Dante as an architect of the soul, not a keeper of the penal ledger, that is the strongest move in your text. The idea of reading lying as sabotage of the contact between mind and reality lands perfectly. Suddenly, the flatterer seems more dangerous than the tyrant, because he attacks not the body, but the map inside the head.
That is precisely why I stumble over the smooth phrase “Never lie.” In Dante’s inner geometry of hell, that may be true. In a hospital, in an interrogation room, at a deathbed, it becomes more complicated. The white lie, the polite half-truth, self-deception. All lies, yes, but not all the same circle. Anyone who presses everything into one formula risks believing their own moral system is clearer than the real world.
A second blind spot. If lying is so grave, where do we place fiction? Dante himself invents a hell that never existed in order to move us closer to the truth. The boundary between poetry and deception does not run along the sentence “This did not really happen,” but along the claim to have reality on one’s side. Flatterers and propagandists imitate precisely that claim.
Perhaps that is the real point after all. Not “Never lie,” but “Do not confuse your theology with reality, or you will become a flatterer yourself.”
Lies can be worse than outright murder. They can sever trust. This is traumatic. For myself, very likely worse than death.
As a general rule, lying to cause injury or some harm--no matter the scale, is wrong. Simultaneously, and apart from the lies, we are human. And humans fall short. We hesitate wondering if saying anything is right.
I think the ideal is just that, ideal. We should aspire, do our best, work hard, be humble, and if it's an effort to not lie, make this effort. In the end, our efforts are noted but we do not save ourselves. But this is a further discussion
For me, though the lie is egregious in the extreme, there is the possibility of curing it with truth. With murder, there can be no repair. The life is lost. Perhaps justice can only be applied when the full fruit of the lie appears. It may be just as bad as the murder or worse, or it may have been cut off before yielding its harvest. It would also depend upon who did the cutting off, the original liar or another party. Lots to think about.
I have told lies that literally kept people from being killed or badly injured because that was the only way to stop them from being killed or badly injured.
I feel this so strongly—your writing resonates with me. I'm in Florence this week and just today was walking by where Dante lived and I was reading some beautiful versions of his works in a bookstore just today and seeing the art of the Inferno. The recent events of this year/last year—this chaotic time—seem riddled with tyrants and fraudster/liars and it disheartens me tremendously. Human history holds so much grief and suffering and while we live in a time that at least nods toward rational goodness, its hard and many are descended into their own hell realms. Even my own Mom remains hypnotized by the fraudulent Trump tyrant despite any rational pointing towards truth—she is deeply hoodwinked and her ego is invested. The truth indeed sets us free—if the will decides to acknowledge it—thanks for brightening my day with your intelligent heartfelt writing!
Lies can beget murder. Which can beget lies. Which can beget more murder... Ad infinitum. All while corrupting and distorting a mind and minds to propagate corosive demise.
Dante as an architect of the soul, not a keeper of the penal ledger, that is the strongest move in your text. The idea of reading lying as sabotage of the contact between mind and reality lands perfectly. Suddenly, the flatterer seems more dangerous than the tyrant, because he attacks not the body, but the map inside the head.
That is precisely why I stumble over the smooth phrase “Never lie.” In Dante’s inner geometry of hell, that may be true. In a hospital, in an interrogation room, at a deathbed, it becomes more complicated. The white lie, the polite half-truth, self-deception. All lies, yes, but not all the same circle. Anyone who presses everything into one formula risks believing their own moral system is clearer than the real world.
A second blind spot. If lying is so grave, where do we place fiction? Dante himself invents a hell that never existed in order to move us closer to the truth. The boundary between poetry and deception does not run along the sentence “This did not really happen,” but along the claim to have reality on one’s side. Flatterers and propagandists imitate precisely that claim.
Perhaps that is the real point after all. Not “Never lie,” but “Do not confuse your theology with reality, or you will become a flatterer yourself.”
A white lie is still a lie and easily avoided. "Does this dress make me look fat?" "I think the dress you had on the other day is more flattering."
As for fiction, it's not a lie because it's made clear that it's not a factual account.
Lies can be worse than outright murder. They can sever trust. This is traumatic. For myself, very likely worse than death.
As a general rule, lying to cause injury or some harm--no matter the scale, is wrong. Simultaneously, and apart from the lies, we are human. And humans fall short. We hesitate wondering if saying anything is right.
I think the ideal is just that, ideal. We should aspire, do our best, work hard, be humble, and if it's an effort to not lie, make this effort. In the end, our efforts are noted but we do not save ourselves. But this is a further discussion
Peace all
Hold on. Panderers go to Hell? Politicians are soooooooo doomed...
For me, though the lie is egregious in the extreme, there is the possibility of curing it with truth. With murder, there can be no repair. The life is lost. Perhaps justice can only be applied when the full fruit of the lie appears. It may be just as bad as the murder or worse, or it may have been cut off before yielding its harvest. It would also depend upon who did the cutting off, the original liar or another party. Lots to think about.
I have told lies that literally kept people from being killed or badly injured because that was the only way to stop them from being killed or badly injured.
So, this is not just a black and white question.
I feel this so strongly—your writing resonates with me. I'm in Florence this week and just today was walking by where Dante lived and I was reading some beautiful versions of his works in a bookstore just today and seeing the art of the Inferno. The recent events of this year/last year—this chaotic time—seem riddled with tyrants and fraudster/liars and it disheartens me tremendously. Human history holds so much grief and suffering and while we live in a time that at least nods toward rational goodness, its hard and many are descended into their own hell realms. Even my own Mom remains hypnotized by the fraudulent Trump tyrant despite any rational pointing towards truth—she is deeply hoodwinked and her ego is invested. The truth indeed sets us free—if the will decides to acknowledge it—thanks for brightening my day with your intelligent heartfelt writing!
Lies can beget murder. Which can beget lies. Which can beget more murder... Ad infinitum. All while corrupting and distorting a mind and minds to propagate corosive demise.
Let's reverse engineer this. If everyone told the truth, there would be no need for murder?