Augustine: "On Lying" PDF

Augustine: “On Lying” Gareth B. Matthews. 4.Fourth Alternative Analysis In saying to A that p S lies if, and only if, (i)S believes that it is false that p, and (ii)in saying to A that p S intends to deceive about whether p. Augustine's Conclusion It is clear, then, that a lie is a false...

Augustine: “On Lying” Gareth B. Matthews. 4.Fourth Alternative Analysis In saying to A that p S lies if, and only if, (i)S believes that it is false that p, and (ii)in saying to A that p S intends to deceive about whether p. Augustine's Conclusion It is clear, then, that a lie is a false statement made with the desire to deceive. the three conditions of the Standard Analysis give us at least sufficient conditions for telling a lie. But he seems unwilling to maintain that all three conditions must be met for there to be a lie. Augustine treatise is like one of Plato’s aporetic dialogues – those called “aporetic” because they end in aporia, that is, in Ethical Standpoint: Arguments on Lying Lying is defined and explained, which we called a strict or formal lie ( a morally evil act) A lie in the strict sense is a speech contrary to what one knows with intent to deceive someone who has a right to the truth. Lying is morally wrong because it is an abuse of the natural ability of communication. no moralist advocates lying as a normal practice or he thinks that we may play fast and loose with the truth as we please  What are the occasions or instances, some moralists, they think when lying is allowed or perhaps even required.? If actions are morally permitted. Why should speech be treated differently? Word are just means to an end and have no sacredness in themselves. The good of the society may sometimes be promoted more by a lie than by the truth, (emphasis on the social value of Speech), for instance, to save an innocent person’s life or to avert war. E.G Kant thought that if I were hiding a friend from a pursuing murderer, I could not save him by telling the lie that he is not here. Such idolatry of principle would be more antisocial than social. It would destroy the fugitive’s trust in men, and even the pursuer, while accepting my betrayal, would despise me for it. To let someone be deceived is a far less evil than to kill him or her.  A person should be morally be allowed to lie only on a very limited social situations. ( for Protection) In case of Self defense In self-defense the means of self-defense are to be proportioned to the means of attack. If we may repel force by force, why should we repel a lie with a lie? Force cannot defend against speech, it is true, but speech can defend against speech. The difference between lie and another kinds of deception is that a lie uses the common symbols of communication called speech, whereas other forms of deception use actions capable of misinterpretation. Why make so much of this difference? Why not consider a lie Told to one who has a right to the truth: anyone to whom we speak has the right to be spoken to truthfully if we speak to him or her seriously on any matter at all. Respect for the person as a person requires that we speak truthfully. Someone loses this right only when we have the greater right to withhold the truth and cannot do so by silence. In this case, speech must be used to conceal rather than reveal the truth. The person has the right to the truth about what we think may also have a right to know the truth about what emotions we feel. To express an emotion I do not feel is, in this context, emotional insincerity, a kind of emotional untruthfulness, to fail to express what I actually do feel is, in this same context, a suppression of the truth, an act of dissimulation.  To express love for a person when I do not feel it is one of the most cruel forms of emotional insincerity, just as it is equally insincere to conceal my true feelings from someone to whom the knowledge would make a real difference. examples of this kind of dishonesty are pretending to like things or persons we do not like or pretending to feel sympathy or joy for a person when we do not. Just as a person who habitually trifles with the truth tends to lose the ability to distinguish between truth and falsity, so a person who habitually cheats others about his or her emotions soon becomes unable to know what he or she really feels. The end result is not only deception of others but self-deception as well. When we tamper with the sincerity of our emotional Conventionality of Speech 1. Communication is not limited to words but is any sign used to convey thought. Examples: Looks, gestures, nods, winks, shrugs, facial expressions, tones of voice, and even the circumstances in which something is said are all signs capable of telling another of what we think and, if used for this purpose, are communication. “Lying is possible by any of these means” 2. The sign must be intended by the speaker to convey a meaning. Involuntary looks and gestures are not communication. It is not always lying to conceal our emotions under outward calm nor appear cheerful when we are sad, but only when we are intentionally using our appearance to express our real feelings. 3. The sign must be made to another person for communication is between personal selves. It is impossible to lie to oneself, nor would it be lying to confide untruths to one’s dog. Talk in other people’s presence, when it is clearly not directed to them, is not communication to them. Eavesdroppers listen at their own peril.  4.The sign must be such as to express the speaker’s own judgment, what he or she believes to be true. To lie, therefore, the speaker must express as true something thought to be untrue, or as certain something not known for a certain. If I mistakenly think that what I say is true, though in fact it is not, I do not lie; my speech is untrue but not untruthful.  5.Fiction is not lying for the story is used as an expression of one’s creative imagination and entertaining ability, not of one’s factual judgment. Jokes and exaggerations are not lies if there is any circumstance to indicate that they are not to be taken seriously.  6.Figures of speech are not lies. When a word has several meanings, its sense in this particular statement must be judged by the content and meaning of the whole statement by the total figuratively, and the figurative meaning can just as genuine as the literal. Lying and Deception It is the usual motive for lying ( deception can be fients, stratagems, tricks, disguises, impersonations, fictitious names,) these are not lies Deception is not wrong itself but can become wrong from motives and circumstances if intended or foreseen as a cause of harm. Deception is not wrong in itself but can become wrong from motives and circumstances if intended or foreseen as a cause of harm. The wrong comes not from the act done which is indifferent, but from the consequences the harm that follows.  Thus stratagems and military maneuvers in war may be designed deliberately to mislead the enemy. Such deceptions are not lies because nothing is said no judgment is expressed, no statement is made by the usual symbols of communication. The intent to deceive may be justified on the grounds that one is defending one’s own rights and merely permitting the enemy to harm himself. Aquinas on Lying 1. Argument from the abuse of a natural ability. -to abuse this means of communication and to render it unfit for its purpose -Hence lying is an act against our nature and violation of the natural law. 2. Argument from our social nature. -Human society is built on mutual trust and faith among people. If lying were morally allowed, we could never tell when a person is lying and when not, whether the next statement will be a lie or the truth. Aquinas on Lying 3. Argument from the dignity of the human -being fed falsehood instead of truth under the assurance that it is truth. -By subjecting another’s intelligence to a lie for the liar’s own advantage, he or she degrades the person of a fellow human being and in so doing degrades his or her own person.