PHIL505

039027

In order to get by in the world, we often have to rely on what other people tell us. Unfortunately, people do not always tell the truth. We are confronted with lies, spin, half-truths, and bullshit on a daily basis. What to do?

Lying and deception have been a part of human life from the very beginning. Scientific evidence suggests that the need to deceive is what made us human in the first place. The evolutionary advantage of being able to deceive other members of one's social group led to the remarkable increase in brain size and intelligence in Homo sapiens.

Since lying and deception play such a central role in human life, philosophers (including Plato, Augustine, and Kant) have studied the ontology, the ethics, the epistemology, the economics, and the logic of lying and deception. Following these philosophers, this course will address such questions as:

- What is lying?
- Do all lies aim to deceive?
- Why do people lie?
- Why do politicians in particular lie?
- Can we acquire knowledge from what other people say if they might be lying to us?
- Why is it wrong to lie?
- Is it worse to lie or to mislead people in some other way?
- What is bullshit and what is spin?
- Are honesty and candor always virtues?

We will look at how answers to these questions can help us understand the lying and deception that occurs in advertising, in politics, in the media, and on the internet.

Graduate level requirements include a somewhat longer term paper and an in-class project presentation.

GRD - Regular Grades A, B, C, D, E

Graduate