Two books about lying

by Bob Schwartz

Some don’t think they need to read a book about lying because it is succinctly and definitively covered in “The Good Book”, that is, the Bible:

  1. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
    Exodus 20:16

(Or as universally interpreted, in any circumstance to anyone. In other words, don’t lie.)

If you do want to read a good book about lying, its subtleties and its damaging effects, following are a couple.

Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life (1978) by Sissela Bok

This is the modern masterpiece on the subject. You might think, “well, it was written almost fifty years ago, and a lot has changed since then.” Of course, nothing has changed, either in lying or in the astute analysis of lying. If anything, you might observe that lying has come to play an even more important role, at least in American life—commandment or no commandment.

Chapters in Lying by Sissela Bok:

I IS THE “WHOLE TRUTH” ATTAINABLE?
II TRUTHFULNESS, DECEIT, AND TRUST
III NEVER TO LIE?
IV WEIGHING THE CONSEQUENCES
V WHITE LIES
VI EXCUSES
VII JUSTIFICATION
VIII LIES IN A CRISIS
IX LYING TO LIARS
X LYING TO ENEMIES
XI LIES PROTECTING PEERS AND CLIENTS
XII LIES FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD
XIII DECEPTIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
XIV PATERNALISTIC LIES
XV LIES TO THE SICK AND DYING

As you can see, just reading the chapter titles is enough to get you thinking.

Lying (2013) by Sam Harris

This book is much shorter (83 pages, really a long essay) and more smoothly written than Bok’s book, given Harris’ bestselling skill as a writer. Obviously not as incisive and insightful.

A suggestion is to read them both, especially because Harris’ book is such a quick read. A much bigger suggestion is to pay attention to lying and to think about what you say and what you hear from any source. If it is someone, private or public, who claims allegiance to the mentioned Good Book and its commandments, it is worth thinking about whether the lies fit into any of the exceptional circumstances, or whether the principle is just being ignored entirely.