The Varnished Truth: Truth Telling and Deceiving in Ordinary LifeEveryone says that lying is wrong. But when we say that lying is bad and hurtful and that we would never intentionally tell a lie, are we really deceiving anyone? In this wise and insightful book, David Nyberg exposes the tacit truth underneath our collective pretense and reveals that an occasional lie can be helpful, healthy, creative, and, in some situations, even downright moral. Through familiar and often entertaining examples, Nyberg explores the purposes deception serves, from the social kindness of the white lie to the political ends of diplomacy to the avoidance of pain or unpleasantness. He looks at the lies we tell ourselves as well, and contrary to the scolding of psychologists demonstrates that self-deception is a necessary function of mental health, one of the mind's many weapons against stress, uncertainty, and chaos. Deception is in our nature, Nyberg tells us. In civilization, just as in the wilderness, survival does not favor the fully exposed or conspicuously transparent self. As our minds have evolved, as practical intelligence has become more refined, as we have learned the subtleties of substituting words and symbols for weapons and violence, deception has come to play a central and complex role in social life. The Varnished Truth takes us beyond philosophical speculation and clinical analysis to give a sense of what it really means to tell the truth. As Nyberg lays out the complexities involved in leading a morally decent life, he compels us to see the spectrum of alternatives to telling the truth and telling a clear-cut lie. A life without self-deception would be intolerable and a world of unconditional truth telling unlivable. His argument that deception and self-deception are valuable to both social stability and individual mental health boldly challenges popular theories on deception, including those held by Sissela Bok and Daniel Goleman. Yet while Nyberg argues that we deceive, among other reasons, so that we might not perish of the truth, he also cautions that we deceive carelessly, thoughtlessly, inhumanely, and selfishly at our own peril. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
TRUTH TELLING IS MORALLY OVERRATED | 7 |
WHAT IT MEANS TO TELL THE TRUTH | 27 |
VARIETIES OF TRUTH | 29 |
THE REVERSE OF TRUTH HAS A HUNDRED THOUSAND SHAPES | 46 |
SHOWING AND HIDING THE LOGIC OF DECEPTION | 63 |
SELFDECEPTION WEAKNESS OR WISDOM? | 81 |
WHAT DECEPTION IS FOR | 109 |
RAISING CHILDREN THE RIGHT TRUTH AT THE RIGHT TIME | 154 |
TRUTH VERDICTS AND JUSTICE | 176 |
DECEPTION AND MORAL DECENCY | 193 |
INVENTING RIGHT AND WRONG | 195 |
CONCLUSION | 219 |
NOTES | 221 |
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY | 233 |
INDEX | 237 |
CIVILITY REVEALING AND CONCEALING OUR THOUGHTS | 111 |
FRIENDSHIP AND ALTRUISM BE UNTRUTHFUL TO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE OTHERS BE UNTRUTHFUL TO YOU | 137 |
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Common terms and phrases
achieve André Trocmé answer attorney avoid behavior believe Cambridge Chicago client deception emotional labor Ethics everything example experience fact false feel friendship G. B. Shaw George Steiner give happened harm Harvard University Harvard University Press hiding honesty Huck human idea imagine important individual intent Kieran Egan kind language lawyer Le Chambon liar lies lives logic look lying matter means Mike W mind moral decency mut'a nature Neoptolemus obligation Odysseus Oliner one's ourselves perhaps person philosophers placebo play practice principles problem question rational reality reason relationship right truth role rules self-deception self-evident sense Sissela Bok skills social sometimes statement story Sun Tzu sure T. S. Eliot teacher tell the truth telling and deceiving theory thought tion Trocmé true trust truth telling understanding words wrong York