Abstract
This paper synthesizes convergent lines of evidence to evaluate the hypothesis that objective falsity is essential to lying. Objective accounts of lying affirm this hypothesis; subjective accounts deny it. Evidence from history, logic, social observation, popular culture, lexicography, developmental psychology, inference, spontaneous description, and behavioral experimentation strongly supports the hypothesis. Studies show that the only apparent evidence against the hypothesis is due to task substitution, i.e. ethical concerns or perspective-taking interfering with performance on categorization tasks. I conclude that, overall, existing evidence decisively favors objective accounts.
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Notes
Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for posing the question.
Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for posing the objection.
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Acknowledgements
For helpful feedback I thank Ori Friedman, Kenny Hoang, Sarah Turri, and Angelo Turri. Thanks also to the participants of the 2019 CogSci 600 seminar at the University of Waterloo and Philosophical Studies’ anonymous referees. This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canada Research Chairs program.
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Turri, J. Objective falsity is essential to lying: an argument from convergent evidence. Philos Stud 178, 2101–2109 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-020-01525-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-020-01525-9