Is not telling the entire truth IMMORAL?

Based on :   Prof. R.W.'s Lecture Friday, 25 May 2012, 09:52 AM

" Telling lies once may lead to telling lies one more time...or may even become a habit. One may try to preserve a relationship with others, but then find himself or herself lying over and over again. Lying for the second time may be necessary so that a person can support his or her previous lies. This may go on and on...For example, I may say, 'I have a new blue car.' Those who are listening may ask, ' Who bought it for you since you're not working?' To support my statement I may need to lie again by giving a fictional charecter. 'My dad bought it for me and it was not too expensive.' They may ask one or more questions. This conversation is totally exciting; it may go on and on. Like I said, in most cases we lie because we want to be trusted by those around us. Below is an advice on how one can gradually stop telling lies when it is not necessary."  I am not sure, if I have any good advice about how to stop lying.  Perhaps there is some middle ground between lying and "telling the truth"?  Telling part of the truth, or saying it a certain way, or simply not saying anything at all--these are not forms of lying.  None of us is morally required to "tell the whole truth" about anything, which is a good thing, because it is rare that one person knows the whole truth about something, especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships.  There may be some times when a person is morally required to lie.  But if you have the tendency to lie often, then you need to begin to take baby steps in telling the truth.  Again, I don't mean to say you should blurt out the whole truth (as you know it), but rather, make sure that whatever you do say, whether a lot or a little, is truthful.  And again, it is important to tell truth in a caring way, not hurtfully.  That takes skill and practice.  When a friend asks how a certain shirt or hairstyle looks on her, tact is required.  There is no formal rule for these situations, it is a matter of what Aristotle calls phronesis = practical wisdom.  Acquiring practical wisdom is a matter of reflecting on, and thus learning from, our experiences. It requires humility willingness to admit flaws and mistakes, open-mindedness to alternate perspectives and possibilities, and determination to learn and do better next time.  Published by: Nikiwe P. Ngcongo

WHO ARE WE? Karl Marx-- best known for his Communist Manifesto, argued that human beings are definable only in relation to other realities. That statement alone may bring about some more perennial questions. For example, "What does he mean by saying 'other realities?'" Well, there might be no answer to that but a response that leads human beings to a deeper reflection. Probably at the clonclusion of such reflection human beings may realize that there is a Cause and humans can only find answers from the Cause. However, Marx believes that there is no individual human being. That means that a society forms an individual. When ever one person tries to think about his or her identity he of she ends up perplexed because the only way to find answers about who a person is, a person has to know who or what the society is all about.
For example, if it is only in a society where human beings learn to know who they are then why do human beings constantly complain that they are not enjoying or sharing in all of the fruits of social collaboration? Why there are aliens and immigrants among us? As a politician and sociologist, Karl Marx focuses on the division of labour and laissez-faire. The philosophers also reflect on how human beings are free, what is the measure of truth, what does happiness consist of, and what is justice. To answer these questions humans need the power of revelation. Human beings cannot rely on reason alone. In order to define "truth" human beings need to base their definition on the "Truth" itself. For Plato, "existence" is a distant second to "essence" as a way of being [Republic].

Copyright@Richard P. McBrien:



Compliled & Published by:
Nikiwe P. Ngcongo