If something is a lie or not

[PaulV]

Hello.
If I say to someone, say a friend: ‘I went to X place’; the friend said: ‘Really?’, and I answered: ‘No, I’m joking’. Is that a lie, a white lie, or not?
I dont think so, because the final intention is not to deceive, but what do you say?

 

[stpurl]

I think it might be a better thing to get over playing juvenile jokes to ‘mess with a friend’ and oh, maybe be sure your chores are done, your homework is done, and you’re spending some nice quality time with God in prayer instead. But that’s just me.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Regardless of opinions after the fact, a better approach is to think before you speak.

 

[Jen7]

That’s a joke. The friend won’t take it seriously so it’s not lying. I think lying has intent to decieve / make someone believe the falsehood. No one believes jokes in that way, at east not for more than a moment before they laugh!

 

[kapp19]

It depends on whether you plausibly thought they would not even question your statement. If there’s the expectation of a lack of fulfilling the full communicative act, then the punchline/reversal would be what renders the set-up to be not a lie.

I recommend anyone interested in the topic of lying to read all of Dr. Feser’s blog posts on the topic - quite illuminating.