Is Lying Ever Justifiable?

[Rhondazvous]

I was in Washington, D.C. headed toward Georgetown with my cousin Miraculous (that’s his name on his birth certificate). He was on his cell with his mother. She wanted to lift his bedridden father out of the wheelchair back into his bed, but Miraculous told her not to because we were right around the corner and he was coming to do it. After hanging up he leaned over and told me that we were actually 45 minutes away, but if he’d told his mother that, she would have tried to lift his father herself and possibly hurt herself.

I thought about it then I asked him what I should do when a man is lying and I know he’s lying but it’s for a good cause.
Miraculous: Let him lie. If it’s for a good cause. But if it’s not for a good cause, tell him he should start telling the truth because he’s a terrible liar. It’s not working for him.

I thought about it some more and suggested that if more women listened to their male cousins there might be less divorce. He agreed.

So we went back to his house and he put his father back in bed. Then we headed back towards Georgetown. Presently, he leaned over and told me we were almost there.
Me: Yeah, right, sure, uh hum. Tell me anything.

[abaris]

Of course this kind of lying is justified. And many other kinds of lies too. If you always told the truth, you'd be considered jackass of the century by everyone.

[brewer]

Yes. Er.........No. Er..........Sometimes? Er............Maybe? Er............I don't recall.

First answer is usually the correct one.

Edit add: When the end is justified by the mean.

[Minimalist]

"Dear, does this dress make my ass look fat?"

"Of course not."

That's self-preservation and any man knows that.

[Whateverist]

"Dear, does this dress make my ass look fat?"

"Not big enough."

That's self-preservation and any man knows that.

Fixed that for you.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Sometimes the only choices are between bad and worse. Lying can still be wrong and remain preferable to a worse option.

[Thumpalumpacus]

"Dear, does this dress make my ass look fat?"

"Of course not."

That's self-preservation and any man knows that.

When compared to, "No, your ass does," fo sho'.

[FatAndFaithless]

Lying can also be the only moral thing to do in a given situation.

A man comes to you with a gun and says he is going to kill his brother. You know his brother is currently hiding in your house. The man asks you where his brother is. What's your response?

It's a similar question to one posed by a Catholic professor of mine at a philosophy course at a Catholic school I spent a semester at. The vast majority of the class said that it was obviously moral to lie in that situation. However, two or three of the class, coincidentally they were all the seminarians, said that lying is always wrong, so the person that lies to save a life has committed a sin.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Lying is a vital social lubricant (not to mention occasionally a life saver, as FAF says). For instance, if you meet a new mum and she asks you, 'Isn't my baby beautiful?' you say 'Yes'. Even if you think the infant looks like a poorly shaved ape, you say 'yes'. Why? Because there are instances where telling the truth is needlessly hurtful. And hurting people when you don't need to is far more immoral than telling a lie to spare someone's feelings.

Boru

[Minimalist]

"Dear, does this dress make my ass look fat?"

"Of course not."

That's self-preservation and any man knows that.

When compared to, "No, your ass does," fo sho'.

That's asking for suicide by wife.