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A 'lie' is type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement with the intention to deceive, often with the further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, or to avoid punishment. ''To lie'' is to state something one knows is false with the intention that it be taken for the truth by someone else. A liar is a person who is lying, who has lied, or who lies repeatedly.
Lying is typically used to refer to deceptions in oral or written communication. Other forms of deception, such as disguises or forgeries, are generally not considered lies, though the underlying intent may be the same; however, even a true statement can be considered a lie if the person making that statement is doing so to deceive. In this situation, it is the intent of being untruthful rather than the truthfulness of the statement itself that is considered.
Types of lies
The various types of lies include the following:
;Lying by omission
:Lying by omission is when an important fact is omitted, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. This includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.
;lie-to-children
:A lie-to-children is an expression, or more specifically a euphemism, that describes a lie told to make an adult subject, such as sex, acceptable to children. The most common example is "The stork brought you."
;White lie
:A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered and offers some benefit to the liar or the hearer, or both. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and can not be clearly separated from regular lies with any authority. As such the term may have differing meanings in different cultures. Lies which are harmless but told for no reason are generally not called white lies.
:In western countries, a white lie is typically taken to mean an untruth with an alleged justification such as to avoid upsetting a person, to encourage a person or just for harmless convenience. An example of a white lie is a nurse who reassures a disfigured patient that he looks healthy, or an aged husband who assures his wife that she looks just as good as when he married her. This kind of white lie is, in many instances, known to be an untruth by all involved parties, but overlooked out of diplomatic tact or politeness. For example, when two people collide in a crowded hallway and one falls down, he might tell the other that he's not hurt, even if he's hurt a little bit.
;Emergency lie
:Emergency lie is a different kind of white lie, which is employed when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would come of it. An example of such an emergency lie would be a neighbour lying to an enraged husband about the whereabouts of his unfaithful wife, because said husband might reasonably be expected to inflict physical violence should he encounter his wife in person. Although the moral integrity of the wife may certainly be put into question, the threat of violence is considered to be the more pressing issue, which could justify the lie in this case depending on the moral axioms employed.
;Perjury
:Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful.
;Bluffing
:Bluffing is an act of deception that is not usually seen as immoral because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards than he really does, or an athlete who indicates he will move left and then actually dodges right, are not considered to be lying. In these situations, deception is accepted as a tactic and even expected.
;Misleading
:Misleading is when a person tells a statement that isn't an outright lie, but still has the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth.
;Dissembling
: is a polite term for lying, it can be considered as just misleading but is also used as a euphemism for lying.
;Careful speaking
:Careful speaking is distinct from the above in that the speaker wishes to avoid imparting certain information, or admitting certain facts, and additionally, does not want to 'lie' when doing so. Careful speaking involves using carefully-phrased statements to give a 'half-answer': one that does not actually 'answer' the question, but still provides an appropriate (and accurate) answer based on that question. As with 'misleading', above, 'careful speaking' is not outright lying.
;Exaggeration
:Exaggeration is when the most fundamental aspect(s) of a statement is true, but the degree to which it is true is not correct.
;Jocose lies
:Jocose lies are lies which are meant in jest and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Sarcasm can be one example of this. A more elaborate example can be seen in storytelling traditions which are present in some places, where the humour comes from the storyteller's insistence that he or she is telling the absolute truth despite all evidence to the contrary (ie. tall tale). There has been debate in the past about whether these are "real lies", with different philosophers holding different views (see below).
Augustine of Hippo divided lies into eight kinds, listed in order of severity:
#Lies in religious teaching.
#Lies that harm others and help no one.
#Lies that harm others and help someone.
#Lies told for the pleasure of lying.
#Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse."
#Lies that harm no one and that help someone.
#Lies that harm no one and that save someone's life.
#Lies that harm no one and that save someone's "purity."
Augustine believed that "jocose lies" are not, in fact, lies.
Thomas Aquinas divided lies into three kinds: the useful, the humorous and the malicious. All are sinful according to Aquinas. Humorous and useful lies, however, are venial sins. Malicious lies are mortal sins.
Mark Twain popularized a summary hierarchy of lies attributed to Benjamin Disraeli: ''"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."''
Although lies are normally condemned, it is also normally believed that some lies are worse than others. In particular, lies that are believed to be harmless are often called "white lies" or "fibs." Mark Twain noted the universal complicity with and desirability of polite lies: ''"None of us could live with a habitual truth teller; but, thank Goodness, none of us has to."''
Psychology of lying
The capacity to lie is noted early and nearly universally in human development. Evolutionary psychology is concerned with the theory of mind, which people employ to simulate another's reaction to their story and determine if a lie will be believable. The most commonly cited milestone, what is known as Machiavellian intelligence, is at the age of about four and a half years, when children begin to be able to lie convincingly. Before this, they seem simply unable to comprehend that anyone doesn't see the same view of events that they do -- and seem to assume that there is only one point of view: their own -- that must be integrated into any given story.
Young children learn from experience that stating an untruth can avoid punishment for misdeeds, before they develop the theory of mind necessary to understand why it works. In this stage of development, children will sometimes tell fantastic and unbelievable lies because they lack the conceptual framework to judge whether a statement is believable or even to understand the concept of believability.
When children first learn how lying works, they lack the moral understanding of when to refrain from doing it. It takes years of watching people lie and the results of lies to develop a proper understanding. Propensity to lie varies greatly between children, some doing so habitually and others being habitually honest. Habits in this regard are likely to change into early adulthood.
Some view children as on the whole more prone to lie than adults. Others argue that the amount of lying stays the same, but adults lie about different things. Certainly adult lying tends to be more sophisticated. Much of this judgment depends on whether one counts tactful untruths, social insincerity, political rhetoric, and other standard adult behaviors as lying.
Pseudologia fantastica is a term applied by psychiatrists to the behaviour of habitual or compulsive lying.
Morality of lying
The philosophers Saint Augustine, as well as Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant, condemned all lying. According to all three, there are no circumstances in which one may lie. One must be murdered, suffer torture, or endure any other hardship, rather than lie, even if the ''only'' way to protect oneself is to lie. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments against lying, all compatible with each other. Among the more important arguments are:
# Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to communicate the thoughts of the speaker.
# When one lies, one undermines trust in society.
Some philosophers (notably utilitarians) have argued that lying is not prohibited in certain circumstances, such as when telling a lie might prevent a clearly greater harm e.g. save an innocent life.
Some philosophers have also argued that paternalistic lying (lying for the supposed good of those lied to) is justified, even if it violates their autonomy. An example is lying to someone terminally ill by being unduly optimistic about his prognosis, on the grounds that the shock might effectively shorten his life further.
Lying in the Bible
The Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible both contain statements that God cannot lie (Num 23:19, Ps 89:35, Hab. 2:3, Heb 6:13-18).
The Old Testament adds that God hates a lying tongue (Prov 6:16-19, Ps. 5:6) and forbids men to lie (Lev 19:11, Pr. 14:5, Pr. 30:6, Zep 3:13 ) or to take refuge in lies (Isa 28:15, Da 11:27). Most famously, lying is forbidden in the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not bear false witness" (Exodus ,Deuteronomy ) a specific reference to perjury, but taken to have wider application.
Old Testament accounts of lying include:
★ The Hebrew midwives lied to the king of Egypt rather than carry out his order to kill all male Hebrew babies; the midwives did this because they “feared God” (Exodus 1:15–20).
★ Rahab lied to the king of Jericho about hiding the Hebrew spies (Joshua 2:4–5) and was not killed with those who were disobedient because of her faith (Hebrews 11:31).
★ Delilah repeatedly accused Samson of lying to her (Jg. 16:10, 13) as she interrogated him about the source of his strength.
★ Abraham instructs his wife, Sarai, to lie to the Egyptians and say that she is his sister (Gen 12:10), which leads to the Lord punishing the Egyptians (Gen 12:17-19).
In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Devil as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands "Do not lie to one another" (Colossians 3:9, Cf.Leviticus 19:11). Schopenhauer, in ''On the Basis of Morality'', §17, asserted that lying is permissible at times, quoting this as an example. It is however consistent with the context that Jesus simply changed his mind, deciding only later on to go up to the festival. what festival?
While some see these examples as support for the idea that lying can be justifiable as the lesser of two evils (see above section), others (Davids et al 1996) disagree, arguing that the correct Biblical response is to pray that God will provide a way to avoid the greater evil without lying.
Consequences of lying
Once a lie has been told there can be two alternative consequences: it may be discovered or remain undiscovered.
★ Discovery of a lie tends to discredit other statements by the same speaker and can lead to social or legal sanctions against the speaker, such as ostracising or conviction for perjury.
★ An undiscovered lie is a latent danger to the liar who is probably aware that it may be discovered, especially if that would lead to the sanctions above, as when the liar has obtained some unjust advantage by telling the lie. Typically liars must tell new lies to keep earlier lies from discovery which leads them to create an increasingly complex structure of mutually supporting falsehoods, as observed by the Scottish poet Walter Scott: ''"O what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"'' - Marmion (1808) Canto VI, st.14.
Deception and lies in other species
The capacity to lie has also been claimed to be possessed by non-humans in language studies with Great Apes. One famous case was that of Koko the gorilla; confronted by her handlers after a tantrum in which she had torn a steel sink out of its moorings, she signed in American Sign Language, "cat did it," pointing at her tiny kitten. It is unclear if this was a joke or a genuine attempt at blaming her tiny pet. Deceptive body language, such as feints that mislead as to the intended direction of attack or flight, is observed in many species including wolves. A mother bird deceives when it pretends to have a broken wing to divert the attention of a perceived predator -- including unwitting humans -- from the eggs in its nest to itself.
Paradox of lying
Within any scenario where dualistic (''e.g.,'' yes/no, black/white) answers are always given, a person who we know is consistently lying would paradoxically be a source of truth. Many such paradoxes exist: for example, the liar paradox, commonly expressed as "This sentence is a lie" or "This sentence is false." The so-called Epimenides paradox —- "All Cretans are liars," as stated by Epimenides the Cretan —- is a forerunner of this, though its status as a paradox is disputed. A class of related logic puzzles are known as knights and knaves, in which the goal is to determine who of a group of people is lying and who is telling the truth.
Lie detection
Main articles: Polygraph
The question of whether lies can reliably be detected through nonverbal means is a subject of particular controversy.
★ Polygraph "lie detector" machines measure the physiological stress a subject endures in a number of measures while he/she gives statements or answers questions. Spikes in stress are purported to indicate lying. The accuracy of this method is widely disputed, and in several well-known cases it was proven to have been deceived. Nonetheless, it remains in use in many areas, primarily as a method for eliciting confessions or employment screening. Polygraph results are not admissible as court evidence and are generally perceived to be pseudo-science. Additionally, polygraph administrators will typically not give one to someone who understands how a polygraph works, since that allows the person to manipulate his or her physiological reactions and skew the results.
★ Various truth drugs have been proposed and used anecdotally, though none are considered very reliable. The CIA attempted to find a universal "truth serum" in the MK-ULTRA project, but it was largely a fiasco.
★ Facial microexpressions have been shown to expose lying reliably, according to Paul Ekman's Diogenes Project. Namely, a tiny flash of a "distress" facial expression, though difficult to see with the untrained eye, may give away when a person is lying.
★ Verbal distancing language is considered an indicator of lying.
★ More recently, neuroscientists have found that lying activates completely different brain structures during fMRI scans, which may lead to a more accurate (if impractical) method of lie detection. Brain fingerprinting is a related way of using the brain to determine if a person is telling the truth.
★ Another believed but mostly untested theory is that a person's pupils will dilate when lying.
Representations of lie
★ Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio is a wooden puppet often led into trouble by his propensity to lie. His nose grows with every lie. A long nose has thus become a caricature of liars.
★ In the manga and anime "One Piece," one of the main characters -- Ussop -- lies and tells tales regularly. He has an exceptionally long nose.
★ In the movie Liar Liar, the lawyer Fletcher Reed (Jim Carrey) cannot lie for 24 hours due to a wish of his son which magically came true.
Covering up Lies
Sir Walter Scott's famous couplet "Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive!" describes the often difficult procedure of covering up a lie so that it is not detected at some future time.
In "Human, All Too Human" philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that those who refrain from lying may do so only because of the difficulty involved in maintaining the lie. This is consistent with his general philosophy that divides or ranks people according to strength and ability; thus, some people tell the truth only out of weakness.
Evolution, game theory, and the lie
Meanwhile, although most human societies have developed moral, ethical, or religious codes prohibiting lying, it would appear that other animals on this planet engage in deception quite regularly and that the deceit has been the result of and promoted by all the usual evolutionary forces.
Deception by predators and prey
Specifically, predation often employs deception, as does avoidance of predation. A predator is deceptive if in the process of acquiring prey it conceals its location, uses camouflage capabilities of its skin and appendages, or dangles an appendage as a bait. A prey is deceptive if it uses camouflage to conceal itself or make it seem to be larger than it is or seem to be another species that is poisonous or distasteful to the predator (compare viceroy butterfly to monarch butterfly).
Such capabilities to deceive likely developed very gradually during evolution and likely began as very small changes in the appearance or behavior of some organisms. As the changes brought advantage to the organism it may therefore have increased in number due to that advantage, and due to continued pressure from a predator or scarcity of prey the advantage locked in and became a trait of that creature.
Game Theory of Evolution
This incorporation of deception into schemes of evolutionary advantage is a concept treated in the study of Game Theory of Evolution. Game Theory of Evolution assumes that creatures are often in resource conflict or in predator/prey relationships with each other and develop strategies for advantage gain or loss reduction.
Innate or reasoned behaviour?
These strategies may or may not be the result of some reasoning capabilities of the creature. In some cases the environment interacting with the way a creature has evolved so far creates the strategies for the creature without it needing any reasoning faculties. In other cases, there may be a combination of some reasoning and some environmentally formed deceptive abilities. The crocodile seems to know that if it drifts slowly, like a log, towards a wildebeest drinking at the edge of the river the wildebeest will not be alarmed and run away. The crocodile both resembles a log, having been shaped that way by evolutionary forces, and has some reasoning faculties.
So-called animal "cunning"
Over eons this ability to deceive became built into and a natural part of many species. Humans have used the word "cunning" to represent this ability in the non-human animal world.
Deception and "moral" behaviour among humans
"Sub-human behavior" is of course just a value judgment. The case remains that deception in general, and lying in particular, are likely a natural and normal behavior for ''Homo sapiens''. People lie to attain advantage or to escape loss. This is no different from being a predator or a prey, except that Homo sapiens are expected to know right and wrong and animals are not.
Thus, being honest in spite of a perceived opportunity to gain via a lie may be considered a particularly human behavior. Possibly this could be considered simply a longer-term strategy of gain, i.e. the larger gain from being regarded as trustworthy and/or ethical, which would require a fairly developed sense of abstract thought to grasp.
References
★ Adler, J. E., “Lying, deceiving, or falsely implicating”, ''Journal of Philosophy'', Vol. 94 (1997), 435-452.
★ Aquinas, T., St., “Question 110: Lying”, in ''Summa Theologiae'' (II.II), Vol. 41, ''Virtues of Justice in the Human Community'' (London, 1972).
★ Augustine, St., "On Lying" and "Against Lying", in R. J. Deferrari, ed., ''Treatises on Various Subjects'' (New York, 1952).
★ Bok, S., ''Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life'', 2d ed. (New York, 1989).
★ Chisholm, R. M., and T. D. Feehan, “The intent to deceive”, ''Journal of Philosophy'', Vol. 74 (1977),143-159.
★ Davids, P. H., Bruce, F.F., Brauch, M.T., & W.C. Kaiser, ''Hard Sayings of the Bible'' (InterVarsity Press, 1996).
★ Flyvbjerg, B., "Design by Deception." ''Harvard Design Magazine'', no. 22, Spring/Summer 2005, 50-59. [1]
★ Frankfurt, H. G., “The Faintest Passion”, in ''Necessity, Volition and Love'' (Cambridge, MA: CUP, 1999).
★ Frankfurt, Harry, ''On Bullshit'' (Princeton University Press, 2005).
★ Kant, I., ''Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'', ''The Metaphysics of Morals'' and "On a supposed right to lie from philanthropy", in ''Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy'', eds. Mary Gregor and Allen W. Wood (Cambridge: CUP, 1986).
★ Lakoff, George, ''Don't Think of an Elephant'', (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004).
★ Mahon, J. E., “Kant on Lies, Candour and Reticence”, ''Kantian Review'', Vol. 7 (2003), 101-133.
★ Mahon, J. E., “Lying”, Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed., Vol. 5 (Farmington Hills, Mich.: Macmillan Reference, 2006), p. 618-19
★ Mahon, J. E., “Kant and the Perfect Duty to Others Not to Lie”, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Vol. 14, No. 4 (2006), 653-685.
★ Mahon, J. E., “Kant and Maria von Herbert: Reticence vs. Deception”, Philosophy, Vol. 81, No. 3 (2006), 417-44.
★ Mannison, D. S., “Lying and Lies”, ''Australasian Journal of Philosophy'', Vol. 47 (1969), 132-144.
★ Siegler, F. A., “Lying”, ''American Philosophical Quarterly'', Vol. 3 (1966), 128-136.
See also
★ ''The Boy Who Cried Wolf'' ★ Big Lie ★ Bullshit ★ Cost underestimation ★ Deception ★ Demagogy ★ Dessek | ★ Truth ★ Humbug ★ Prisoner's dilemma ★ Tall tale ★ Taqiyya ★ Truthiness |
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