What is a lie: a journey through time

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Everyone strives to make their life better. However, everyone has their own idea of how to achieve well-being. Wherever human interaction begins, lies and deception take place.

Philosophical concepts

The question "what is a lie" in philosophy and psychology is given a lot of attention. The answer to this question begins with an analysis of the key concepts that explain this phenomenon. According to many scientists, truth is a reflection of the reality around us.

However, due to the individual characteristics of a person, this reality can be perceived distorted. Then we say that the person is deluded about his reality. But if he deliberately expresses something that is not true, in order to create a belief in another person, this is a lie.

For a better understanding, we should also consider the concept of "truth". In its content, it is wider than truth and means not only the adequacy of knowledge, but also their meaningfulness for the subject. It is better to understand what truth and lies are by referring to the Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language. It says it's "untrue, intentional distortion of the truth; deception".

Lies: from antiquity to modern times

Perhaps, for the first time the question "what is a lie" was asked by the ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle, and they agreed that this is something negative, causing disapproval of other people. However, over time, views have become divided, and two completely opposite approaches to the permissibility of lying have emerged.

Some explained what a lie is, based on Christian morality. They argued that lying is evil, it is something that undermines trust between people and destroys values. The fact that a person deliberately distorts reality, trying to benefit from it, is called sin in Christianity.

Representatives of a different approach were of the opinion that a certain amount of false statements is not only acceptable, but also desirable. According to them, statesmen need to resort to lies to ensure security and maintain order. They also leave the right to intentionally distort the truth to doctors for reasons of humanity. Thus, a new interpretation of the concept appeared - a lie for good or for salvation.

Modern position

Modern researchers also do not give an unambiguous answer to the question "what is a lie". Rather, the concept itself has not changed, but the attitude towards it still remains different. Therefore, today it is customary to look for and justify the reasons why people resort to lies.

First, it can be viewed from the point of view of morality. For example, when a persontries to hide or embellish negative actions. This form is often used by children. But do we always condemn them for it? Rather, we condemn, explain why it is not necessary to do this and that everything bad can be recognized and corrected.

Secondly, lying can be used as a tool to achieve a certain result. And this is a completely different form of lies. If a person intentionally distorts information in order to disorientate another in a situation and thus gain a benefit for himself, this already characterizes a lie as an act of will.

And thirdly, this may come in the form of a simple misrepresentation of the facts. Simply put, a person may simply not tell the whole truth, hiding only part of it. This is also done by the individual intentionally, in order to achieve their goals.

Thus, we have come close to explaining what lies and deceit are. At first glance, these terms are synonymous. But still it is not so. A lie, as mentioned above, is a conscious distortion of the truth. Deception is the intentional misleading of another. Deception can be interpreted as one of the forms of social contradictions. It can help not only in achieving selfish goals, but also, for example, in keeping secrets.

Lie and its signs

Western psychologists today increasingly agree that lies in most cases cause moral condemnation. But if it is replaced by "deception" or "untruth", then the attitude towards the distorted truth becomes neutral. Although, if you look, a lie means onlydistortion of the truth or its concealment. While cheating is a deliberate act.

Trying to figure out what a lie is, we can identify several of its signs:

• first of all, lies are always used to gain some benefit;
• secondly, the person is aware of the falsity of the statement;
• Third, misrepresentation takes on meaning when spoken out.

But in terms of positive psychology, lying is a sign of weakness. Only those who are not confident in their abilities resort to it. And, using a lie on the way to his goal, a person must understand that it does not strengthen, but weakens his position.