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lie1

  (lī) pronunciation
intr.v., lay (lā), lain (lān), ly·ing (lī'ĭng), lies.
  1. To be or place oneself at rest in a flat, horizontal, or recumbent position; recline: He lay under a tree to sleep.
  2. To be placed on or supported by a surface that is usually horizontal: Dirty dishes lay on the table. See Usage Note at lay1.
  3. To be or remain in a specified condition: The dust has lain undisturbed for years. He lay sick in bed.
    1. To exist; reside: Our sympathies lie with the plaintiff.
    2. To consist or have as a basis. Often used with in: The strength of his performance lies in his training.
  5. To occupy a position or place: The lake lies beyond this hill.
  6. To extend: Our land lies between these trees and the river.
  7. To be buried in a specified place.
  8. Law. To be admissible or maintainable.
  9. Archaic. To stay for a night or short while.
n.
  1. The manner or position in which something is situated.
  2. A haunt or hiding place of an animal.
  3. Sports. The position of a golf ball that has come to a stop.
phrasal verbs:

lie down

  1. To do little or nothing: He's lying down on the job.
lie in
  1. To be in confinement for childbirth.
lie to Nautical.
  1. To remain stationary while facing the wind.
lie with
  1. To be decided by, dependent on, or up to: The choice lies with you.
  2. Archaic. To have sexual intercourse with.

idiom:

lie (or lay) low

  1. To keep oneself or one's plans hidden.
  2. To bide one's time but remain ready for action.

[Middle English lien, from Old English licgan.]


lie2 (lī) pronunciation
n.
  1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.
  2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.

v., lied, ly·ing (lī'ĭng), lies.

v.intr.
  1. To present false information with the intention of deceiving.
  2. To convey a false image or impression: Appearances often lie.
v.tr.

To cause to be in a specific condition or affect in a specific way by telling falsehoods: You have lied yourself into trouble.

idiom:

lie through one's teeth

  1. To lie outrageously or brazenly.

[Middle English, from Old English lyge.]

SYNONYMS  lie, equivocate, fib, palter, prevaricate. These verbs mean to evade or depart from the truth: a witness who lied under oath; didn't equivocate about her real purpose; fibbed to escape being scolded; paltering with an irate customer; didn't prevaricate but answered honestly.


 
 
Thesaurus: lie1

verb

  1. To be or place oneself in a prostrate or recumbent position. recline, repose, stretch (out). See horizontal/vertical/change of position.
  2. To take repose, as by sleeping or lying quietly. recline, repose, rest1, stretch (out). See continue/stop/pause.
  3. To have an inherent basis: consist, dwell, exist, inhere, repose, reside, rest1. See start/end.
lie2

noun

    An untrue declaration: canard, cock-and-bull story, falsehood, falsity, fib, fiction, inveracity, misrepresentation, misstatement, prevarication, story, tale, untruth. Informal fish story, tall tale. Slang whopper. See true/false.

verb

    To make untrue declarations: falsify, fib, forswear, prevaricate. Law perjure. See true/false.

 
Antonyms: lie

n

Definition: untruth
Antonyms: fact, honesty, truth

v

Definition: be prostrate, flat
Antonyms: be upright, stand, straighten

v

Definition: tell an untruth
Antonyms: be honest, tell truth

 
Psychoanalysis: Lie

A lie, the dissimulation or willful deformation of the contents of a thought that the subject deems to be true, can be practiced only either vis-à-vis another person or by means of a split in the subject—in which case the subject lies "to him- or herself." A lie implies the intent to deceive and supports self-interest. The psychoanalytic approach to lying introduces the dimension of the unconscious.

The earliest psychoanalytic consideration of lies is found in Freud's "Project for a Scientific Psychology" (1950c [1895]), where he envisioned lies solely in the context of the psychiatric definition of hysteria as a form of simulation, although he rejected this perspective. While he acknowledged the existence of a tendency toward simulation and lying in hysterics, he attributed it to the fact that the patient "wishes to be ill," (p. 249), itself the result of patients' need to convince themselves and those around them of the reality of their suffering.

In "Project for a Scientific Psychology," the πρωτoυ πσευδoς (proton-pseudos) is usually translated as "first hysterical lie" although it in fact involves an error or mistaken connection rather than an intentional dissimulation or distortion. The well-known example of Emma shows that the "error" had to do with the fact that she related her attack of agoraphobia to the shop-assistants' ridicule of her clothes when she was thirteen, whereas the determining event, although its felt effects were deferred, was the memory-trace of a shopkeeper's pedophilic assault on her when she was a child. The mistaken connection resulted from the repression of a childhood memory that was not available to her at the time of the scene when she was thirteen ("Hysterics suffer mainly from reminiscences" [p. 7]).

In "Two Lies Told by Children" (1913g) Freud emphasized that lies between parents and children are "natural." In "On the Origin of the 'Influencing Machine' in Schizophrenia" (1919/1991), Viktor Tausk wrote: "children learn to lie from parents and upbringers, who by misrepresentations and unkept promises make the child obey and teach him to disguise his true purposes" (pp. 214-215 n4). The aim of Freud's article of 1913 was thus to show the existence of unconscious motivations in certain childhood lies that "occur under the influence of excessive feelings of love" (p. 305).

Such motivations do not involve the interests of the ego but instead correspond to an instinctual impulse that cannot be admitted, not because of the strong feelings of shame or unconscious guilt that are attached to it, but because it is unconscious. In the two cases evoked by Freud, incestuous love is behind the error and, secondarily, behind the lie that covers it up. The error itself could have been admitted as a fact, and if it is not acknowledged, this is because of the unconscious content it manifests. The "impossibility" of confession opens the way for reconstitution through deferred action, based on associations produced during the analysis, of the motivations that made the error impossible to confess.

This view leads to seeing the moral fault that the lie represents as a consequence of neurosis. A strictly moral understanding of lies is thus transformed by the psychoanalytical approach into an interrogation of the desire for falsehood. Such a desire, or even need, is incompatible with psychoanalysis, which requires, of analyst and patient alike, not that they tell the truth, but that they seek it.

According to Sándor Ferenczi (1912/1968), the difference between suggestion and psychoanalysis is that the former maintains disguise and repression owing to its basis in the authority of the therapist, where the latter "combats the 'vital lie' wherever it is found . . . its final goal [being] to let light penetrate into human consciousness as far as the most hidden wellsprings of motivations for actions." Ferenczi, too, stigmatized the pedagogy of his time, which imposed upon children the repression of emotions and ideas. In "Psychanalyse et pédagogie" (1908; [Psychoanalysis and education, 1949]), he wrote: "The closest thing to it is lying . . . current pedagogy forces the child to lie to himself, to deny what he knows and what he thinks." Echoed here is Freud's concern about telling children the truth about sexuality; lying, in this context, appears first and foremost as an adult form of hypocrisy, with children's lies being a response to it.

Karl Abraham (1925/1927) studied from a psychoanalytic viewpoint the case of a captain of industry, analyzing his compulsion to deceive others as a two-phase process in which he first showed himself to be lovable because he had not been loved by his parents, then did his best to disappoint those whom he had duped in order to take revenge against them. In "Über einen Typus der Pseudoaffektifivität ('Als ob')" (1934) Helen Deutsch introduced the important notion of the "as if" personality, which is not a utilitarian lie told on a given occasion, but rather protects the "true Self" with a "false Self" (Donald Winnicott). Mythomania can also be situated within this framework of a narcissistic pathology in which lies are addressed both to others and to the self. Moreover, in "The Antisocial Tendency" (1956/1984) Winnicott situated theft associated with lying at the heart of antisocial tendencies in children and adolescents, but also connected this to incontinence and anything that makes a mess. In this context, this would focus on ease and opportunity to the classic moral understanding of an aggressive will to deceive. Lying, like gluttony and theft, originates in frustration.

The psychoanalytic view of lying is thus very broad, because it includes both the dimension of the false, ranging from social adaptation to pathologies of identity, and that of willful deceit, for which explanations relating to frustration or repressed love can be found.

Bibliography

Abraham, Karl. (1927). The influence of oral erotism on character-formation. In Selected papers of Karl Abraham (Douglas Bryan and Alix Strachey, Trans., pp. 393-406). London: Hogarth and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis. (Original work published 1925)

Deutsch, Helene.Über einen Typus der Pseudoaffektifivität ("Als ob"). Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, 20.

Ferenczi, Sándor. (1949). Psychoanalysis and education. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 30, 220-224. (Original work published 1920) ——. (1968). Suggestion et psychanalyse. In his Psychanalyse I, Œuvres complètes (Volume 1: 1908-1912; pp. 233-242). Paris: Payot. (Original work published 1912)

Freud, Sigmund. (1913g). Two lies told by children. SE, 12: 303-309.

——. (1950c [1895]). Project for a scientific psychology. SE, 1: 281-387.

Tausk, Viktor. (1991). On the origin of the "influencing machine" in schizophrenia. In Paul Roazen (Ed.), Sexuality, War, and Schizophrenia: Collected Psychoanalytic Papers (Eric Mosbacher et. al., Trans.; pp. 185-220). New Brunswick: Transaction. (Original work published 1919).

Winnicott, Donald W. (1984). The antisocial tendency. In his Deprivation and deliquency. London: Tavistock. (Original work published 1956)

—SOPHIE DE MIJOLLA-MELLOR

 
Word Tutor: lie
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: v. - To tell a falsehood; v. - to recline.

pronunciation Half a truth is often a great lie. — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

 
Wikipedia: lie
This article is about untruthfulness. For other uses, see Lie (disambiguation).
"Lying" redirects here. For the movie, see Lying (film).


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A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement with the intention to deceive, often with the further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, or to avoid punishment. To lie is to state something one knows is false with the intention that it be taken for the truth by someone else. A liar is a person who is lying, who has lied, or who lies repeatedly.

Lying is typically used to refer to deceptions in oral or written communication. Other forms of deception, such as disguises or forgeries, are generally not considered lies, though the underlying intent may be the same; however, even a true statement can be considered a lie if the person making that statement is doing so to deceive. In this situation, it is the intent of being untruthful rather than the truthfulness of the statement itself that is considered.

Types of lies

The various types of lies include the following:

Lying by omission
Lying by omission is when an important fact is omitted, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. This includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.

Lie-to-children

A lie-to-children is an expression, or more specifically a euphemism, that describes a lie told to make an adult subject, such as sex, acceptable to children. The most common example is "The stork brought you." or hiding honesty and truth e.g. I will tell you when you are a little bit older.
White lie
A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered and offers some benefit to the liar or the hearer, or both. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and can not be clearly separated from regular lies with any authority. As such the term may have differing meanings in different cultures. Lies which are harmless but told for no reason are generally not called white lies.
In western countries, a white lie is typically taken to mean an untruth with an alleged justification such as to avoid upsetting a person, to encourage a person or just for harmless convenience. An example of a white lie is a nurse who reassures a disfigured patient that he looks healthy, or an aged husband who assures his wife that she looks just as good as when he married her. This kind of white lie is, in many instances, known to be an untruth by all involved parties, but overlooked out of diplomatic tact or politeness. For example, when two people collide in a crowded hallway and one falls down, he might tell the other that he's not hurt, even if he's hurt a little bit.
Emergency lie
Emergency lie is a different kind of white lie, which is employed when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would come of it. An example of such an emergency lie would be a neighbour lying to an enraged husband about the whereabouts of his unfaithful wife, because said husband might reasonably be expected to inflict physical violence should he encounter his wife in person. Although the moral integrity of the wife may certainly be put into question, the threat of violence is considered to be the more pressing issue, which could justify the lie in this case depending on the moral axioms employed.
Perjury
Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful.
Bluffing
Bluffing is an act of deception that is not usually seen as immoral because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards than he really does, or an athlete who indicates he will move left and then actually dodges right, are not considered to be lying. In these situations, deception is accepted as a tactic and even expected.
Misleading
Misleading is when a person tells a statement that isn't an outright lie, but still has the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth.
Dissembling
dissemble is a polite term for lying, it can be considered as just misleading but is also used as a euphemism for lying.
Careful speaking
Careful speaking is distinct from the above in that the speaker wishes to avoid imparting certain information, or admitting certain facts, and additionally, does not want to 'lie' when doing so. Careful speaking involves using carefully-phrased statements to give a 'half-answer': one that does not actually 'answer' the question, but still provides an appropriate (and accurate) answer based on that question. As with 'misleading', above, 'careful speaking' is not outright lying.
Exaggeration
Exaggeration is when the most fundamental aspect(s) of a statement is true, but the degree to which it is true is not correct.
"Talking Out Of Your Ass"
"Talking Out Of Your Ass" often times is exemplified by one speaking with confidence (or even authority) on something which they have little to no knowledge about. More often than not, this is for the purpose of convincing someone else that the speaker is an expert of sorts on the topic, subject, or event in question.
Jocose lies
Jocose lies are lies which are meant in jest and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Sarcasm can be one example of this. A more elaborate example can be seen in storytelling traditions which are present in some places, where the humour comes from the storyteller's insistence that he or she is telling the absolute truth despite all evidence to the contrary (ie. tall tale). There has been debate in the past about whether these are "real lies", with different philosophers holding different views (see below).

Augustine of Hippo divided lies into eight kinds, listed in order of severity:

  1. Lies in religious teaching.
  2. Lies that harm others and help no one.
  3. Lies that harm others and help someone.
  4. Lies told for the pleasure of lying.
  5. Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse."
  6. Lies that harm no one and that help someone.
  7. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's life.
  8. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's "purity."

Augustine believed that "jocose lies" are not, in fact, lies.

Thomas Aquinas divided lies into three kinds: the useful, the humorous and the malicious. All are sinful according to Aquinas. Humorous and useful lies, however, are venial sins. Malicious lies are mortal sins.

Mark Twain popularized a summary hierarchy of lies attributed to Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Although lies are normally condemned, it is also normally believed that some lies are worse than others. In particular, lies that are believed to be harmless are often called "white lies" or "fibs." Mark Twain noted the universal complicity with and desirability of polite lies: "None of us could live with a habitual truth teller; but, thank Goodness, none of us has to."

Psychology of lying

The capacity to lie is noted early and nearly universally in human development. Social psychology and developmental psychology are concerned with the theory of mind, which people employ to simulate another's reaction to their story and determine if a lie will be believable. The most commonly cited milestone, what is known as Machiavellian intelligence, is at the age of about four and a half years, when children begin to be able to lie convincingly. Before this, they seem simply unable to comprehend that anyone doesn't see the same view of events that they do -- and seem to assume that there is only one point of view: their own -- that must be integrated into any given story.

Young children learn from experience that stating an untruth can avoid punishment for misdeeds, before they develop the theory of mind necessary to understand why it works. In this stage of development, children will sometimes tell fantastic and unbelievable lies because they lack the conceptual framework to judge whether a statement is believable or even to understand the concept of believability.

When children first learn how lying works, they lack the moral understanding of when to refrain from doing it. It takes years of watching people lie and the results of lies to develop a proper understanding. Propensity to lie varies greatly between children, some doing so habitually and others being habitually honest. Habits in this regard are likely to change into early adulthood.

Some view children as on the whole more prone to lie than adults. Others argue that the amount of lying stays the same, but adults lie about different things. Certainly adult lying tends to be more sophisticated. Much of this judgment depends on whether one counts tactful untruths, social insincerity, political rhetoric, and other standard adult behaviors as lying.

Pseudologia fantastica is a term applied by psychiatrists to the behaviour of habitual or compulsive lying.

Morality of lying

The philosophers Saint Augustine, as well as Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant, condemned all lying. According to all three, there are no circumstances in which one may lie. One must be murdered, suffer torture, or endure any other hardship, rather than lie, even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments against lying, all compatible with each other. Among the more important arguments are:

  1. Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to communicate the thoughts of the speaker.
  2. When one lies, one undermines trust in society.

Some philosophers (notably utilitarians) have argued that lying is not prohibited in certain circumstances, such as when telling a lie might prevent a clearly greater harm e.g. save an innocent life.

Some philosophers have also argued that paternalistic lying (lying for the supposed good of those lied to) is justified, even if it violates their autonomy. An example is lying to someone terminally ill by being unduly optimistic about his prognosis, on the grounds that the shock might effectively shorten his life further.

Lying in the Bible

The Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible both contain statements that God cannot lie (Num 23:19, Ps 89:35, Hab. 2:3, Heb 6:13-18).

The Old Testament adds that God hates a lying tongue (Prov 6:16-19, Ps. 5:6) and forbids men to lie (Lev 19:11, Pr. 14:5, Pr. 30:6, Zep 3:13 ) or to take refuge in lies (Isa 28:15, Da 11:27). Most famously, lying is forbidden in the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not bear false witness" (Exodus 20:2-17,Deuteronomy 5:6-21) a specific reference to perjury, but taken to have wider application.

Old Testament accounts of lying include:

  • The Hebrew midwives lied to the king of Egypt rather than carry out his order to kill all male Hebrew babies; the midwives did this because they “feared God” (Exodus 1:15–20).
  • Rahab lied to the king of Jericho about hiding the Hebrew spies (Joshua 2:4–5) and was not killed with those who were disobedient because of her faith (Hebrews 11:31).
  • Delilah repeatedly accused Samson of lying to her (Jg. 16:10, 13) as she interrogated him about the source of his strength.
  • Abraham instructs his wife, Sarai, to lie to the Egyptians and say that she is his sister (Gen 12:10), which leads to the Lord punishing the Egyptians (Gen 12:17-19).

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Devil as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands "Do not lie to one another" (Colossians 3:9, Cf.Leviticus 19:11). Jesus would seem to tell a lie to the Apostles in John 7:8-10, when He says "Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come," but then later on goes up to attend the same festival. Schopenhauer, in On the Basis of Morality, §17, asserted that lying is permissible at times, quoting this as an example. It is however consistent with the context that Jesus simply changed his mind, deciding only later on to go up to the festival. The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who were killed for trying to lie to God.

While some see these examples as support for the idea that lying can be justifiable as the lesser of two evils (see above section), others (Davids et al 1996) disagree, arguing that the correct Biblical response is to pray that God will provide a way to avoid the greater evil without lying.

Consequences of lying

Once a lie has been told there can be two alternative consequences: it may be discovered or remain undiscovered.

  • Discovery of a lie tends to discredit other statements by the same speaker and can lead to social or legal sanctions against the speaker, such as ostracising or conviction for perjury.
  • An undiscovered lie is a latent danger to the liar who is probably aware that it may be discovered, especially if that would lead to the sanctions above, as when the liar has obtained some unjust advantage by telling the lie. Typically liars must tell new lies to keep earlier lies from discovery which leads them to create an increasingly complex structure of mutually supporting falsehoods, as observed by the Scottish poet Walter Scott: "O what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" - Marmion (1808) Canto VI, st.14.

Deception and lies in other species

The capacity to lie has also been claimed to be possessed by non-humans in language studies with Great Apes. One famous case was that of Koko the gorilla; confronted by her handlers after a tantrum in which she had torn a steel sink out of its moorings, she signed in American Sign Language, "cat did it," pointing at her tiny kitten. It is unclear if this was a joke or a genuine attempt at blaming her tiny pet. Deceptive body language, such as feints that mislead as to the intended direction of attack or flight, is observed in many species including wolves. A mother bird deceives when it pretends to have a broken wing to divert the attention of a perceived predator -- including unwitting humans -- from the eggs in its nest to itself.

Paradox of lying

Within any scenario where dualistic (e.g., yes/no, black/white) answers are always given, a person who we know is consistently lying would paradoxically be a source of truth. Many such paradoxes exist: for example, the liar paradox, commonly expressed as "This sentence is a lie" or "This sentence is false." The so-called Epimenides paradox —- "All Cretans are liars," as stated by Epimenides the Cretan —- is a forerunner of this, though its status as a paradox is disputed. A class of related logic puzzles are known as knights and knaves, in which the goal is to determine who of a group of people is lying and who is telling the truth.

Lie detection

Main article: Polygraph

The question of whether lies can reliably be detected through nonverbal means is a subject of particular controversy.

  • Polygraph "lie detector" machines measure the physiological stress a subject endures in a number of measures while he/she gives statements or answers questions. Spikes in stress are purported to indicate lying. The accuracy of this method is widely disputed, and in several well-known cases it was proven to have been deceived. Nonetheless, it remains in use in many areas, primarily as a method for eliciting confessions or employment screening. Polygraph results are not admissible as court evidence and are generally perceived to be pseudo-science. Additionally, polygraph administrators will typically not give one to someone who understands how a polygraph works, since that allows the person to manipulate his or her physiological reactions and skew the results. [citation needed]
  • Various truth drugs have been proposed and used anecdotally, though none are considered very reliable. The CIA attempted to find a universal "truth serum" in the MK-ULTRA project, but it was largely a fiasco. [citation needed]
  • Facial microexpressions have been shown to expose lying reliably, according to Paul Ekman's Diogenes Project. Namely, a tiny flash of a "distress" facial expression, though difficult to see with the untrained eye, may give away when a person is lying.
  • Verbal distancing language is considered an indicator of lying.
  • More recently, neuroscientists have found that lying activates completely different brain structures during fMRI scans, which may lead to a more accurate (if impractical) method of lie detection. Brain fingerprinting is a related way of using the brain to determine if a person is telling the truth.
  • Another believed but mostly untested theory is that a person's pupils will dilate when lying.

Representations of lie

  • Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio is a wooden puppet often led into trouble by his propensity to lie. His nose grows with every lie. A long nose has thus become a caricature of liars.
  • In the manga and anime "One Piece," one of the main characters -- Ussop -- lies and tells tales regularly. He has an exceptionally long nose.
  • In the film Liar Liar, the lawyer Fletcher Reed (Jim Carrey) cannot lie for 24 hours due to a wish of his son which magically came true.

Covering up Lies

Sir Walter Scott's famous couplet "Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive!" describes the often difficult procedure of covering up a lie so that it is not detected at some future time.

In "Human, All Too Human" philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that those who refrain from lying may do so only because of the difficulty involved in maintaining the lie. This is consistent with his general philosophy that divides or ranks people according to strength and ability; thus, some people tell the truth only out of weakness.

Evolution, game theory, and the lie

Meanwhile, although most human societies have developed moral, ethical, or religious codes prohibiting lying, it would appear that other animals on this planet engage in deception quite regularly and that the deceit has been the result of and promoted by all the usual evolutionary forces.

Deception by predators and prey

Specifically, predation often employs deception, as does avoidance of predation. A predator is deceptive if in the process of acquiring prey it conceals its location, uses camouflage capabilities of its skin and appendages, or dangles an appendage as a bait. A prey is deceptive if it uses camouflage to conceal itself or make it seem to be larger than it is or seem to be another species that is poisonous or distasteful to the predator (compare viceroy butterfly to monarch butterfly).

Such capabilities to deceive likely developed very gradually during evolution and likely began as very small changes in the appearance or behavior of some organisms. As the changes brought advantage to the organism it may therefore have increased in number due to that advantage, and due to continued pressure from a predator or scarcity of prey the advantage locked in and became a trait of that creature.

Game Theory of Evolution

This incorporation of deception into schemes of evolutionary advantage is a concept treated in the study of Game Theory of Evolution. Game Theory of Evolution assumes that creatures are often in resource conflict or in predator/prey relationships with each other and develop strategies for advantage gain or loss reduction.

Innate or reasoned behaviour?

These strategies may or may not be the result of some reasoning capabilities of the creature. In some cases the environment interacting with the way a creature has evolved so far creates the strategies for the creature without it needing any reasoning faculties. In other cases, there may be a combination of some reasoning and some environmentally formed deceptive abilities. The crocodile seems to know that if it drifts slowly, like a log, towards a wildebeest drinking at the edge of the river the wildebeest will not be alarmed and run away. The crocodile both resembles a log, having been shaped that way by evolutionary forces, and has some reasoning faculties.

So-called animal "cunning"

Over eons this ability to deceive became built into and a natural part of many species. Humans have used the word "cunning" to represent this ability in the non-human animal world.

Famous fairy tales based on lying

Deception and "moral" behaviour among humans

"Sub-human behavior" is of course just a value judgment. The case remains that deception in general, and lying in particular, are likely a natural and normal behavior for Homo sapiens. People lie to attain advantage or to escape loss. This is no different from being a predator or a prey, except that Homo sapiens are expected to know right and wrong and animals are not.

Thus, being honest in spite of a perceived opportunity to gain via a lie may be considered a particularly human behavior. Possibly this could be considered simply a longer-term strategy of gain, i.e. the larger gain from being regarded as trustworthy and/or ethical, which would require a fairly developed sense of abstract thought to grasp.

See also

References

    Sources

    • Adler, J. E., “Lying, deceiving, or falsely implicating”, Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 94 (1997), 435-452.
    • Aquinas, T., St., “Question 110: Lying”, in Summa Theologiae (II.II), Vol. 41, Virtues of Justice in the Human Community (London, 1972).
    • Augustine, St., "On Lying" and "Against Lying", in R. J. Deferrari, ed., Treatises on Various Subjects (New York, 1952).
    • Bok, S., Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life, 2d ed. (New York, 1989).
    • Chisholm, R. M., and T. D. Feehan, “The intent to deceive”, Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 74 (1977),143-159.
    • Davids, P. H., Bruce, F.F., Brauch, M.T., & W.C. Kaiser, Hard Sayings of the Bible (InterVarsity Press, 1996).
    • Flyvbjerg, B., "Design by Deception." Harvard Design Magazine, no. 22, Spring/Summer 2005, 50-59. [1]
    • Frankfurt, H. G., “The Faintest Passion”, in Necessity, Volition and Love (Cambridge, MA: CUP, 1999).
    • Frankfurt, Harry, On Bullshit (Princeton University Press, 2005).
    • Kant, I., Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, The Metaphysics of Morals and "On a supposed right to lie from philanthropy", in Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, eds. Mary Gregor and Allen W. Wood (Cambridge: CUP, 1986).
    • Lakoff, George, Don't Think of an Elephant, (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004).
    • Mahon, J. E., “Kant on Lies, Candour and Reticence”, Kantian Review, Vol. 7 (2003), 101-133.
    • Mahon, J. E., “Lying”, Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed., Vol. 5 (Farmington Hills, Mich.: Macmillan Reference, 2006), p. 618-19
    • Mahon, J. E., “Kant and the Perfect Duty to Others Not to Lie”, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Vol. 14, No. 4 (2006), 653-685.
    • Mahon, J. E., “Kant and Maria von Herbert: Reticence vs. Deception”, Philosophy, Vol. 81, No. 3 (2006), 417-44.
    • Mannison, D. S., “Lying and Lies”, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 47 (1969), 132-144.
    • Siegler, F. A., “Lying”, American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 3 (1966), 128-136.

    This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

     
    Translations: Translations for: Lie

    Dansk (Danish)
    1.
    v. intr. - ligge, hvile, ligge begravet, strække sig, kunne tages til følge, kunne opretholdes, tilbringe natten, bo
    n. - beliggenhed, måden hvorpå noget ligger, leje, tilholdssted

    idioms:

    • lie about    flyde, ligge fremme
    • lie around    ligge og flyde
    • lie at somebody's door    skylden er den andens, den anden har skylden
    • lie back    læne sig tilbage
    • lie behind    ligge bag
    • lie down    lægge sig, falde ned
    • lie heavy    ligge tungt, trykke, tynge
    • lie in    barsle, føde
    • lie in store    på lager, i reserve
    • lie in wait    ligge på lur, ligge i baghold
    • lie low    ligge i støvet, være kastet til jorden, gå stille med dørene, holde sig i baggrunden, ligge død, skjule sine virkelige hensigter
    • lie up    lægge op
    • lie with    påhvile, bero på, ligge hos, sove med
    • take something lying down    finde sig i, finde sig i uden et ord

    2.
    n. - løgn
    v. intr. - lyve
    v. tr. - lyve

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    bevise at noget er en løgn, gøre noget til en løgn
    • lie detector    løgnedetektor
    • live a lie    leve på en løgn
    • lying through their teeth    lyve, løgn i deres hals

    Nederlands (Dutch)
    liggen, zich bevinden, rusten, begraven liggen, liegen, laten/blijven (liggen), (zich) verschuilen, ontvankelijk/ houdbaar zijn (juridisch), leugen, ligging, leger (dier)

    Français (French)
    1.
    v. intr. - être couché, se trouver, être, tenir (la neige), consister en, s'étendre, (Jur) être recevable
    n. - (Géol) gisement, disposition (du terrain, etc), (Constr) tracé (d'une route), lie (au golf)

    idioms:

    • lie about    traîner, traîner dans, laisser traîner
    • lie ahead    (ce qui) reste à venir, (ce que) réserve l'avenir
    • lie around    traîner, traîner dans, laisser traîner
    • lie at someone's door    tenir (qn) pour responsable de qch, faire porter la responsabilité de (qch) à qn
    • lie back    s'allonger
    • lie behind    soutenir, être la véritable raison/cause de (qch)
    • lie down    s'allonger, s'étendre, se coucher
    • lie heavy    peser sur
    • lie in    faire la grasse matinée
    • lie in store    ce que réserve l'avenir
    • lie in wait    baisser les bras en attendant
    • lie low    (fig) garder un profil bas
    • lie off    (Naut) rester au large
    • lie over    être ajourné (un problème)
    • lie to    (Naut) tenir le cap, être à l'ancre
    • lie up    garder le lit, se cacher, être en panne (une voiture), désarmer (un bateau)
    • lie with    incomber à, être le rôle de (qn) de, coucher avec (arch)
    • take something lying down    accepter qch sans protester

    2.
    n. - mensonge
    v. intr. - mentir, tricher
    v. tr. - mentir

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    démentir, donner tort (à qn)
    • lie detector    détecteur de mensonge
    • lie through one's teeth    mentir effrontément
    • live a lie    vivre dans le mensonge

    Deutsch (German)
    1.
    v. - liegen, sich legen, zulässig sein
    n. - Lage, Position, Lager

    idioms:

    • lie about    herumliegen
    • lie ahead    etwas wird geschehen, etwas od.jdn erwarten
    • lie around    herumliegen
    • lie at someone's door    jdn etwas zur Last legen, eigene Verantwortung sein
    • lie back    sich zurücklehnen
    • lie behind    dahinterstecken
    • lie down    sich hinlegen
    • lie heavy    jmdm. schwer auf dem Magen/auf der Seele liegen
    • lie in    in die Wochen kommen, (morgens) im Bett bleiben
    • lie in store    jmdn. erwarten
    • lie in wait    im Hinterhalt liegen
    • lie low    am Boden liegen
    • lie off    (naut) ablegen
    • lie over    vertagt werden
    • lie to    (naut) beidrehen
    • lie up    das Bett hüten, nicht im Dienst sein
    • lie with    jmdm. beiliegen, bei jmdm. liegen
    • take something lying down    sich gefallen lassen, hinnehmen

    2.
    n. - Lüge
    v. - lügen, belügen, anlügen

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    Lügen strafen
    • lie detector    Lügendetektor
    • lie through one's teeth    das Blaue vom Himmel runterlügen
    • live a lie    jmds. Leben ist eine einzige Lüge

    Ελληνική (Greek)
    v. - ψεύδομαι, κείμαι, βρίσκομαι, απλώνομαι, είμαι ξαπλωμένος, μένω
    n. - ψέμα, διάταξη χώρου

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    διαψεύδω κατηγορηματικά, βγάζω ψεύτη
    • lie about    λέω ψέματα για, περιβάλλω, βρίσκομαι σκορπισμένος εδώ κι' εκεί
    • lie around    περιβάλλω
    • lie at somebody's door    αποδίδω σε κάποιον λάθος, ευθύνη
    • lie back    ανακλίνομαι, γέρνω πίσω, ξεκουράζομαι
    • lie behind    έχω περάσει
    • lie detector    ανιχνευτής ψεύδους
    • lie down    ξαπλώνω, πλαγιάζω
    • lie heavy    βαραίνω
    • lie in    χουζουρεύω
    • lie in store    είμαι αποθηκευμένος, περιμένω, είμαι στα μελλούμενα
    • lie in wait    ενεδρεύω, καραδοκώ, στήνω καρτέρι
    • lie low    λουφάρω, καιροσκοπώ, ενεδρεύω, ελλοχεύω
    • lie up    μένω στο κρεβάτι, κρύβομαι
    • lie with    βαρύνω
    • live a lie    ζω ένα ψέμα
    • lying through their teeth    που ψεύδονται ασύστολα
    • take something lying down    δέχομαι κάτι αδιαμαρτύρητα

    Italiano (Italian)
    trovarsi, giacere, mentire, bugia

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    smentire
    • lie around/about    bighellonare
    • lie at somebody's door    invocar pietà
    • lie back    distendersi
    • lie behind    esser dietro
    • lie detector    lie-detector
    • lie down    sdraiarsi
    • lie heavy    causare disturbo
    • lie in    poltrire
    • lie in store    stare in agguato
    • lie in wait    mettersi in attesa
    • lie low    non farsi notare
    • lie up    nascondersi
    • lie with    esser responsabile di
    • live a lie    vivere falsamente
    • lying through their teeth    mentire a faccia tosta

    Português (Portuguese)
    v. - mentir, jazer, encontrar-se, repousar
    n. - mentira (f), posição (f), disposição (f), toca (m)

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    desmentir
    • lie around/about    estar espalhado
    • lie at somebody's door    esperar por alguém
    • lie back    recostar-se
    • lie behind    algo que está por trás de uma situação
    • lie detector    detector (m) de mentiras
    • lie down    deitar-se
    • lie heavy    mentir pesado
    • lie in    estar para dar à luz
    • lie in store    se resguardar
    • lie in wait    ficar de emboscada
    • lie low    esconder-se
    • lie up    se esconder da polícia
    • lie with    ter o poder
    • live a lie    sustentar uma mentira
    • lying through their teeth    dizer algo que é completamente falso
    • take something lying down    tirar uma soneca

    Русский (Russian)
    лгать, лежать, располагаться, сохраняться, признаваться законным, ложь, положение, берлога

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    уличить кого-л. во лжи, обвинить во лжи
    • lie around/about    валяться, лежать в беспорядке
    • lie at somebody's door    лежать на чьей-л. совести
    • lie back    откинуться (на подушку и т.д.)
    • lie behind    подразумеваться, скрываться за чем-л.
    • lie detector    детектор лжи
    • lie down    прилечь, проявить покорность
    • lie heavy    тяготить душу
    • lie in    оставаться в постели, стоить
    • lie in store    сидеть в засаде, предстоять
    • lie in wait    подстерегать кого-л.
    • lie low    притаиться
    • lie up    лежать в постели, стоять в доке, отстраниться от дел, спрятаться
    • lie with    находиться в чьей-л. компетенции
    • live a lie    вести недостойную жизнь
    • lying through their teeth    бесстыдно лгать
    • take something lying down    принять без сопротивления

    Español (Spanish)
    1.
    v. intr. - estar, encontrarse, estar situado, yacer, estar enterrado, echarse, acostarse, tenderse
    n. - posición

    idioms:

    • lie about    estar esparcidos, estar en desorden, estar tirado, estar tumbado o echado sin hacer nada
    • lie ahead    estar por delante de
    • lie around    estar esparcidos, estar en desorden, estar tirado, estar tumbado o echado sin hacer nada
    • lie at someone's door    cuplar a alguien, imputar a alguien
    • lie back    recostarse, estar retranqueado
    • lie behind    estar detrás de
    • lie down    echarse, acostarse, tenderse, tumbarse
    • lie heavy    pesar
    • lie in    levantarse tarde, dormirse, pegársele las sábanas a una persona, estar de parto, quedarse en la cama
    • lie in store    que deparará el porvenir
    • lie in wait    estar ocultos para sorprender
    • lie low    esconderse temporalmente, ocultar las intenciones, esperar la ocasión
    • lie off    (Mar) estar a poca distancia de la costa o de otro barco
    • lie over    posponer
    • lie to    ser de cierta manera, estar en cierta posición
    • lie up    esconderse, descansar, estar sin utilizar, desarmar, guardar cama
    • lie with    yacer o acostarse con, ser problema de, tener relaciones sexuales con, corresponder o tocar a
    • take something lying down    aceptar sin protestar, soportar sin chistar

    2.
    n. - mentira, embuste, situación
    v. intr. - mentir
    v. tr. - poner a uno en cierto estado o situación

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    desmentir, dar el mentís, demostrar que algo es falso, refutar
    • lie detector    detector de mentiras
    • lie through one's teeth    mentir descaradamente
    • live a lie    vivir en la mentira

    Svenska (Swedish)
    v. - ljuga, ligga, ligga begraven, vila, utbreda sig, vara belägen, befinna sig, vara, (om väg o.d.) gå, (sjö.) ligga an (viss kurs), (jur.) äga laglig grund
    n. - lögn, osanning, läge, belägenhet, riktning, sträckning, tillstånd, beskaffenhet, lega, (djurs) tillhåll, (kortsp.) sits

    中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
    1. 躺, 卧, 呈...状态, 置于, 被平放, 在于, 位置, 栖息处, 状态

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    拆穿某事的虚伪性, 指责...说谎
    • lie about    点缀, 无所事事
    • lie around    点缀, 无所事事
    • lie at somebody's door    归于某人
    • lie back    倚靠在椅子上
    • lie behind    为某事之理由
    • lie detector    测谎器
    • lie down    躺下休息
    • lie heavy    使...难过, 沉重地压在
    • lie in    睡懒觉, 待产
    • lie in store    有存货, 即将发生, 等待着
    • lie in wait    埋伏着等待
    • lie low    平躺, 潜伏, 大败
    • lie up    隐蔽, 退休, 躲藏
    • lie with    由...决定, 取决于
    • live a lie    做人虚伪
    • lying through their teeth    撒大谎
    • take something lying down    受挫败, 俯首屈服, 感受

    2. 谎话, 谎言, 撒谎, 造成错觉, 欺骗, 用欺骗致使

    中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
    1.
    n. - 謊話, 謊言
    v. intr. - 撒謊, 造成錯覺, 欺騙
    v. tr. - 用欺騙致使

    2.
    v. intr. - 躺, 臥, 呈...狀態, 置於, 被平放, 在於
    n. - 位置, 棲息處, 狀態

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    拆穿某事的虛偽性, 指責...說謊
    • lie about    點綴, 無所事事
    • lie around    點綴, 無所事事
    • lie at somebody's door    歸於某人
    • lie back    倚靠在椅子上
    • lie behind    為某事之理由
    • lie detector    測謊器
    • lie down    躺下休息
    • lie heavy    使...難過, 沉重地壓在
    • lie in    睡懶覺, 待產
    • lie in store    有存貨, 即將發生, 等待著
    • lie in wait    埋伏著等待
    • lie low    平躺, 潛伏, 大敗
    • lie up    隱蔽, 退休, 躲藏
    • lie with    由...決定, 取決於
    • live a lie    做人虛偽
    • lying through their teeth    撒大謊
    • take something lying down    受挫敗, 俯首屈服, 感受

    한국어 (Korean)
    1.
    v. intr. - 눕다, 묻혀 있다, 놓여있다, ~로 있다, 지나고 있다
    n. - 놓인 모양 , 상태, 방향 , 정세, 휴식

    idioms:

    • lie about    제멋대로 놓여 있다, 빈둥빈둥 지내다
    • lie around    아무렇게나 놓여 있다, 빈둥빈둥 지내다
    • lie back    눕다 , 삼가다
    • lie behind    과거의 일로서 존재하다, 배후에 있다
    • lie down    눕다, 잠깐 자다, 굴복하다
    • lie in    해산 자리에 눕다, 늦잠 자다
    • lie up    휴양하다, 은퇴하다, 숨다
    • lie with    의무이다, ~과 자다
    • take something lying down    감수하다

    2.
    n. - 거짓말, 허연, 사기, 미신
    v. intr. - 거짓말하다, 속이다
    v. tr. - 거짓말하여 ~하다, 거짓말하여 빼앗다

    idioms:

    • give the lie to    거짓말 했다고 책망 받다, 거짓임을 증명하다

    日本語 (Japanese)
    n. - 位置, 方向, ボールの位置, 嘘
    v. - 横たわる, ある, 位置する, 広がっている, 見いだされる, 状態にある, 合法である, うそを言う, 欺く

    idioms:

    • let sleeping dogs lie    そっとしておく
    • lie around/about    乱雑におかれている, 無為に過ごす
    • lie at somebody's door    罪などがある
    • lie back    後ろにもたれる
    • lie behind    後ろに位置する
    • lie detector    うそ発見器
    • lie down    横になる, 屈服する
    • lie heavy    重くのしかかる
    • lie in    寝坊をする, お産の床につく
    • lie in ambush    待ち伏せする
    • lie in state    正装安置される
    • lie in store    貯えてある
    • lie in wait    待ち伏せする
    • lie low    身を隠す, じっとしている, うずくまる, 身を潜める, 好機をうかがう
    • lie up    病床につく, 引きこもる, 身を隠す
    • lie with    役目である, …といっしょに寝る

    العربيه (Arabic)
    ‏(فعل) يتمدد, يضطجع, يتربص, يترصد في كمين, يكون تحت رحمه طرف أو أحد, يكون في وضع صعب لا يستطيع معه الدفاع عن نفسه, يكون موضوعا كتاب يكون موضوعا على الرف مثلا, يتجه, يمتد الطريق يمتد أمامك مثلا, يقع فرنسا تقع إلى الغرب من ألمانيا مثلا, يكمن في العلاج الحقيقي يكمن في التربيه مثلا, يثقل, يرهق ضميره, يحظى بالقبول, ينقذ نفسه عن طريق الكذب (الاسم) وضع, موقع, مكمن الطائر أو الحيوان أو السمكه, إضطجاع, إستلقاء, كذب, كذبه, أكذوبه, شئ مضلل, خادع, إتهام بالكذب‏

    עברית (Hebrew)
    v. intr. - ‮שכב, נח, רבץ, נמצא, שכן, השתרע, התקבלה (התנגדות לדברי פרקליט במשפט)‬
    n. - ‮תנוחה, מצב, מיקום, מקום-מסתור של חיה או ציפור‬
    n. - ‮שקר, אמונה שגויה‬
    v. intr. - ‮שיקר, רימה‬
    v. tr. - ‮חילץ את עצמו באמצעות שקר‬

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