Pants on Fire!
Unless you’re one of those stiflingly boring lawful good types, your character has probably been economical with the truth at some point. After all, how else are you going to be able to get the stuff you want unless you tell a fib now and again? As far as negotiations go, you’re going to get further ahead if you’re an accomplished liar.The Ethics of Deceitful Behaviour
If you’re a staunch supporter of Kantian ethics, then no doubt you’re firmly set against lying. It’s just not something that, if applied as a universal law of nature, would work. If everyone lied, then no-one could trust anyone and society would collapse. I generalise wildly, but that said, this article is not for you. No trainers, no jeans, no lawful goods. Okay?Let’s see how many of you are still here. Ah. Okay. You do know that this is a fee-paying seminar, yes? No? Could have sworn I told you. Ah, well. It’s in the brochure – yes, I know it says ‘Completely free, no fees payable’ – that’s a misprint. It should say ‘Completely free? No! Fees payable!’ Glad we could clear that up.[1]
Now, let’s go through some of the motives behind lying to others, paint a picture of what it means to be truly dishonest.
Alignment
Broadly speaking, the majority of liars, by which I mean people who tell lies continually, for their own selfish ends with little regard for how it affects others tend to fall into one of four alignments: true neutral, chaotic neutral, neutral evil and chaotic evil. To describe the world in untruthful terms is not a lawful act, in much the same league as breaking a contract. Few lawful creatures tell lies frequently and stay lawful. Even the devils, the paragon of lawful evil behaviour, are fairly scrupulous. They only lie if they are sure of success, and prefer instead to mislead by using information that is substantially true, leaving out key facts. They prefer to trap someone with small print rather than lie outright. For the most part, lying is rarely a good act. Saying that the ends justify the means can help, but only if you are sure that lying will serve the greater good. Be careful, though; one lie leads to another, and few good-aligned characters remain good once they take up deceit full-time.[1] I didn’t steal this from The Simpsons. Nope. Honestly.