Lying

The definitive philosophical dissertation on lying appears to be the 1978 book 'Lying' by Sissela Bok.

Sources to stimulate thinking about this are:

- A short discussion of the issues raised in Bok's book

- SEP article on the definition of lying

- Michael Sandel has recently done talks in Australia entitled 'What's become of Truth?' I think it's mostly about lying in politics. There don't seem to be any transcripts or recordings though.

Questions:

1. Trump lies all the time and gets away with it. Is it ethically justifiable to lie against him? Is it good or bad strategy?

2. What are some other notable examples of political lies?

3. Mags like New Idea make up celebrity stories, involving doctored photos. Is that OK if their readership knows that most of the stories are made up? Would it be different if they had a disclaimer saying some of the stories are made up? What about satirical organs like The Onion. Their stories are usually untrue. Is that acceptable? WHy or why not?

4. Is it acceptable to tell lies when working undercover against organised crime or enemy powers, given that many of those lies will be to innocent non-combatants? Would Jesus have agreed to be a spy? Would he have lied? What about the Buddha?

5. Are the tooth fairy and father christmas lies? What about statements made in leading someone to a surprise party? What is their moral status?

6. Do I look fat in this? What do you think of my new haircut? Is there a definitively morally preferable way to answer such questions? What does it depend on?

7. Kant's dilemma of murderer at the door. Would you lie to them when they ask where their intended victim is? Would you try to avoid lying? How?

8. Utilitarianism - does it say lying doesn't matter, and that only the outcome matters? Do we lose something by losing our veneration of truthfulness? Does a more sophisticated utilitarianism take account of that?

9. What reasons are there for thinking untruthfulness is generally bad?

10. What are the benefits of holding truthfulness to be sacred to some degree?

11. How high should the threshold be to justify lying, if ever?

12. Can we think of examples of famous lies, esp ones where it may have been a genuine moral dilemma as to whether to tell it.