Mrinal's Blog

When is it ok to lie?

I don't know why I feel like writing about ethics today. Probably because I have been through a really painful lecture, in which the professor talked about ethics in a completely disconnected context (Which brings me to another question - why do people spend endless hours debating questions, that they know do not have any right answers? But, that is a discussion for another time and place (read - never). For someone who reads this blog, I am sorry but, I understand now why I like the way Rushdie writes, talking about everything and anything and completely digressing from the point. Confusing isnt it?)
Back to where we started - when is it ok to lie? The simplest answer to a really hard question -- "depends" (the magic word that management students love so much, maybe even more than "leverage" and "value add"). Like all questions pertaining to ethics, this too doesnt have an absolute answer. If it did, I think it would probably lay to rest a million other debates on ethics (a sort of cascading effect like the one "proving P equals NP" would have). And then there are the usual arguments - its ok, if it doesnt hurt anyone, its ok to lie if it does more good than harm? We've all heard them out a zillion times over in one context or another. There are also the absolutists, who will stick to a stance no matter what. Lying in a sin, they say. If you ask me, everyone is looking for an easy way out. Some wish to save their own ass and justify their own actions, others just find it too hard to mull over situations and want a definite rule to apply to all situations alike (one size fits all).
Well I am done now. This topic isn't as interesting as I thought it would be when I started writing this blog.

posted by Mrinal @ 9:05 AM