1、Unit 3 LyingText A The Truth About Lying1. Ive been wanting to write on a subject that intrigues and challenges me: the subject of lying. Ive found it very difficult to do. Everyone Ive talked to has a quite intense and personal but often rather intolerant point of view about what we can and can nev
2、er never tell lies about. Ive finally reached the conclusion that I cant present any ultimate conclusions, for too many people would promptly disagree. Instead, Id like to present a series of moral puzzles, all concerned with lying. Ill tell you what I think about them. Do you agree?Social Lies2. Mo
3、st of the people Ive talked with say that they find social lying acceptable and necessary. They think its the civilized way for folks to behave. Without these little white lies, they say, our relationships would be short and brutish and nasty. Its arrogant, they say, to insist on being so incorrupti
4、ble and so brave that you cause other people unnecessary embarrassment or pain by compulsively assailing them with your honesty. I basically agree. What about you?3. Will you say to people, when it simply isnt true, “I like your new hairdo,“ “Youre looking much better,“ “its so nice to see you,“ “I
5、had a wonderful time“?4. Will you praise hideous presents and homely kids?5. Will you decline invitations with “Were busy that night so sorry we cant come,“ when the truth is youd rather stay home than dine with the So-and-sos?6. And even though, as I do, you may prefer the polite evasion of “You re
6、ally cooked up a storm “instead of “The soup“ which tastes like warmed-over coffee “is wonderful,“ will you, if you must, proclaim it wonderful?7. Theres one man I know who absolutely refuses to tell social lies. “I cant play that game,“ he says; “Im simply not made that way.“ And his answer to the
7、argument that saying nice things to someone doesnt cost anything is, “Yes, it does it destroys your credibility.“ Now, he wont, unsolicited, offer his views on the painting you just bought, but you dont ask his frank opinion unless you want frank, and his silence at those moments when the rest of us
8、 liars are muttering, “Isnt it lovely?“ is, for the most part, eloquent enough. My friend does not indulge in what he calls “flattery, false praise and mellifluous comments.“ When others tell fibs he will not go along. He says that social lying is lying, that little white lies are still lies. And he
9、 feels that telling lies is morally wrong. What about you?Peace-Keeping Lies8. Many people tell peace-keeping lies: lies designed to avoid irritation or argument, lies designed to shelter the liar from possible blame or pain; lies (or so it is rationalized) designed to keep trouble at bay without hu
10、rting anyone.9. I tell these lies at times, and yet I always feel theyre wrong. I understand why we tell them, but still they feel wrong. And whenever I lie so that someone wont disapprove of me or think less of me or holler at me, I feel Im a bit of a coward, I feel Im dodging responsibility, I fee
11、l.guilty. What about you?10. Do you, when youre late for a date because you overslept, say that youre late because you got caught in a traffic jam?11. Do you, when you forget to call a friend, say that you called several times but the line was busy?12. Do you, when you didnt remember that it was you
12、r fathers birthday, say that his present must be delayed in the mail?13. And when youre planning a weekend in New York City and youre not in the mood to visit your mother, who lives there, do you conceal with a lie, if you must the fact that youll be in New York? Or do you have the courage or is it
13、the cruelty? to say, “Ill be in New York, but sorry I dont plan on seeing you“?14. (Dave and his wife Elaine have two quite different points of view on this very subject. He calls her a coward. She says shes being wise. He says she must assert her right to visit New York sometimes and not see her mo
14、ther. To which she always patiently replies: “Why should we have useless fights? My mothers too old to change. We get along much better when I lie to her.“)15. Finally, do you keep the peace by telling your husband lies on the subject of money? Do you reduce what you really paid for your shoes? And
15、in general do you find yourself ready, willing and able to lie to him when you make absurd mistakes or lose or break things?16. “I used to have a romantic idea that part of intimacy was confessing every dumb thing that you did to your husband. But after a couple of years of that,“ says Laura, “have
16、I changed my mind!“17. And having changed her mind, she finds herself telling peacekeeping lies. And yes, I tell them too. What about you?Protective Lies18. Protective lies are lies folks tell often quite serious lies because theyre convinced that the truth would be too damaging. They lie because th
17、ey feel there are certain human values that supersede the wrong of having lied. They lie, not for personal gain, but because they believe its for the good of the person theyre lying to. They lie to those they love, to those who trust them most of all, on the grounds that breaking this trust is justi
18、fied.19. They may lie to their children on money or marital matters.20. They may lie to the dying about the state of their health.21. They may lie to their closest friend because the truth about her talents or son or psyche would be or so they insist utterly devastating.22. I sometimes tell such lie
19、s, but Im aware that its quite presumptuous to claim I know whats best for others to know. Thats called playing God . Thats called manipulation and control. And we never can be sure, once we start to juggle lies, just where theyll land, exactly where theyll roll.23. And furthermore, we may find ours
20、elves lying in order to back up the lies that are backing up the lie we initially told.24. And furthermore lets be honest if conditions were reversed, we certainly wouldnt want anyone lying to us.25. Yet, having said all that, I still believe that there are times when protective lies must nonetheles
21、s be told. What about you?Trust-Keeping Lies26. Another group of lies are trust-keeping lies, lies that involve triangulation, with A (thats you) telling lies to B on behalf of C (whose trust youd promised to keep). Most people concede that once youve agreed not to betray a friends confidence, you c
22、ant betray it, even if you must lie. But Ive talked with people who dont want you telling them anything that they might be called on to lie about.27. “I dont tell lies for myself,“ says Fran, “and I dont want to have to tell them for other people.“ Which means, she agrees, that if her best friend is
23、 having an affair, she absolutely doesnt want to know about it.28. “Are you saying,“ her best friend asks, “that youd betray me?“29. Fran is very pained but very adamant. “I wouldnt want to betray you, sodont tell me anything about it.“30. Frans best friend is shocked. What about you?31. Do you beli
24、eve you can have close friends if youre not prepared to receive their deepest secrets?32. Do you believe you must always lie for your friends?33. Do you believe, if your friend tells a secret that turns out to be quite immoral or illegal, that once youve promised to keep it, you must keep it?34. And
25、 what if your friend were your boss if you were perhaps one of the Presidents men would you betray or lie for him over, say, Watergate?35. As you can see, these issues get terribly sticky.36. Its my belief that once weve promised to keep a trust, we must tell lies to keep it. I also believe that we
26、cant tell Watergate lies. And if these two statements strike you as quite contradictory, youre right theyre quite contradictory. But for now theyre the best I can do. What about you?37. There are those who have no talent for lying.38. “Over the years, I tried to lie,“ a friend of mine explained, “bu
27、t I always got found out and I always got punished. I guess I gave myself away because I feel guilty about any kind of lying. It looks as if Im stuck with telling the truth.“39. For those of us, however, who are good at telling lies, for those of us who lie and dont get caught, the question of wheth
28、er or not to lie can be a hard and serious moral problem. I liked the remark of a friend of mine who said, “Im willing to lie. But just as a last resort the truths always better.“40. “Because,“ he explained, “though others may completely accept the lie Im telling, I dont.“41. I tend to feel that way
29、 too.42. What about you?关于说谎的真相朱迪斯维奥斯特我一直想写一个令我深感兴趣的话题：关于说谎的问题。我觉得这个题目很难写。所有我交谈过的人都对什么事情可以说谎 什么事情绝对不可以说谎 持有强烈的、常常不容别人分说的个人意见。最后我得出结论，我不能下任何定论，因为这样做就会有太多的人立即反对。我想我还是提出若干都与说谎有关的道义上的难题吧。我将向读者阐明我对这些难题的个人看法。你们觉得对吗？社交性谎言和我交谈过的大多数人都说，他们认为旨在促进社会交际的谎言是可以接受的，也是必要的。他们认为这是一种文明的行为。他们说，要不是这类无关紧要的谎言，人与人之间的关系就会变得粗野
30、不快，无法持久。他们说，如果你要做到十二分正直、十二分无畏，不由自主地用你的诚实使他人陷入不必要的窘境或痛苦之中，这只能说你是傲慢自大。对此，我基本赞同。你呢？你会不会跟人说：“我喜欢你的新发型， ”“你气色好多了， ”“见到你真高兴， ”“我玩得很尽兴， ”而实际上根本不是这么回事儿？你会不会对令人憎厌的礼物，或相貌平平的孩子称赞有加？你婉辞邀请时会不会说“那天晚上我们正好没空 真对不起，我们不能来， ”而实际上你是宁肯呆在家里也不想跟某某夫妇一起进餐？虽然像我那样，你也想用 “太丰盛了”这种委婉的托辞，而不是盛赞“那汤味道好极了”(其实味同重新热过的咖啡) ，但如果你必须赞美那汤，你会说它
31、鲜美吗?我认识一个人，他完全拒绝说这类社交性谎言。 “我不会那一套， ”他说， “我生来就不会那一套。 ”讲到对人家说几句好听的话并不失去什么，他的回答是：“不对，当然有损失 那会损害你的诚信度。 ”因此你不问他，他不会对你刚买来的画发表意见，但除非你想听老实话，否则你也不会去问他的真实想法。当我们这些说谎者轻声称赞着“多美啊”的时候，他的沉默往往是极能说明问题的。我的这位朋友从来不讲他所说的“奉承话、虚假的赞美话和动听话”。别人说些无伤大雅的谎言，他则不。他说社交性谎言还是谎言，无关紧要的小小谎言还是谎言。他认为说谎不合道德。你呢？息事宁人的谎言不少人为了息事宁人而说谎：那种意在避免生气或争
32、吵的谎言，意在使说谎者免受可能的责备或烦恼的谎言；意在(或据认为理应)不伤害他人而又能帮助避免麻烦的谎言。我有时也说这种谎，不过我总觉得不该说。我知道为什么要说这种谎，但说这种谎终究不对。每当我为了不让别人讨厌自己、看轻自己、或冲着自己嚷嚷而说谎时，我总觉得自己有点像个懦夫，觉得自己是在逃避责任，觉得愧疚。你呢？你由于睡过头赴约会迟到了，会不会说是因为碰上堵车才晚到的？你忘了给朋友打电话，会不会谎称打过好几次，可电话老占线？你忘了父亲的生日，会不会说寄给他的礼物准是给耽搁了？你打算去纽约市度周末，但又不想去看望住在那里的母亲，你会 必要的话用谎言隐瞒你将到纽约的事实，还是会勇敢地或者说狠心地
33、说：“我要来纽约，可是抱歉，我不打算来看望你”？(戴夫和妻子伊莱恩正是在这个问题上有两种颇不相同的观点。他称她为懦夫。她说自己处理这事是明智的。他说她应该维护自己有的时候去纽约但不去看望母亲的权利。对此她总是耐心地回答说：“我们何必无谓地争吵呢？我母亲年纪大了，不会改了。我对她说个谎，我们相处得就更好。 ”)最后一点，你会不会在钱的问题上对丈夫说谎，以求太平？你会不会少报买鞋子的钱？你出了什么荒唐的错误或丢失了物品打碎了器皿时是不是常常想对他撒谎，而且会对他撒谎？“过去我往往不切实际地以为亲密关系的一个组成部分就是把自己做的每件蠢事都如实告诉丈夫。可这么过了几年之后， ”劳拉说， “我就改了主
34、意!”改主意后，她在不知不觉中说谎话求太平了。没错，我也说这种谎。你呢？保护性谎言保护性谎言就是因为人们认为事实真相危害性太大而说的谎言，这类谎言通常事关重大。他们说谎，因为他们认为，人的某些价值观念压倒了说谎这一错误行为本身。他们说谎不是为个人私利，而是因为他们相信，那是为他们对之说谎的人好。他们对自己所爱的人撒谎，对最信任自己的人撒谎，就是因为他们认为这样做是有正当理由的。他们会在金钱或婚姻问题上对子女说谎。他们会对垂死者隐瞒真实病情。他们会对密友说谎，因为关于其才能、其爱子或其精神状态的实话会 不妨说他们坚持这么认为使其身心受到极大伤害。有时我也说这种谎，可我明白，声称自己懂得什么事他人
35、应该知道，这未免太自以为是了。这无异于充当上帝。这无异于操纵和控制他人。而我们一旦开始玩起谎言戏法，就再也无法知道谎言何时会收场，究竟会滑向何方。而且，我们会不知不觉地为了圆先前说的谎言而说谎。而且 我们不妨直说如果情形倒过来，我们当然不愿意别人对自己说谎。不过，话虽如此，我还是觉得有时保护性谎言还非说不可。你呢？信守承诺的谎言另一类谎言是信守承诺的谎言，涉及三方的谎言，即 A（你）为了 C（你答应为其信守承诺者）而对 B 说谎。大多数人承认，一旦你答应不背叛朋友的信任，你就不能背叛，哪怕你必须说谎。但我与之交谈过的人中也有人不想听那些他们也许得为之说谎的事。“我不为自己说谎， ”弗兰说， “
36、我也不愿为别人说谎。 ”她承认，这就意味着如果她最好的朋友有风流韵事的话，她绝对不想知道。“你是说， ”她最好的朋友问， “你会出卖我？”弗兰心里很为难，但态度十分坚决。 “我不想出卖你，所以 别跟我说这事。 ”弗兰最好的朋友深感震惊。你呢？你是不是认为，如果你不愿意了解朋友最深的隐密，你仍会有好朋友？你是不是认为你必须一直为朋友说谎？你是不是认为，如果朋友透露的一个秘密是违反道德或法律的，而一旦你答应保密，你就得真的保密？如果你的朋友正好是你的上司 如果你恰好就是总统班底的人 比如说在水门事件这个问题上，你是背叛他还是为他说谎？可以想见这些问题非常棘手。我以为，一旦我们答应信守承诺，我们就是
37、说谎也得信守承诺。同时我也认为，在水门事件这类事情上我们不能说谎。如果你觉得这两点自相矛盾，那你就对了 这两者的确自相矛盾。但目前我只能如此。你呢？有些人不擅说谎。“许多年来，我一直试图说谎， ”一位朋友解释说， “可我总是露馅，总是为此受罚。我想人家看出我说谎是因为我一说谎就觉得内疚。看来我只能说真话了。 ”可是，对我们这种擅于说谎的人来说，对我们这种说谎又不露馅的人来说，说谎还是不说谎会成为一个严肃的道德难题。我颇为赞同一位朋友的话，他说， “我愿意说谎。但只把这作为最后一手 真话总比谎话好。 ”“因为， ”他解释说， “哪怕别人对我的谎话完全信以为真，我自己可无法相信。 ”本人也有同感。
38、你呢？Text B White LiesSissela Bok1 White lies are at the other end of the spectrum of deception from lies in a serious crisis. They are the most common and the most trivial forms that duplicity can take. The fact that they are so common provides their protective coloring. And their very triviality, wh
39、en compared to more threatening lies, makes it seem unnecessary or even absurd to condemn them. Some consider all well-intentioned lies, however momentous, to be white; in this book, I shall adhere to the narrower usage: a white lie, in this sense, is a falsehood not meant to injure anyone, and of l
40、ittle moral import. I want to ask whether there are such lies; and if there are, whether their cumulative consequences are still without harm; and, finally, whether many lies are not defended as “white” which are in fact harmful in their own right.2 Many small subterfuges may not even be intended to
41、 mislead. They are only “white lies” in the most marginal sense. Take, for example, the many social exchanges: “How nice to see you!” or “Cordially yours.” These and a thousand other polite expressions are so much taken for granted that if someone decided, in the name of total honesty, not to employ
42、 them, he might well give the impression of an indifference he did not possess. The justification for continuing to use such accepted formulations is that they deceive no one, except possibly those unfamiliar with the language.3 A social practice more clearly deceptive is that of giving a false excu
43、se so as not to hurt the feelings of someone making an invitation or request: to say one “cant” do what in reality one may not want to do. Once again, the false excuse may prevent unwarranted inferences of greater hostility to the undertaking than one may well feel. Merely to say that one cant do so
44、mething, moreover, is not deceptive in the sense that an elaborately concocted story can be.4 Still other white lies are told in an effort to flatter, to throw a cheerful interpretation on depressing circumstances, or to show gratitude for unwanted gifts. In the eyes of many, such white lies do no h
45、arm, provide needed support and cheer, and help dispel gloom and boredom. They preserve the equilibrium and often the humaneness of social relationships, and are usually accepted as excusable so long as they do not become excessive. Many argue, moreover, that such deception is so helpful and at time
46、s so necessary that it must be tolerated as an exception to a general policy against lying. Thus Bacon observed: Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of mens minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, and the like, but it would leave the minds of
47、a number of men poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves?5 Another kind of lie may actually be advocated as bringing a more substantial benefit, or avoiding a real harm, while seeming quite innocuous to those who tell the lies. Such are the placebos gi
48、ven for innumerable common ailments, and the pervasive use of inflated grades and recommendations for employment and promotion.6 A large number of lies without such redeeming features are nevertheless often regarded as so trivial that they should be grouped with white lies. They are the lies told on
49、 the spur of the moment, for want of reflection, or to get out of a scrape, or even simply to pass the time. Such are the lies told to boast or exaggerate, or on the contrary to deprecate and understate; the many lies told or repeated in gossip; Rousseaus lies. In Reveries of the Solitary Stroller, Jean Jacques Rousseau says: “Never have I lied in my own interest; but often I have lied through shame in order to draw myself f
