There are many kinds of lies. Lying in court after taking an oath is called "perjury" and is usually treated as a crime or offence. At the other extremity, there are "white lies", which give good fellings to another person (eg. telling your friend that you like their new jacket, when in fact you hate it).
In some culture, lying is part of everyday life for most people (like in Japan) and people are used to it and don't expect to be told the truth (esp. about opinions and feelings) all the time. In other cultures (eg. France), even a white lie is objectionable, as the truth is more important than "flattering" or avoiding shocking people.
Logically, I can understand both sides. White lies can be good because they avoid creating unnecessary trouble and make people happy. But on the other hand, when people find out about a lie (even a white one), they may be even more hurt than if they were told the truth at first in a tactful way.
Some lies create serious trouble and can even lead to some people's death or serious injuries, damages or lead to paranoia or depression. Imagine someone who is in love and the loved person tell him/her that they also love her/him, but after some time, when the first person is already deeply commited emotionally, they find out that their loved one really doesn't care at all about them and he/she commit suicide. Or what a person selling his/her car and telling the buyer that everything is fine, when in fact he knows that the breaks are dysfunctional, and the buyer dies in an accident because of that ? What about someone lying to their partner about their faithfullness and transmitting them a fatal STD by abusing their trust ? These lies are simple and preety common examples of lies that can have tragic consequences.
That is why in my opinion, lying can be considered as a crime, even a white lie (like my first and last example in the above paragraph).
What differentiate a crime from an offence, is that a crime harms people or create physical or psychological damages. An offence (like speeding, drunk driving, etc.) means not respecting a law or rule, without causing any harm or damage to anybody else (if a person drives under the influence of alcohol and commits an accident, it becomes a crime).
The problem with lies (esp. white lies), is that the harm is not direct and does not always happen afterwards (eg. if the person doesn't find out and nothing bad happens). But as it depends somewhat on the motivation of chance of the person who is lied to, to find out the truth, lying is always a potential crime (people can always find out if they try or just by chance). That is why I would consider any lie as a crime, even if the harm has not yet been done, because it can still happen in the future. Of course, lying about how much you like your friends' new clothes is a benign crime. Lying is very much like stealing in that it can be graded, from benign to extremely serious. Stealing a blank sheet of paper from your company is not even punishable, but stealing a Leonardo da Vinci in a Museum is quite another matter. Lying is the same. A small lie with little consequence is a pardonable crime, but it's still a crime, like stealing.
Do you agree ?
In some culture, lying is part of everyday life for most people (like in Japan) and people are used to it and don't expect to be told the truth (esp. about opinions and feelings) all the time. In other cultures (eg. France), even a white lie is objectionable, as the truth is more important than "flattering" or avoiding shocking people.
Logically, I can understand both sides. White lies can be good because they avoid creating unnecessary trouble and make people happy. But on the other hand, when people find out about a lie (even a white one), they may be even more hurt than if they were told the truth at first in a tactful way.
Some lies create serious trouble and can even lead to some people's death or serious injuries, damages or lead to paranoia or depression. Imagine someone who is in love and the loved person tell him/her that they also love her/him, but after some time, when the first person is already deeply commited emotionally, they find out that their loved one really doesn't care at all about them and he/she commit suicide. Or what a person selling his/her car and telling the buyer that everything is fine, when in fact he knows that the breaks are dysfunctional, and the buyer dies in an accident because of that ? What about someone lying to their partner about their faithfullness and transmitting them a fatal STD by abusing their trust ? These lies are simple and preety common examples of lies that can have tragic consequences.
That is why in my opinion, lying can be considered as a crime, even a white lie (like my first and last example in the above paragraph).
What differentiate a crime from an offence, is that a crime harms people or create physical or psychological damages. An offence (like speeding, drunk driving, etc.) means not respecting a law or rule, without causing any harm or damage to anybody else (if a person drives under the influence of alcohol and commits an accident, it becomes a crime).
The problem with lies (esp. white lies), is that the harm is not direct and does not always happen afterwards (eg. if the person doesn't find out and nothing bad happens). But as it depends somewhat on the motivation of chance of the person who is lied to, to find out the truth, lying is always a potential crime (people can always find out if they try or just by chance). That is why I would consider any lie as a crime, even if the harm has not yet been done, because it can still happen in the future. Of course, lying about how much you like your friends' new clothes is a benign crime. Lying is very much like stealing in that it can be graded, from benign to extremely serious. Stealing a blank sheet of paper from your company is not even punishable, but stealing a Leonardo da Vinci in a Museum is quite another matter. Lying is the same. A small lie with little consequence is a pardonable crime, but it's still a crime, like stealing.
Do you agree ?