lie now is to knowingly say something that one believes to not be the truth (usually to mislead another person)