LYING, PART II. . .

When regard for truth has been broken down or even slightly weakened, all things will remain doubtful. –St. Augustine, ‘On Lying’

Consider Gentle Reader that trust is a precious resource easily squandered, hard to regain.  Trust can thrive only when deeply grounded in respect for veracity rooted in moral integrity.

When it comes to engaging our topic, ‘Lying,’ it is crucial to remember that how we define ‘Lying’ is crucial.

You cannot see me, Gentle Reader, sitting here in one of my favorite coffee shops attempting to decide how much I want to ‘muddy the waters.’  Pause…Pause…Pause…

Part of me wants to offer a simple, clear, concise definition of ‘Lying’ and another part of me wants to briefly explore four topics (of many available) that might be helpful to us AND (remember, there is almost always an ‘AND’) add to the complexity of our topic – hence the ‘muddying of the waters.’

More Pausing. . .

I think I will risk muddying the waters a bit.  As I noted above, I will offer us four topics to consider: Confabulation, Compulsive-Pathological Lying, ‘Dumping-Delight,’ and ‘Truth-Dumping.’

Confabulation.  My unabridged dictionary offers us a number of definitions; the one I think that might help us is the one that is offered by the discipline of Psychiatry.  Confabulation = the replacement of a gap in a person’s memory by a falsification that he or she believes to be true.

‘Confabulations’ are stories told by those suffering from Alzheimer Disease and by those suffering from a variety of other psychiatric and neurological conditions.  These people fill gaps by spinning false tales about their lives with utter confidence that they are true-real.  They cannot, therefore, be thought of as engaging in lying or any form of deceit.  At the same time, because their statements so clearly depart from the ‘truth’ or from ‘reality,’ it is equally difficult to speak of ‘truthfulness’ in characterizing their stories.

Now, consider this, Gentle Reader.  There is a large category of statements where deceit is not intended but where truthful communication is far from being achieved.  It is important, therefore, to take into account all that can help to distort communication quite apart from an intention to deceive.

I know from my own life’s experience that I have conveyed false information in the belief that it was true.  Upon reflection, I discerned that I was exhausted, misinformed, inarticulate, or that I had been duped by another.  My INTENTION was not to mislead or to lie; deception occurred – Did I lie?  My statements may have been false, yet, I did not knowingly utter falsehoods.

Now, there is also a second (at least one other) party involved.  The recipient of my message.  The person(s) may become deceived through no fault of mine – consider that the person might be hard of hearing or the person might not have a good command of the English language (children and those whose first language is not English often hear the ‘concrete’ and miss the ‘abstract’).

Compulsive-Pathological Lying.  Consider that Pathological Lying is to ‘lying’ what kleptomania is to stealing.  Any consideration of ‘moral choice’ (Lying involves a moral choice) regarding whether or not to lie must, I believe, take into account cases involving such compulsions and the ways they can take over a person’s life.

We will continue with ‘Dumping-Delight’ and ‘Truth-Dumping’ and other considerations next time.

If, like truth, the lie had but one face, we would be on better terms.  For we would accept as certain the opposite of what the liar would say.  But the reverse of truth has a hundred thousand faces and in infinite field. –Montaigne, ‘Essays’