The Philosophy of Lies

Why do some people get angry when a friend lies, yet fully believe a politician's lies?

★Recommended by the CIA's journal "Studies in Intelligence"★

A controversial work by contemporary Norwegian philosopher Svendsen dissecting a world intertwined with truth and falsehood.

Without trust, human life is almost impossible to exist——

"It's better to be occasionally deceived than to be perpetually suspicious and distrustful of others."

There are big and small lies in daily life, and "scams," "fake news," and "alternative facts" have permeated the information we receive every day, making social interactions, where truth and falsehood are intertwined, unsettling. If serious, it can destroy a person's friendship, marriage, career, or even life...

☆A social survival guide to breaking free from self-deception, learning to coexist with lies, and facing the world honestly☆

From self-deception, lying to friends, lying to strangers, to political lies, renowned contemporary Norwegian philosopher Lars Svendsen comprehensively analyzes lies in everyday life. Based on philosophical ethics, he explores whether white lies are a necessary evil, the meaning of trust for human survival, and from Plato's theory of "noble lies" to former US President Trump's "big lie," he weighs the paradoxes of political lies, offering multifaceted perspectives:

1What is the difference between a lie, sophistry, and bullshit?

2Why is lying to a friend worse than lying to a stranger?

3Should only the lies of national leaders be accepted?

4Is there no clear sign of honesty or dishonesty?

Finally, the author discusses how to live with the lies we encounter daily. He argues that even though we all lie occasionally, we are fundamentally trustworthy. Trusting others makes us vulnerable, and we may be fooled repeatedly, but on the whole, it is better to live authentically and vulnerably than to live in a state of distrust.