Lies

Lying can be either seen as a bad thing to do, a good thing to do or both good or bad depending on the circumstances. If we went by Kants example we would 'Act so that the maxim of thy will can always at the same time hold good as a principle of universal legislation.' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/lying/lying_3.shtml). In other words if we all told lies would it be a good thing or bad, well if everybody lied this would not be a good thing for socitey therefore Kant would say we should not lie at all. Utilitarism would also disagree with lying because it doesn bring about the maxiumum happiness for the maxiumum number. Therefore in these cases lying would be seen as a bad thing. However there are those who think some lies can be acceptable e.g. white lies, were one lies so as not to upset someone i.e. when a frineds top is ugly and one lies and says its lovely so as not to hurt there feelings. St.Augstine also believes that some lies are acceptable and also some occasions when lying can be seen as right.
People lie for different reasons, some lie so they dont hurt someones feelings or maybe even to protect someone, some lie to cover there backs so to speak and some people lie to be horrible and malicious. So it can be seen in some circumstanses that lying is alright but some believe lying is always wrong.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A664021
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/lying/lying_3.shtml