Lying

Sam Harris,  “Lying”, Random House Digital, 2012, (Kindle Single: which means it is easily read in one sitting.  This specific essay is estimated to be as long as 26 pages in a hard copy book).

This short electronic essay is part of a new genre which is becoming more and more prevalent and available at very reasonable prices, such as $2.  As traditional news platforms continue to disappear or become entertainment venues, this genre will rise to replace them.  It’s important to compile a list of reputable authors for sources to visit, and Harris is one. 

The theme of Lying is simple: Lying is bad. Harris makes the argument that in almost every situation lying is immoral. He reluctantly acknowledges that in war there may be some exceptions to this hard rule.  I actually read this essay some months ago and, frankly, but truthfully, forgot most of it in the interim (C’est la vive). 

In Lying, Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie. He focuses on “white” lies—those lies we tell for the purpose of sparing people discomfort.  And they tend to be the only lies that good people tell while imagining that they are being good in the process.
This book will not impact my answer to the Princess when she ever again asks: “Honey, what’s the best trip we ever made?”  The answer which I have previously given will remain forevermore: “Why…That would be the trip down the church aisle at our wedding!!”  I am the product of evolution.
From Wikipedia:

Sam Harris (born 1967) is an American author, philosopher, public intellectual, and neuroscientist, as well as the co-founder and CEO of Project Reason. He is the author of The End of Faith, which was published in 2004 and appeared on The New York Times best seller list for 33 weeks. The book also won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction in 2005. In 2006 Harris published his book Letter to a Christian Nation, a response to criticism of The End of Faith. This work was followed by The Moral Landscape published in 2010, his long-form essay Lying in 2011 and the short book Free Will in 2012.