Quote:
Quote by: Epistemologist  If the police come to you and ask if you have a nuclear bomb in your briefcase, and you say no because really you have a dirty bomb, are you still lying? You're deceiving them into thinking that you don't have any hostile weapon in your briefcase.
There are lots of other examples too. Is lying wrong? And is deceiving wrong as well? Do you commit any such actions? |
In terms of the specific example, this is why police officers ask "What have you got in the briefcase?" instead of trying to play twenty questions:
"Is it . . . a gun?"
"No."
"Is it . . .an explosive device?"
"Hmmm. . ." *shrugs*
"So it's
like an explosive device . . ."
In general, I think that if you need to lie to yourself in order to make your answer seem a reasonable response to the question, then it is lying. For instance, if a police officer asked, "What have you got in the briefcase?" and you answered, "Nothing," because internally you're thinking, "Well, after all possession is an illusion, so really, the bomb in the briefcase isn't
mine, per se . . ." then you are deceiving yourself about the officer's intent, and you are lying.
If, on the other hand, someone had a less-than-perfect command of English, and perhaps had taken a vow of poverty and really didn't believe they owned what was in the briefcase, then saying "I have nothing in the briefcase" wouoldn't be a lie, simply a misunderstanding.