Plato's 'noble lie' was argued to be needed for social stability.?

Question

Are the masses presently being 'lied' to for 'noble' reasons?

In this day and age, with our general levels of education, should we be lied to for the 'greater good'?

Answer 1

This is one of Plato's ideas that kinda creeps me out. "Noble" though he may call it, there is a lot of room for exploiting people there. Also, "noble lie" seems rather oxymoronic. Although even in this age, a lot of persons would prefer not to deal with uncomfortable truths & situations, I seriously don't believe that we should be lied to, in fact we should be enlightened & educated as fully as possible so we are better able to make our own decisions.

Answer 2

Yes people are always telling lies even people in power. The people who are telling lies to the masses probably think they are for noble reasons. The problem with telling the truth to the masses is everyone views the truth in there own way. So if the Govs did start disclosing everything some people would take the news as a very good thing while others would take the news to be overall very bad. Thus you would have groups of people who now knew the truth as far as the Govs were concerned but the problem would remain the same the people would still be on one side or the other so I dont see any really great benefit coming from this right away infact it would probably do more harm first off. While I dont think being lied to for the greater good is the way it should be its just so hard to turn you life of lies around into a life of truths. So it will take alot of time before the current people in power learn the leasons to not lie and act on thouse lessons. If you are active in your Gov and knowingly search out information about it and try to expose secrets when you see them I think you are doing the world a great favor. Because the fastest Gov to fall is a secret Gov run by a select few in power. So the wise way would be to disclose all the information you can about anything you know. Problem is before that can happen someone normaly has to ask the right question for you to even consider saying the right answer. I believe it is the masses that are lied to but mostly they are lied to by themselfs because nobody taught them other wise. My hope is that wisdom about truth does infact grow while ignorance about lies is squashed.

Answer 3

Truth is where you find it. Within many myths there is an element of Truth at it's basis. Unfortunately many of the so-called truths that we have recieved through religion and science have become used throughout history to control the masses by the imposition of fear and ignorance. This has not always been the case, of course. Hence the value of Discrimination. If you have this attribute you will be able to 'sort the wheat from the chaff' of obvious, and not so obvious, fabrications designed to enslave mankind under a feudal-like hierarchy. Those that don't have this attribute will need to further enlighten themselves about the real issues facing mankind, rather than the propaganda we are shown on TV. Social Cohesion is better encouraged through a system of voluntary participation based on real Education......rather than by force and coercion from those who's motives are, for the most part, selfish. The 'noble lie' does exist. We have seen this in Climate Change, GM Foods and Alternative Energy Technology. The elite, in this case is the few in positions of power who desire, not the betterment of society i.e. 'Social Harmony', but greater control and power. The current system is designed to give mankind certain 'freedoms' and take two away through the 'backdoor'! Because of the 'noble lie' the population is made more aware of the so-called benefit, and kept in the dark about it's negative consequences. Look at Atomic Experimentation, Joining the EU and Slave Labour going on around the world if theres any doubt.

Answer 4

In "The Republic," Plato described a city whose inhabitant were
organized into categories: The Rulers, Auxiliaries, Farmers, etc. The
Rulers, he said, would be chosen from the military elite (called
Guardians) because they were good at shepherding and caring for the
interest of the community. The Auxiliaries would be Guardians in
training.

The Rulers, Plato said, must tell the people of the city “The Noble
Lie“--that the categories of Rules, Auxiliaries, Farmers, etc. was not
due to circumstances within the people's control, upbringing, or
education, but because of God's intervention. God, the Lie went, had
put gold, silver, and iron into each person’s soul, and those metals
determined where a person's station was in life was.

The Rulers told the people of the city that if their own children were
found with bronze or iron in their soul, the child would drop down the
ranks accordingly. And if a farmer’s child was born with gold in his
soul, he would rise up to the Guardian level. The Rulers also said,
people had different metals in their bloodstream, and therefore could
not intermarry.

The Lie is necessary, Plato argues, in order to keep a stable social
structure. In Plato’s mind, The Noble Lie is a religious lie that’s
fed to the masses to keep them under control and happy with their
situation in life.

Plato did not believe most people were smart enough to look after
their own and society’s best interest. The few smart people of the
world needed to lead the rest of the flock, Plato said. And The Noble
Lie had to continue.

Well thank you for the question I just learned something.
And no to your question.

Answer 5

I'm not going to say that we are being lied to or if we are that it is for noble reasons. But in general, the masses will usually be ignorant as to exactly what they need. I hate to say that, because that idea is often used as a justification for abuses, but it's fundamentally true. It doesn't matter how generally educated we are, there will always be a select few who see far beyond what the majority see.